#itachi: wait you let sasuke fight KAKUZU? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

electrasev5nwrites · 1 year ago

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Ninja Daily: Vapors 101

"H-Yah! Ha! Ha! Hya!" Gai's fists were a blur as he danced around his opponent. His lips were pulled tightly across his gums, exposing both his teeth and full-hearted joy. Lee was nearly as loud, and nearly as fast. He was actually scoring more hits than his sensei, in no small part because Kisame was clearly able to see that one was more dangerous than the other and prioritized avoiding Gai's limbs when he was stuck between the two.

It was a little intimidating. Karin cringed a little, inadvertently curling close to Itachi's side. He scared her on a visceral level she couldn't explain, but at least at the moment he didn't look like he was mad with bloodlust. And he was supposed to be helping her, right? She didn't like being away from comrades. Had Kakashi separated her from her team because he was mad at her? No, he wasn't that petty. This was the best solution, she had to believe it.

'This is why I don't do field work,' she fretted, heartbeat racing. 'It's too messy.'

The rain that had been fogging her chakra sense was gone, which was a mixed relief. After so many weeks of essentially being crippled, it was disorienting to suddenly be in the midst of a new place with so many signatures moving. She could tell that the Kiri troops were intending to engage Kakuzu—and that was going to be soon, she would message them in a few minutes to let them know he was almost on top of them so he couldn't slip by. Naruto and Yamato and Sasuke were barreling towards possible hostiles. Everyone else was either fighting or slinking around inside the base—which had led to the disconcerting realization that Kakashi and Neji had found some sort of facility within the building with chakra suppressors. They'd disappeared from her view a few minutes back. So there could possibly be more people waiting in ambush.

'And I've been left with Sasuke's creepy brother.' And boy, was he ever creepy. Karin didn't have any right to complain about red eyes being unnerving on principle, but his were so distant and impassive. It was like he wasn't looking at people. He was looking at facts and figures and weighing outcomes. She shivered uncontrollably and wrapped icy cold fingers around her arms in a pitiful attempt to warm up. Once she had stopped moving, the chill had set in. Ame was awful and dreary even without the artificial and constant rain. Her long sleeves weren't much help, soaked as they were.

'There's nothing for it. I have to trust him. I have to trust Sasuke's assessment. Being suspicious of Itachi won't do me any good. I can't hope to fight him, and I need his help to make sure I can do my job. Keeping everyone aligned is too important for me to cower.'

"I-Itachi-san?" Her voice almost sounded normal. "Do you think they can beat Hoshigaki?" She immediately worried at her lower lip once the words had come out. Itachi would know, of course, he should know the Akatsuki's weaknesses better than anyone. He didn't seem like a man who would lie to reassure her. She almost didn't want to hear his assessment—if he said Lee and Gai were about to die, what would she do? Should she try to help?

"They will defeat him."

The timbre of his voice was pleasing, and the cultured enunciations he used made him sound intelligent. It was only the detached way he spoke that made it seem like something was very wrong in the older Uchiha's head.

Still, she felt a flicker of relief. "Good." Karin swallowed, allowing herself to look back at the closest fight. It was… Well, she could barely see what was happening. It was far faster than she could fight. Far faster than anything she'd seen from Sasuke or Naruto, even. She didn't want to have to interfere. It seemed more likely that she would get in the way.

"The other team will not be able to stand against Konan."

Startled, she wheeled around. "Say what? They have her surrounded five to one," Karin protested nervously. "If Gai-sensei and Lee-kun can defeat Kisame, then why…"

Itachi seemed almost pitying. "Konan is a formidable opponent." He looked away into the distance, as if he could possibly still see that fight. There was no way he could, of course. They had passed out of her field of vision six minutes prior and they were still moving, though unsteadily.

'Is Konan intentionally herding them?' She suddenly wondered, sickly with nerves. Her abilities were so stupid and useless when she didn't know the terrain!

"Kakashi-sensei… Is he going to find anything in the base?"

Itachi seemed strangely tolerant of her questions and presence—patient, even. She might as well push her luck. What was he going to do, snap and kill her? Karin suppressed hysterical laughter. She was trusting her life with a mass murderer because Sasuke said he was alright. God, if he was wrong, she was going to come back as a ghost and choke him to death with one of his pretty collared shirts.

Belatedly, she realized that she was growling. Karin stopped that.

Her companion and apparent bodyguard might have even looked a little amused at her sudden emotional shift from nervousness to vowing vengeance. "Very little. He may be interested in the holding facilities. I suspect that Suna will be interested in re-acquiring some of the individuals within."

Karin blinked, remembering Aiko's description of her time in captivity. It had sounded rather more casual than a stay in an actual holding facility. "Cells? Are those new?" she asked sardonically. Instantly, she flushed.

'Idiot! Don't try to joke with him. You don't know how he'll take it.'

The worst part was that he was so damn still that he was all but impossible to read. "No." At least he didn't seem angry, but he looked directly at her. "But they are seldom occupied. Pein-sama prefers not to keep prisoners, but he made a concession for practicality's sake. Kisame has been feeding Samehada there."

"..and Samehada is what, a dog?" she asked, feeling lost.

If that sound had come from anyone else, she might have labeled it an aborted laugh. Instead, Karin convinced herself it was a tiny cough. "His sword," Itachi stressed gravely.

'Oh, right. Kakashi said that earlier.' Feeling stressed and like her focus was slipping, Karin ran her tongue along the inside of her teeth. 'Time to alert Kumo, I think.'

By now, the motions to call the twin to the serpent she had planted in Kumo's main camp were executed without so much as a thought. Gently, she caught the animal that appeared and let her twine around Karin's arms in a pitiful attempt at warmth.

"I apologize," she murmured, turning politely away from Itachi to talk to her summons. Rakki squeezed around her wrist with enough force to hurt, clearly not much appeased. "Tell Scale-sister that the digger will be with the humans from Kumo within two minutes."

"Yes," Rakki agreed unhappily, and let go. Karin let her fall, ending the connection keeping her in the human world before the serpent could hit the ground.

'They are going to be angry with me,' Karin mused guiltily for the hundredth time. It was far too cold here for her summons, and the time commitment was as long as the task was dull. She was going to have to get them so many lizards to make up for this… Mice weren't going to cut it this time.

A pained cry rent the air. Karin jumped half a foot, hand flickering with a chakra scalpel before she had decided whether her impulse was to heal or cut.

"Oh my god," she whispered, eyes wide and fixed on the smallest figure visible. Whatever had happened had clearly taken him out of commission. He wasn't even standing. "Lee!" She'd never seen him hurt like that before—he got scrapes and broken bones like anyone else, but he'd never- he was just too strong and too stubborn to be unable to fight.

It became unpleasantly clear that Gai-sensei was no longer enjoying his fight. She couldn't hear what he said, but the red chakra that coated his body couldn't possibly be a good sign.

Frantic, she surveyed the situation- Kakuzu had been engaged. The team fighting Konan was going strong. Captain Yamato's team was fine and had taken out one of their opponents. Kakashi and Neji were still hidden from her senses in some dark hole in Akatsuki's base.

She should hold her post and pay attention to the grand scheme of the theatre in case something went wrong. Instead, she tore across the mud, slipping at one point but not caring. Karin crossed the distance separating her from her downed colleague in a matter of seconds, completely forgetting that she had an intimidating shadow. Itachi didn't say anything one way or the other.

"What happened, Lee?" Karin breathed, dropping to her knees in the sod and marsh. He grinned up at her tiredly, but the cracks in his cheer showed it for the lie it was.

"I was defeated, Karin-san! But fear not. Next time, he shall not get the better of me."

Involuntarily, she cast a dubious glance over her shoulder at the carnage happening far too quickly for her to see. Suddenly, the 'Beast' nickname didn't seem like a boast at all. "I don't think Gai-sensei is going to leave anything for you to fight," she mumbled, pulling her jacket off and balling it under his head. "Hold still, Lee-kun."

Had he been any other shinobi, she probably would have pulled his shirt up before examining him. As it was, she didn't think he would thank her if she ripped his jumpsuit and left him in his tighty whities. So she gently placed just her fingertips over his gut and tried to ignore the way he winced and clenched his jaw. Karin closed her eyes, cataloguing what her senses were telling her as she moved her hands.

'Four broken ribs. One pierced the left lung and it's filling with fluid. Severe bruising, but that's almost negligible at this point…'

She summed the situation up with a blunt and professional, "Shit."

Lee gave a choked laugh. "Karin-san! Here I thought that Sasuke-san was jesting when he claimed that he was going to recommend you further study bedside manners."

"That sassy bastard? Like he's one to talk," she replied, managing to give the Chuunin a smile and totally miss the way Itachi nearly choked. Lee was incredible to be able to make jokes at a time like this. In his position, she might just be crying. How could someone be so good-natured all the time? He had to be in horrendous pain.

Speaking of which… Karin reached into the pouch at her left hip and dug out a yellow capsule. "Bite this, please," she ordered crisply, tucking it inside Lee's lips and ignoring his surprise. That would do for the pain, but pain was just a symptom. If she didn't do something about the blood in his lung, he would drown. That couldn't be first, though. She had to move the broken rib into place and at least get it patched up before she could do anything about the liquid.

The blood wouldn't be a problem for her. She'd mastered Tsunade's poison extraction technique as well as Shizune could teach her. Moving liquid was well within her capabilities.

'I wish I'd been better as an actual field medic,' Karin thought a little morosely. She was a poison specialist, not a trauma surgeon. Sasuke would be much, much better at the bone work.

But he wasn't here now, and she was.

She had no idea how long it took her to coax the rib piercing his lung back into place, but she was trembling and sweat was dripping down her forehead.

'It's quiet,' Karin noted vaguely. 'Does that mean Gai's fight is over?'

Maybe. She didn't bother to look or see what was happening elsewhere. A medic had to focus on the patient alone. Or they would end up with a dead patient.

Lee had lapsed into what she thought was unconsciousness for a second—until he blinked his eyes open to look up at her dazedly.

His breathing sounded terrible—waterlogged and raspy. A little panicked, Karin bent low over his chest to assess how much he'd bled while she'd been working. 'More than I'd like,' she grimly judged.

Still, this was the easy part.

"Keep your mouth open, and stay calm," Karin ordered, trying to sound confident and no-nonsense instead of like she was in the middle of her first surgery in the field.

It had to be incredibly unpleasant to feel a rush of hot blood being pulled up his lung and up and out of his throat, but Lee bore it stoically. Karin balanced the glob between trembling hands- and then tossed it to the side, bringing her fingers back down to the bottom of his lung to repeat the procedure again and again until there was no liquid left where it shouldn't be. Pale-faced and exhausted, she re-checked Lee's vitals—and slumped over in relief. He was doing well. Now she just needed to try to heal the other two ribs, see if she could perfect the patch over the one she had already done, and make sure he couldn't re-injure himself by-

"Karin-sensei," mumbled-

Karin blinked and looked up, downright shocked to hear the term of respect coming from Uchiha Itachi. Sensei was the traditional marker of respect for a doctor but she wasn't really deserving of that.

"Yes?" she asked faintly, and tried not to blush at the strange softness in his gaze or the way he slightly bowed his head to her.

'Maybe he just really respects medics,' Karin realized vaguely. That was unusual. Pleasant, but not the ordinary case among shinobi.

"May I suggest that you examine Maito-san?" He gestured towards a slumped figure she hadn't noticed. The movement was so subtle that she could tell it was a conscious effort for him to utilize body language at all. She instantly pegged him as even more socially awkward and repressed than Sai. Shame.

'Wait. Gai is hurt?'

But she already knew Lee was hurt-

Lee grabbed her hand. "Please examine Gai-sensei first, Karin-san!" He was all but begging.

Karin nodded slowly, detangling her hand. "Of course," she allowed, and pushed her glasses up slightly before she jogged across the slight distance. She tried very hard not to notice the blood splatters and obviously shattered bones in the over-large body that lay not far away.

"Kisame is dead," Itachi assured her, seeming to catch on to her hidden fear. She felt ashamed, but didn't allow herself to wallow in it.

Gai… was not in good shape. "What did you do," she breathed incredulously. He was slightly too unconscious to offer a reply. Every muscle she examined was torn, ligaments pushed far beyond their limits, bones cracked in odd patterns she'd never seen before… and his chakra core was depleted.

'Mito-sensei would be irritated with me,' Karin realized, even as she wiped her right forearm with a sanitary wipe from her med-kit and carefully placed it inside Gai-sensei's mouth. Sensei hadn't liked the use of her unusual abilities as anything except a literal last resort. Healing other people by gifting away her life energy took a harsh toll on Karin's body. It was unhygienic, unconventional, and her best option at the moment. Itachi moved, possibly startled or revolted, but didn't interfere when she placed her splayed fingers on the bottom of the unconscious man's jaw and used the force to 'encourage' his teeth to break the surface of her epidermis.

"I can share my vitality this way," she explained, feeling oddly ashamed of the crude methodology. Karin didn't have long to wallow in her inadequacies—Gai unconsciously sapped a horrifying portion of the chakra she hadn't spent running or fighting or healing. She gritted her teeth and pulled away, breathing heavily. It took two tries to find the proper proportions of neutral physical and spiritual energy to call up diagnostic chakra to check his condition, which she instantly recognized as proof that she was nearing her limits. That was all but instinctive at this point in her career.

And her glowing palm technique cut out before she could get a real reading. Frustrated, Karin shook her fingers out and tried again. A warm hand curled around her wrist before she could force the jutsu.

"Do not push yourself beyond what you are capable," Itachi said quietly. Almost self-consciously, he released her hand quickly and nodded at her patient. "A visual check is enough to confirm that Gai-san's state is much improved. Trust that your teammates will return, or that you may finish treating your patients once you have recuperated."

She stared for a second, light-headed and a little grumpy at being interrupted. "Are you always so… logical?" Karin scrunched up her nose in a moue of distaste. "That seems so dull."

Still, she took the advice and leaned back in a recovery position, getting as much oxygen as possible and re-gaining her bearings. "Speaking of which," Karin mumbled, barely aware that she was talking aloud. She squeezed her eyes shut. That wasn't strictly necessary, but when she was having a hard time focusing, it was helpful to separate her senses so that she could concentrate on whatever was most crucial.

Kakashi and Neji were back and making their way towards her position. So was Yamato's thankfully intact team. The other fight had moved quite a distance away—and Konan had disappeared off her vision. That meant that something had gone wrong. She was supposed to have been captured. Had she been killed or had she escaped, Karin wondered idly. It was impossible to know without further information. At least the five shinobi who'd been fighting Konan seemed fine.

Kakuzu was gone as well… As were two of the signatures she'd become familiar with from Kumo. Dead, or had they chased him out of her range?

"Karin, Itachi. Report. Any problems?" She blinked gummily, a little surprised that Kakashi had appeared so suddenly.

"Lee-kun and Gai-sensei are going to need another healing session before either one of them is moved," she offered. "Yamato's team won and is on their way back here. Ah… The fighting ended with Konan and her signature is gone, but I don't know what happened. No fatalities on our side, but I don't know about medical condition yet."

Self-consciously, she rubbed at her face and gave consideration to falling over unconscious instead of finishing her report.

Karin tabled the thought for later, because unconsciousness sounded blissful. May as well bite the kunai and fess up to dereliction of duty, because her commanding officer was going to figure it out even if Itachi didn't tattle on her. "I became preoccupied with healing, and I'm not certain if Kakuzu escaped or was killed. But two Kumo nin are either dead or out of my range as well."

Kakashi didn't seem pleased by her assessment. "Contact them, if you can," he ordered briskly before seeming to note that Neji was all but staring at his teammates. "Feel free to visit them," Kakashi advised a little more softly. "Hurry. You're going to go check on Tenten's team after that." Then he turned to Itachi last. "Any problems?"

"I suspect that Konan and Kakuzu have both escaped," he calmly put forth. "It should also be brought to your attention that Karin-sensei is not in fit condition to perform another jutsu at the moment."

A sharp eye pinned the redhead just as she made the first seal to summon a serpent. She blinked guiltily, not sure why she felt that way. "I see," the Jounin sighed. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Forgive me, Karin-chan, I should have noticed. Forget what I said." Kakashi ran through his own sequence of handseals—and a moment later smoke was clearing to reveal two hounds.

Well. One of them was a proper hound. The other was a stubby little pug with big sad eyes.

"Pakkun, I need you to deliver a message to the closest units," Kakashi ordered briskly. "Tell them to contact the adjacent squad and move into Ame. We're taking temporary control of the village."

"We?" the pug asked curiously, tilting his head.

"The alliance," Kakashi clarified lazily. "Not Konoha in particular, of course. It seems that Akatsuki is definitely associated with Ame. They shouldn't pose much threat on their own, but it would be foolish to leave known enemies unsupervised when we have taken control of their base. Bisuke, stay with Pakkun, just in case something goes wrong."

The actual hound gave a pleasant yap and beat his tail against the ground one time. Karin forced down a smile. She didn't think Kakashi-sensei would appreciate being told that his ninken were adorable and cuddly looking.

The serious expression on his face leant to that impression. She was glad she hadn't moved to pet the dogs.

Some people were just so touchy. Karin gave a huge yawn that cracked her jaw. Appalled, she slapped a palm over her open mouth and tried to force her eyes to stay open.

'I should find out what Gai-sensei did that took so much of his life energy,' she decided, even as it became clear that she wasn't going to find out anytime soon. Neji bounded off in the direction Itachi indicated, clearly on course to ensure that his last remaining teammate was not also in need of medical attention.

She would have plenty of time to find out, if they were going to be stuck in Ame for the foreseeable future. Blegh. No one was going to be pleased about putting Ame under new management.

When Neji returned, it was with Tenten, Genma, and the disgruntled Suna team. Karin knew their target had gotten away before anyone so much as spoke from their downtrodden attitudes. It didn't help matters when Naruto blandly reported that they'd won their fights before turning to Temari and asking how she'd finished Konan.

'His faith is inspiring,' Karin thought dryly. 'His situational assessment is less so.'

Still, by that point she was feeling well enough to grab Sasuke and get a secondary opinion on the men in green. Karin barely noted that the large team was talking about the fight with Konan-something about her leading them to another building and making a break for the border, leading them through a delaying ambush of Ame nin. She was more preoccupied with the situation that she could alter. Injuries for the other team were less severe than even the improved condition of Karin's two patients, so she hardly felt guilty about privileging the care of people she knew. This time, she was aware enough to recognize that Itachi was watching with undisguised interest as she and Sasuke ran diagnostics and compared notes.

Gai was recuperating shockingly well, given an infusion from her regenerative chakra. The spiderweb cracks in his bones were the only problem that would be a lasting issue—but assuming he was treated gently, only minor treatments and nutritional supplements would have him on the path to recovery.

Lee was another story. A second pass of his lungs revealed a small clot she had missed on her initial diagnosis—something that seemed to have been a preexisting condition. She frowned, mildly amazed that such a thing had slipped notice, but excised it nonetheless. His broken ribs were going to be a problem, however.

"I don't think we can let them heal naturally," Karin posited unwillingly, curling her toes inside her sandals. Normally, that was optimal. A medic nin generally encouraged the body to heal better and more expediently than usual. Forcing the healing process was disruptive and often had long-term repercussions for the patient's immunity and ability to heal naturally.

But the situation they were in was too dangerous to play it safe. Lee would hardly be able to stand without risking incurring further damage, much less keep pain at manageable levels without eating drugs like they were breath mints.

Sasuke sighed, fluffing up the back of his hair. "How is your chakra level?" he asked, not sounding like he expected much.

When she admitted that she was nearly drained, he just nodded.

"I'm hardly surprised. You've been maintaining all those summons for days now. Your available pool was much smaller than usual." Sasuke flicked his black eyes into red effortlessly, in the space between thoughts. "Can you hold the topmost rib in place while I work?"

Kakashi watched the interchange impassively, realizing in the sickly light that they had fought almost through the night. He turned his gaze on each of the shinobi in his care one by one, cataloguing their states. Most needed rest and care. Naruto and Sasuke had the best summons for getting a report back to Konoha—and this situation did need to be reported—but they should rest. Silently, he ran his hands through the seals to summon two more members of his pack. Urushi and Guruko looked up at him inquisitively. He knelt to speak with them in an undertone.

"Can I get you to take a message to Konoha?"

The ninken didn't bother to respond verbally. Guruko grinned good-naturedly. Kakashi reached out to scratch behind an ear for both hounds, silently expressing his thanks. When he drew his hands back, it was to pull a bit of paper and a pen out of his hip pouch. "Just a minute, then."

Poor Tsunade didn't speak dog, after all.

Obito jerked into awareness and simply raised one hand. Zetsu obediently halted. The unconscious man on his back swayed sickly with the motion, but didn't stir.

That was normal. He wouldn't be waking up anytime soon, if at all before the end.

"Tobi-san?" White Zetsu asked inquisitively. The dark side of his face pulled into a sneer, but said nothing.

"Do you sense anyone familiar?" Obito asked quietly, slipping out of Tobi's skin and thoughts like they were a manky old sweater. The boy obediently slunk into silence.

Zetsu quirked his head slightly. It was Black Zetsu who answered. "The greedy old man," he muttered distastefully. "Kakuzu-san is alright," White Zetsu disagreed mildly.

Obito concentrated on the important information and ignored the byplay. "Give me the jinchuuriki," he ordered, and hurriedly hustled the man onto his back. Kakuzu thought he was Zetsu's hanger-on, and would expect him to be doing the heavy lifting and grunt work. "Find out what has happened in our absence."

It wasn't long before the familiar chakra signature veered on course to meet them, clearly recognizing their party. They met several miles out of Ame's northern border.

Kakuzu was in his pajamas, clearly dirtied, and limping slightly. It didn't bode well.

"Oh no, Kakuzu-senpai!" Tobi gasped, jerking control away from Obito and flailing in concern, nearly letting his burden slip to the ground. He flitted about the older man, apparently unaware of his growing rage, and examined him from various angles. Even Tobi wasn't stupid enough to try to hug Kakuzu to make him feel better or even touch him. No other Akatsuki had fits of mindless rage like the miser did, and there was no way to get in a fight with him without losing his cover as an idiot.

"Tobi, calm yourself," Black Zetsu spat condescendingly. His calmer half tried to soothe things over by turning the conversation over to the interloper. "What has happened, Kakuzu-san? We have returned with our target."

Kakuzu snorted, ill-tempered. The fact that he hadn't lashed out betrayed that he was weaker than he was letting on, however. "For all the good it will do," he sneered. "Leader-sama left the bimbo in charge and wandered off somewhere. The Konoha and Suna morons moved into Ame. Hidan is dead. The last I saw, Kisame and Konan were fighting against poor odds." His voice dropped into simmering rage and bitterness. "Itachi has betrayed us."

'Well, that's not surprising at all,' Obito snorted. Idiots, the lot of them, never thinking to look beyond what they had been told was truth. Itachi had made a tactically sound, at least for the short-term. The only unexpected turn there had been that Pein had dared leave Ame… Was that why he had been sent out of the country? Pein had probably hoped to return before Obito knew he was gone.

'But where did he go?" Madara whispered, curling like grey smoke to strangle other thoughts. 'What does he wish to hide from us? Is he afraid of what we would do unchecked in Ame, or wary of what we would do to stop whatever course of action he has set upon?'

"Itachi-senpai would never betray Akatsuki," Tobi said loyally.

Technically, he was correct. Akatsuki had never truly had Itachi's allegiance. It was logically impossible for him to betray the organization.

That didn't mean that the wayward boy wouldn't have to be punished for his choice, of course.

Madara's conversation was more interesting than the outside topic. What would Pein want to hide from Obito?

'Or what would Pein want to do in general,' Obito thought instead, turning the nuances away from a topic he could hardly predict without more information. Pein saw the alliance as the greatest impediment to Akatsuki's goals, quite rightly so, and what would he do about that?

The answer came easily. What else could be expected from someone who thought to impose his will upon the world by creating a monster so terrible that no one would dare disobey him? Pein was crude. He would attempt to solve the matter ham-handedly.

"That's not good," Zetsu muttered, ignoring Tobi altogether. Kakuzu did as well. "Itachi is stronger than Kisame. He's probably lost to us."

"But not Konan?" Kakuzu asked, actually sounding mildly interested. None of them had worked with Pein's partner.

"I cannot estimate," Black Zetsu balefully lied in a way that implied he wished Konan would perish. Obito rolled his eyes, content in the knowledge that no one was paying any attention to him anyways. Pitiful and petty. Zetsu should know better. He was Madara's creature through and through in a way Obito had never been. For the moment, he was a valuable ally in the Eye of the Moon plan, since Obito didn't see a way to accomplish his goals without using Pein's Rinnegan to resurrect the older man.

But Obito hardly felt limited to Madara's vision. He was going to be the one to cast the ultimate Tsukyomi, not that fossil.

'Bide your time,' the deepest voice urged, amused for a reason Obito couldn't put his finger on. 'Now is not the time to show our hand.'

"Is Ame lost to us, then?" Zetsu asked curiously.

"Probably. It's overrun with Konoha and Kumo nin. We will need to contact Pein," Kakuzu grunted, giving a dismissive glance at the form slumped over Obito's back. "It is hardly wise to haul that sack of lard around longer than necessary."

"Without Kisame and Hidan, will it even be possible to extract the bijuu?" White Zetsu asked doubtfully. Black Zetsu made a rude sound, but offered no helpful opinion.

The oldest man present pressed his lips down into a resentful frown. "We will need to augment our numbers," he admitted bitterly. "Even if Konan has survived and meets with us, we will be extracting this bijuu with less than half our original numbers."

Strictly speaking, it wasn't true that they needed more people to extract bijuu. Obito suspected that he could accomplish such a thing with only Pein or Konan for a partner, but each participant cut down the necessary time for the procedure exponentially. They were most vulnerable while performing an extraction. It would be foolish not to shorten that weakness as much as possible.

Itachi was gone. Kisame was probably lost. Hidan had joined Sasori and Deidara in death—unless, of course, he came crawling back a week later as he usually did.

Obito let Tobi proffer an innocent idea. "Why don't we make more friends?" He clapped his gloved hands, as if the concept was novel. "Wasn't there a bad thing in Mist? I bet we can find some more shinobi who can't stay in the village anymore!"

A laugh nearly bubbled up in his throat at that guilelessly innocent description of missing nin, but Obito managed to choke it down in time. Tobi really cracked him up sometimes. More lately than in past, actually.

Any surviving Mist traitors would be highly suspect, of course, but it was a start.

"Good idea," White Zetsu agreed easily. "You can take care of it," Black Zetsu grunted, amused by his own cleverness. "We will hide the jinchuuriki and contact you when we have found Pein-sama."

He pretended to be ecstatic at the suggestion and hurried off the Water Country post-haste. With his abilities, that was far faster than Kakuzu could possibly have predicted. Obito didn't mind the informal mission. He had recruited most of the Akatsuki in some capacity or another. He had a knack for it.

That knack bore fruit only two days later on one of the outlier islands where any fleeing failures would have had to pass, when he went to pull an oversized sword out of the tides and found that it was connected to what initially appeared to be a stubborn current. Obito gave one curious tug, already suspecting the truth.

The boy came sputtering and baring teeth as he solidified out of the water, rather badly attempting to intimidate the Akatsuki.

'One of the water clan,' Madara thought, idly amused. 'And not a particularly impressive specimen, either. I might throw it back and look for a better fish.'

Obito ignored that advice and the obviously battered condition of his find in favor of something more interesting.

"This is one of the swords belonging to the Mist's seven swordsmen," he mused quietly, running a gloved finger over the distinctive handle and eying the half-moon cutout on the enormous blade.

"Yes, and it's mine!" The white-haired teen barked, attempting to pull the blade out of Obito's grip. He didn't relent.

"Did you steal this, boy?"

His catch bristled. "Fuck no, dumbshit. I'm the only real swordsman left."

"You might be," Obito agreed idly. If Kisame really was dead. More relevant to current issue was that Kiri didn't give these swords out to weaklings. The boy was young, clearly possessed more bravado than brains, and was not up to Akatsuki's usual standards. However… he had to have talent; and a quick check of his vitals reinforced the suspicion that the boy would be an A-class fighter given time to recuperate. His chakra was acceptable. "Let's make a deal. Join me, and I will make sure you can retrieve the remaining swords. If you do not wish to travel with me, I will kill you now."

The boy agreed, after a … demonstration of Obito's ability to harm him.

One addition wouldn't be enough, but that was satisfactory progress. Even better, this one feared only him and not Pein. The older man's use was quickly expiring, as evidenced by his failure to use his resources to accomplish a relatively simple goal. Pein had forgone expediency for subtlety and failed in both regards. If he didn't need those damned Rinnegan and an idiot attached to them for the Eye of the Moon plan, that incompetent, idealistic buffoon would have been discarded long ago.

He picked up two more missing nin in a similar fashion before he headed back in search of Akatsuki—one more displaced Kiri nin, and one piece of scum he had found attempting to cash in on a bounty in Tea country. It was time that he started edging out behind the Ame ninja's shadow in some respects. Kisame had been his only loyal follower. If he was truly dead, Obito needed a replacement.

Of course, he also needed to store his hangers on with Zetsu and find out what idiocy Pein had managed to get elbows-deep in.

Konoha felt like a city of the dead. Comparatively speaking, they had an impressive shinobi population for a hidden village. It didn't seem that way when about half of that population was out in the field somewhere. A significant portion of the remainder was either under fourteen or assigned to protecting the cloistered civilians, and therefore unavailable for the moment.

With so many either stationed with their most vulnerable or deployed elsewhere, Konoha's Jounin and Chuunin were stretched thin maintaining tightened perimeters around the village. Even when they weren't officially on guard duty, most of them seemed to walk the streets warily. And why not? It wasn't like there was much else to do.

It had been days since Tsunade had put the village on full lockdown. Doubtless, the civilians were getting restless, but they would be fine for quite a while. The village was prepared for many eventualities, including siege. No one would be happy, but no one would starve in the protected shelters for at least a few months, either.

'It's downright creepy.' Aiko shuddered, walking past yet another store that hadn't had time to lock their doors or put away the wares on display when the alarm had gone off. That poor deli owner was going to have a terrible mess to clean up when they returned. The smell was less than scintillating.

There were a surprising amount of genin aged fifteen and older. Aiko tried not to be biased or judgmental- not everyone became a Chuunin and that was fine—but it just seemed so strange that Naruto's team could have been recommended for promotion after only a few months of duty but that so many other genin apparently hadn't tried the exams yet at that age.

Whatever the reason, she was still grateful for the oddly large numbers. Genin were serving as temporary infrastructure—running messages, and performing the day to day work that kept everyone else fed and in decent health.

The ink on her arm burnt. Aiko didn't bother to look at her ANBU tattoo, though she had the first few times that she'd been summoned to a shift that way. That had made her look like a complete rookie, sadly. It heated when she was required to report in an emergency, but it didn't change in any way. So staring at it as if the tattoo would somehow have the answers was just begging for onlookers to laugh at her expense.

When she'd gotten the tattoo, the artist had told her that the chakra-infused ink could be used to contact her in case of emergencies. But she'd never been on a squad that did anything particularly risky or time-sensitive. Running patrols and taking guard shifts was formulaic and well scheduled, so there was no need to actually contact her as an operative outside of normal channels.

Burning on her arm had become the new normal for the past few days, however.

It didn't seem to indicate an actual emergency now as much as it meant that it was the fastest way to contact an operative. The genin corps had been largely conscripted to replace the existing infrastructure and secretarial positions, but that was still laughably inefficient in comparison to the well-polished system that was normally in place. Being able to run quickly and throw kunai didn't really put genin ahead of the civilian staff when it came to actually getting lines of communication running smoothly and the village operating.

At least temporarily, the burning now meant that she was to report to the Jounin lounge instead of the out of the way ANBU facility. As was the new norm, the room was already occupied.

"Hello." Aoba nodded when she walked in.

Aiko managed a tired smile and a half-hearted wave. She sat sideways on the couch that curled around the outside of the room and stretched out her legs, glancing down at the pale expanse of her bare knees and the tan shorts that covered the top half of her thighs. She hadn't been doing much laundry lately, so she was all out of cheery colored clothing. Her top was red, which she bleakly rationalized might be useful for hiding stains if anything ever did happen. "Yo, Aoba-san. How are you?"

The man gave a rather disapproving look at her boots on the couch cushion. A little sheepishly, Aiko moved them to the floor and straightened with exaggerated care. Only then did he give her a faint smile. "I am doing well, Aiko-san. Are-"

"Uzumaki, you're joining the group on the main gate," a Chuunin read off a clipboard disinterestedly. She flipped her dark ponytail over her shoulder and traced a finger down the paper, and glanced up to check the other occupants. "Yuuhi, Aoba, you're required in the Hokage's office. Kenta…"

Aiko silently got up and gave Aoba a little wave over her shoulder, not wanting to say anything over the woman who was still reading off new orders.

She paced the top of the wall in a circuit that overlapped with the ones being walked by a Chuunin she didn't know and a girl she recognized as one of Lee and Neji's classmates. Aiko couldn't help occasionally glancing down at the guard desk. For once, it wasn't manned. There was no point when the doors were closed and there were exponentially more guards around in more defensible positions.

It was hard to know if she should be more regretful that her tendency to glance down at the unoccupied desk meant that she saw nothing coming or guiltily thankful that she'd just turned around at the end of her circuit. Being hundreds of feet north of the large doors that marked the main gate saved her life. One second, she was glancing away from the treeline to see the empty streets below, and the next a beam of white hot light had blown through the gate and a section of the wall on either side.

Aiko nearly lost her balance, jerking to the side with the percussive force as cracks shot through the stone wall. Enormous chunks of gray stone crumbled and tumbled into the village proper, flattening the guard house and breaking a flowering tree in half like a toothpick.

Shock did what the force hadn't. Aiko stumbled backwards and landed on her ass, hands by her hips and knees partially bent. And she just stared.

There was no one there. In a literal sense. The girl who had been behind her was just gone. Vaporized. There wasn't even blood spatter.

"Oh my god," Aiko whispered, momentarily stunned. Her eyes stung painfully from the dust and debris. It took a moment for her mind to catch on to the change in the situation. She scrambled back to her feet and bounded through the clearing smoke to get a better look, and tried her best to ignore that her heart was pounding all the way up in her throat.

When she felt foreign chakra flicker across her senses, it was hard to believe that she had ever failed to feel it coming. A single man stood there, just for an instant, implacable and impassive on the ground just outside the tree-line with one arm extended- and detached. And then the world seemed to explode with movement.

Aiko shrieked and dropped low, rolling away from the thousands of pounds of gray scales that rocketed over the wall and into the city. She caught a glimpse of an orange stripe on its side, but it was a literal blur.

'What the fuck is that thing?' The view was poor from below, but it was enormous. She might have called it a lizard, if lizards could grow to the size of buildings.

It wasn't alone. Down in the south, the wall was being breached in multiple positions by other oversized animals. A bird of some sort flew over and fucking snatched up a man in its mouth like he was a potato chip, swallowing him down as it beat its wings and soared upwards, out of reach. Most horribly, a crab with a glistening pale underbelly scuttled along the wall with claws held high and picked off anyone unwary or slow enough.

The bulky man standing outside the gate took slow, horrible steps in, unchallenged. Aiko put a shaky hand to her thigh pouch, reaching for her orange-handled kunai, and tried not to wonder how she had been missed when those animals had cut through the rest of her co-workers like they were made of tissue paper. She felt very small and insignificant.

And that feeling was exponentially worse an instant later, when five more men in Akatsuki cloaks stepped out of the tree-line to flank the nin who had taken down the gate. Had one of them summoned those animals, or had that been the bald man as well? Aiko stared for a moment, completely lost and out of her depth.

She thought she'd known a fair bit about Akatsuki. But there were six people she didn't recognize walking into Konoha like they owned the place.

'Oh no wait, I recognize that one,' Aiko realized dazedly. On the side opposite her, flanking the tallest man, walked the man she knew as Pein. The cold-fingered freak who'd dangled her by her neck in Akatsuki's headquarters.

Bizarrely, despite their physical dissimilarities, all the men below shared a few odd traits beyond the Akatsuki wardrobe. They were all heavily pierced, though in different patterns, and despite being worn in various styles (excluding the one bald man), their visible hair was all… It was all..

Pein's gaze lifted- and for a second, she thought that he saw her. Aiko's heart jumped into her throat, and she straightened. If he was going to kill her, she wasn't going to die cowering behind rubble. Despite her suspicions that she was about to die, he didn't make a move towards her. Both of his hands lifted slightly, and his mouth moved. The five figures at his side swayed bizarrely and flopped to the ground like puppets. Which was weird. She couldn't hear what Pein said through the distance, smoke, and sound of screams and shinobi fighting those oversized freaks of nature.

She didn't have to. The world shifted far beyond what any human should be able to accomplish, and Aiko knew he'd done it. She didn't know how, but it was him. The next thing she knew was that the ground was shaking, and that she had been thrown several hundred feet, away from Konoha, away from the epicenter of whatever the fuck had just been done to her hometown.

The grand wall that had already been breached was still largely intact, miraculously. The outskirts of Konoha were covered in debris. Everything inside of that was gone. Worse than gone, it was an enormous crater where hundreds of buildings used to be. Motion-sick and disturbed on a level she couldn't articulate, Aiko shakingly leaned over and vomited, holding onto the grass with her fingers as if she thought the world was about to change directions again leaving her falling into the sky.

The force of that…something… had thrown her outside of Konoha's boundaries, behind the six men who were outside the ruined gate.

From behind, the oddity of their shared coloring was even more obvious, now that she couldn't see that they looked nothing alike as the five that had fallen over crawled to their feet. Self consciously, Aiko brought a hand up to her head, as if considering pulling a lock of hair into view to color check. Within a few shades, her hair color matched that on the set of men striding up. Did it mean something that all those men had the same coloring? If they'd all been brunet, she wouldn't have had a second thought about it.

An instant later, she dismissed it as coincidence summoned up by her irrational frame of mind. It was just hair. That little bit of logical thinking didn't mean she knew what to do.

She wanted to sink down into the ground and die. Hope that they didn't notice her. It didn't seem… there was no way that she could fight those people. Clinically, she knew that she was panicking and needed to calm down. That didn't mean she could.

'I guess… I'm a coward after all,' Aiko thought a little hysterically, shaking severely and not even trying to calm her breathing. 'I don't see how anyone can fight that kind of reckless destruction. If we hadn't evacuated, that man would have…' Her thoughts trailed off, as she realized with a dim sort of horror that many genin and Chuunin would have been held back to hold the inner city as a last line of defense if the Jounin failed.

'Oh god. They're all dead. Hundreds of people are just dead.'

From one moment to another, almost an entire generation of Konoha's rising shinobi was just gone.

Slowly, inexorably, the six men in front of her fanned out and walked through the enormous break in the gate, not sparing a look for the devastation or the animals that were still wreaking havoc in Konoha's outskirts.

What could she do? What should she do? Desperately, Aiko struggled to relate anything in her training to this situation. She was outclassed. Running at the six Akatsuki would earn her a hilariously quick and pointless death. It was still an option. But Konoha was famous for teamwork. That meant she should find reinforcements, right? And report to Tsunade to share what little information she had?

The sensor squad got Tsunade a message several minutes before the wall exploded inwards. Tsunade leapt to her feet and was already en route to meet the invaders personally, with Shizune at her right and Jiraiya at her left. She'd been half-expecting this for days, so on edge that her heart leapt into her throat every time that someone moved towards her office too quickly.

A full ANBU squad intercepted her on the way, led by the last person she expected. Tsunade felt the blood drain out of her face. Her mind raced and her eyes darted between the slightly bent figure of her childhood hero and the masked men who stood proudly at his side.

"Sensei?" she asked, heart twisting.

Hiruzen seemed to guess her thoughts. "There is no time, Tsunade-chan," he told her softly, wrinkled fingers struggling to properly fasten the buckles on the equipment pouch on his thin hips.

Her throat felt thick. 'What do I do? He can't fight. He's too old, he's not in good condition. Sensei will die if he participates. Does he even know what's going on?'

Jiraiya put a warm, oversized hand on her shoulder, and for once she didn't begrudge the invasion of her personal space. The man who had made her into the kunoichi she was today looked back with a largely steady gaze that told her he understood enough. He knew that Konoha was in danger. Sarutobi Hiruzen had sworn to protect Konoha and its people when he took office as Hokage.

She couldn't tell him to cower while the people he thought of as his children fought and died. Tsunade swallowed and nodded, blinking to force down tears.

"Be careful, sensei," she said uselessly, knowing that he wouldn't. Her teacher gave her a reassuring smile that really shouldn't have made her feel any better. Tsunade was a medic. She knew perfectly well that no matter how lucid he was at the moment, a man who was nearly eighty years old shouldn't be engaging in S-class fights.

Jiraiya didn't say anything touchy-feely as he was no doubt aching to, but he gave his teacher a slow nod. "Don't worry about a thing, Tsunade-hime. I don't see how we could lose with two Hokage and so many good shinobi here to protect the village." He pulled one of his cocky grins, and Tsunade had to marvel at his ability to feign happiness.

Instead of complimenting him, she elbowed his ribs gently in what he would recognize as wordless thanks. "Let's go. Sandaime-sama, you're taking control of ANBU, then?"

"I gathered the off-duty ANBU I could find," he said mildly. "I believe that we will be seeing support from the more experienced clan shinobi soon."

And that was that, because an oversized ray of light burst through the village and took a section of wall tumbling with it. Tsunade's heart dropped in her chest, and she ran through the smoke and rubble that hung in the air and obscured her vision. A massive influx of chakra welled out of nowhere and made her quite sure that the sensor team had been mistaken in saying that there was one intruder. It seemed like hours in the dim madness—her retinue ran into a horrifically oversized beast with gray scales and far too many legs. She didn't have to see it knocking over buildings by lashing its tail in order to know that it needed to die.

Tsunade didn't waste time, leaping at the thing herself. Another shinobi would have had to find a way to figure out the beast's weakest point, or work with peers to scrounge together enough destructive force to put a dent in its hide. She leapt up the side of one of the brick structures that still stood, and crossed the distance in the air to land on the thing's back. And then she shattered its spine with a stomp of her foot. The beast collapsed like a puppet without strings.

"At least it didn't get very far in," Shizune offered, sounding angry when Tsunade jumped back down to join the group making their way towards the breach in security.

There was no time for a response. There was only the sense of intense pressure hanging in the air, enormous sound not completely unlike an explosion, and then the realization that she was looking up at the dimmed sky. Dazed, Tsunade took a moment to climb to her feet. When she did, she almost wished she hadn't.

"It's gone," Hiruzen whispered, being helped to his feet by an ANBU in a crow mask. "It's.."

Tsunade swallowed tears—anger and loss—and steeled herself. What was gone was Konoha. The Academy, the tower, her childhood home… it was all gone. A goddamn hole in the ground replaced it.

Someone had to pay for this.

Sarutobi-sensei padded lightly just behind Tsunade when she halted to stare, trying to get her bearings in the confusion. "Orders, Hokage-sama?" her teacher asked, tone forced into calm.

"Pick a target," Tsunade mumbled, feeling a bit disoriented. This hadn't been a situation she had planned for. No one could plan for this. "Shizune, stay with Sandaime-sama and his team in case they need medical assistance." No one said anything about that. It did seem redundant to have the village's two best medics in one place. "Jiraiya and I will head for the-" She jerked and flung a hand out, nearly knocking the girl who'd just appeared back ten feet. Aiko side-stepped just in time, frightfully pale and turquoise eyes wide in her face, pupils dilated in obvious fear.

All three of the kage-level shinobi who had moved relaxed.

"Aiko-chan?" Jiraiya reached out and put a hand on the girl's head. Tsunade pressed her lips together. That wasn't particularly professional, but there would be no point in scolding him.

But the girl would probably react better to structure at the moment, judging by her nearly fearful body language. When a shinobi was on the verge of panicking, it was better to snap them back into a duty mindset than try to comfort them. Especially since there was work to be done.

"Uzumaki, report." Tsunade ignored the disappointed look her old teammate gave her for her unsympathetic tone. It worked—Aiko straightened under Jiraiya's oversized paw and blinked up at her lucidly.

"Six intruders breached the East gate," Aiko began, intense in her sudden focus and looking much more pulled together. Tsunade quietly approved of the compartmentalization. "All of the intruders but one are red-headed males. The individual who breached the wall was a large man with no hair. He used some sort of explosive pulse from a detached arm. I didn't see if the individual who summoned the animals was that man or one of the others. I only recognized one of them as Akatsuki, but they all wear the cloak. The man I recognize was the one the other Akatsuki referred to as their leader, Pein." She paused for a moment, before adding, "I think he was the one who did… this." Aiko's eyes flickered to the destruction and then away just as rapidly.

Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged looks. They didn't have to be sensors at this point to know that the intruders were separating. The oversized animals were all but rioting in the remaining streets, engaging any shinobi that sought them out, but the human intruders were staying to the very outskirts of town, attempting to encircle them.

It wasn't hard to suppose that they didn't want to allow that to happen.

"I will seek out the bald man who took down our gates," Sarutobi-sensei suggested, before bowing his head slightly. "If that is acceptable with you, Hokage-sama."

'That's so bizarre.'

Ignoring the discomfort that hearing her teacher defer to her inspired, Tsunade inclined her head in a nod. "More than acceptable. The rest of us will head to the bulk of the intruders." Three of the intruders were hanging strangely close together. They needed to be separated. Jiraiya and Tsunade as a team were nearly undefeatable—with backup from a few other high level shinobi, they should be able to overwhelm the other force.

Hiruzen and his backup splintered westward without another word. It took forty seconds for Tsunade's group to come into view of the devastation at ground zero for the attack.

Yamanaka Inoichi's ponytail whipped behind him as he swiveled to see the new arrivals. He managed a look of relief before his opponent came too close. Then he grunted in mild surprise, barely evading the whirling blows from one of the orange-haired Akatsuki.

It was positively eerie, Tsunade thought as she leapt into the fray, and would have been even if the intruders didn't maintain a strict silence. The attackers all had the same pale skin and orange hair, but they couldn't be related. Their facial features were too varied.

Their taijutsu style seemed to be all the same, however, which was downright unlikely. It was best described as powerful and fast. Tsunade bared her teeth aggressively into the face of the long-haired man who had leapt to engage her, holding the hand that would have broken her bones into dozens of pieces had she been anyone else trying to catch the blow.

Jiraiya moved in a blur, throwing off the Akatsuki who had come directly behind Tsunade in an attempt to pin her between the two. She cast up a quick thanks that her teammate had her back, grappling with her opponent and tossing him directly into the air with barely a thought.

She shouldn't have looked away from her opponent, no matter what she heard. But the sound that came ripping out of Akimichi Choza's mouth was downright inhuman.

The tableau was grim. Shikaku Naru's face was frozen in a rictus of shock even as a streak of black across the ground froze one of the red-headed Akatsuki into the same wide stance the dark-haired man was holding. Yamanaka Inoichi hit the ground face up with a soft thud, mouth open in surprise and blood trailing out his eyes and ears.

'He tried to possess one of them,' she realized numbly, barely focusing on her own fight enough to leap up to bat the man she'd flung like a cat toy horizontally across the battlefield.

There was no mistaking that, though she had no idea how it had been done. The blonde man was dead. Akimichi Choza was gaining red color and mass rapidly, clearly ready to crush the Akatsuki like a bug.

And then a flicker of orange crossed the field, and the Akatsuki was gone.

So was Aiko.

The moment she realized that one of the three men who she had found her way back to was Pein, Aiko felt physically ill. He had to die. He was the leader. She was sure he'd been the one to flatten the village. Maybe the others would give up without him to give them orders. But he was already fighting the three clan heads. Jiraiya and Tsunade were tag-teaming the Akatsuki with the longest hair. That left the other for her. She had to do her job.

Aiko sped through hand-seals in less than a heartbeat, moving towards the man who was closing on Tsunade. Running straight towards her real target in a predictable trajectory would be stupid. As soon as she'd gotten the last seal out, she forced a glob of chakra down her right wrist in the instant that she re-oriented to the last Akatsuki. Her hand lit up with the faint light refracting off the mock icicles that coated her fingers in a constantly moving mass. She brought it directly into the center of the Akatsuki's back- and then hiraishin'd away before the attack had bored more than two inches into his flesh.

The retreat had been a good move. Her opponent had whirled around with a fist that would have snapped her arm like a twig had she still been there.

With her actual, un-augmented speed, she couldn't hope to compete with this man, Aiko judged grimly. With Hiraishin… well, she'd have to kill him before he could figure out any attack patterns and predict her, because he was fast enough to still pose a significant threat. And were all the intruders like this?

'What is with Akatsuki being unnecessarily scary?' she thought, just mildly hysterical. Her opponent lunged toward her, hardly seeming inconvenienced by the gouge she'd taken out of his flesh. That was insane. She'd torn into his spine and the muscles that protected it.

'I wonder if telling him that he can't fight through that kind of injury would convince him to stand down?' Aiko forced down the laugh that bubbled up and tried to regulate her shaking breath, and fluttered out of her opponent's reach, several hundred feet away. He immediately re-oriented to her and wheeled around—and her attention was torn away to the source of a horrible shriek.

It didn't sound like something that should come out of Choza's mouth. He was… That just didn't make sense.

She cut across the field behind her opponent, getting a better view. Aiko only stayed in that position for the space of a thought, just long enough to see Yamanaka-san sprawling in the dirt.

'I was right,' Aiko realized numbly, not feeling the horror she knew she should. 'Pein is the most dangerous.'

That made him top priority. She had to get rid of him. That didn't mean she could really fight him. He would swat her down like a fly. She couldn't hope to compete with him. It was insane that she had ever thought she could compete with people like this. She'd just watched a better ninja than herself try and fail. (And oh god, Ino, who was going to tell Ino).

But she didn't have to win a fight with him. She just had to get him out of the way. He was probably the one coordinating the attack.

Aiko didn't think. She lunged forward with Hiraishin, twisted her fingers into the back of the frozen man's cloak, and pulled him as far away from Konoha as she could manage. With the large concentration of Hiraishin seals on her allies in a circle that must be the surroundings of Ame's borders, that probably meant she was standing somewhere north of Ame.

She didn't have time to feel triumphant before something collided with her back, knocking the back of her skull painfully. Her teeth ground together even as something was cracking in her ribs and shoulders. Her vision was white. There was no air. There was nothing but pain against her back and heat against her front where she'd been inadvertently pushed into Pein's back.

How did he do that? He couldn't possibly have predicted she would move them here.

The ringing in her ears made it hard to tell if anything else was happening or how long the pause in movement lasted—it felt like a hundred years, but if it had been more than a second Pein would have turned around and killed her.

'Oh god. He's going to kill me,' was quickly followed by, 'fuck no.' She lurched away with a rather pathetic Hiraishin—and hit her knees even before she'd been able to note she'd gotten away, falling over to curl on her side. Aiko nearly rolled onto her back, but the creaking feeling in her chest and biting pain wouldn't allow that. Something wet trickled around the shell of her ear.

'My keen intuition tells me that now is an excellent time to stop for a moment. Not just because I can't breathe. Air, who needs air?'

She tried her best to breathe shallowly so as not to disturb her ribs while still trying to breathe deeply to get oxygen to combat the emptiness in her lungs and white at the edges of her vision.

It took time for that struggle to fade away, though there was no way to measure that time. Aiko struggled to her feet, and turned her face in the direction that must be Konoha.

'If it wasn't almost dry here, I would say I was in Ame,' she thought, licking her lips. Strange. She was south of the tags that told her where Naruto and Kakashi and their teams were, who should have been stationed on the south edge of Ame's borders. That should mean she was in Grass country, shouldn't it?

'I'm so terrible with directions,' Aiko thought. 'I even know that doesn't make sense and I can't see how I'm wrong. I really need to get as many seals up as possible.'

She choked back a laugh, and instantly regretted the brief amusement.

"Right," she wheezed to herself at a tone that was barely audible, taking as big of a breath as possible to stabilize. "Gotta go home and help." Experimentally, she gave a couple of stretches, making sure she still had her full range of motion.

But god, what could she hope to do? Better her than Naruto, better that a hundred buildings fell than that Pein got his claws into her little brother; but the fearful part of her mind was asking how was her going back to die against Akatsuki in Konoha going to help?

It had to be in her head, but the ink on her chest felt almost warm. Aiko splayed her fingers over the tattoo, struck dumb by the thought. It was a possibility. Not a good one, no. But were there any good options?

The Akatsuki weren't going to stop until they had what they wanted. Destroying Konoha would be a major blow for them and probably tear the alliance apart. Naruto would instantly become the most vulnerable jinchuuriki. Unacceptable.

'On the bright side, maybe they'll give up without their leader,' Aiko thought optimistically in the instant before she flicked back to Konoha. Pein wasn't going to be able to run to Konoha in time to finish that battle. He wasn't terribly close to the Konoha teams around Ame, either. The distance would have to be measured in hours—he wouldn't be surprising any team with Karin on it, and they'd been prepared to fight Akatsuki anyway. This was just restoring equilibrium.

The only seals that had survived in Konoha were the ones in the forests outside the village and the one on Hoseki's collar. Her options were therefore decidedly limited. She erred on the side of landing outside of the gates instead of too close to the shelter where her ninken was waiting. Kami only knew that she didn't need to make them a target by indicating there was anything interesting there.

When she blinked in air that stank of soot instead of hanging heavy with damp, she was glad for the precaution. There was fire in Konoha. Better to have to run than materialize in the middle of an attack.

Pein stood on the strangely dry sod in the country of his birth and frowned. Almost absentmindedly, he allowed the boulder he'd summoned to his person with his repulsion abilities to drop to the ground. It thudded a half inch into the dry ground with nary a squelch.

"That was most unpleasant," he mused quietly, regaining his bearings. "I should not have allowed the girl to touch me."

Had she been as quick to think and attack as she was to move, he may have been injured. There were more pressing issues than her ultimately pointless actions, however. The Animal path could summon him back to Konoha at any moment if he desired. Right now it was more critical to find out what had happened in Ame. Specifically…

'Why has Kisame allowed the rain to stop?' Pein bled his chakra into the air, and allowed water to percolate. He took a deep breath and let it rise, rise, rise, to spread and coat his country. Then he allowed it to rain down, infused with his inquisitive chakra.

What he found shook him. Akatsuki was gone from the country. Pein barely maintained his hold on the rain, the lurch in his control a feat in and of itself, when it was remembered that he had been ensuring the land of Ame rained for years.

Konan, gone. Kisame, gone. Kakuzu, and Hidan, gone. But… Itachi had not left. Pein made an aborted step in his direction with the half-thought of seeking information before stilling uncertainly. Itachi was surrounded by other powerful chakra signatures. They were not familiar signatures, but he could guess as to whom they belonged. The cowards from Konoha, Suna, Kiri, and Kumo who had been blocking his doorstep for weeks had dared enter his home while he was away. And they had succeeded. Pein took a wavering step forward, mind twisted by grief and shock and self-recrimination. What kind of god failed to notice such a thing? What kind of god allowed his people to suffer? He had sworn to protect the people of Ame country, but they were clearly now under the control of foreign military personnel.

'Itachi… have you been captured, or have you betrayed me?'

Oddly, that sent a lump of something like sorrow into his chest. With spectacularly poor timing, the realization that one of his paths had been destroyed rocketed across his consciousness. The Asura path had been facing the old Hokage, and was now lost.

Shock warred with doubt. Where-is-Konan-Have-I-left-her-to-die-alone-I-need-to-find-Konan. No, she had to be alive. Konan was sentimental. If she had known their base was lost, she would have retrieved what she could and fled. He had to believe she was alive. He knew her like he knew his hands: she would have gone to one of their secret bunkers to wait for him to return.

For the first time in many years, Nagato didn't know what to do. For the moment at least, the Animal and Human paths were holding their own against the Sannin. The Preta path was roaming nearly unchallenged in Konoha, keeping the Naraka path safe in case its healing abilities were needed.

He thought they wouldn't be much good now. The images that the Asura path had transmitted in its final moments had indicated that the canny old man was doing some kinjutsu that called upon the shinigami himself. That aspect was gone.

"All my plans," Nagato noted dazedly, looking up to the sky and catching water on his face. The Human path was taking a beating from the Sannin. If they grew wise, they might defeat it. Did he even care anymore? What had he done, by abandoning Ame? He hated Konoha for what they had done to Yahiko and his dreams, but was their destruction worth this failure?

He had to see. He had to see what had become of the village he had protected in Yahiko's place. The villagers… there were far fewer than there should have been. Pein knew every man, woman, and child like they were a member of his own familiar, had intimately caressed their budding chakra signatures with rain for years. Fourteen civilians were missing- dead or out of the country. He had to see.

Karin gave a startled curse and dropped her water bottle, face involuntarily turning to the northeast. A moment later, she redirected her gaze to the south. Most of the people nearby weren't paying her much attention. But most of them weren't Kakashi.

Kakashi had frozen, almost painfully alert, waiting for her news. But he wasn't patient. "Karin, what's wrong?" he bit out, casting a wary glance in the direction she was still staring.

The girl was faintly green. "We have two visitors," Karin said in a very small voice. "I-I think Aiko brought the Akatsuki leader back to Ame. She was by the scary signature the moment that it appeared, but now she's down there, and he's still up there." She jerked her hand in two directions, the ones that she had been looking in. "The- neither of them is moving."

"They're… just standing there?" Kakashi repeated dubiously. That didn't make any sense. A single drop of rain hit his head, digging through his hair to slip down his scalp. He'd barely noticed the anomaly by the time that the sudden drop had turned into a downpour. Ice slipped down his spine, even though the air wasn't particularly cold by his standards.

"Yes, I-" Karin blinked, and shook her head. "The Akatsuki is coming here," she reported quietly.

"And Aiko?" Kakashi asked tiredly, expecting to hear that she was gone or to see her appear in their midst to tell them that she was sorry, but that she hadn't known they'd moved into Ame and she hadn't meant to dump an A-class criminal on them.

The redhead shook her head, looking unnerved. "She's perfectly still." Karin frowned. "In the middle of nowhere," she added dubiously. "Which makes no sense, of course. There's no reason for her to stand around in Ame. And her signature… well, it isn't optimal, but she's hardly dying." Karin shrugged helplessly. "At a guess, I would say she's taking a breather?"

Kakashi pressed his lips together tightly to keep in the colorful situational assessment that wanted to be spoken.

Either Aiko had been out and about and ran into the Akatsuki and decided to take him back to Ame, like a conscientious shopper returning a lost wallet, or Akatsuki had gone to Konoha. He knew which option he preferred and which option seemed more likely.

'Now would be an excellent time for some communication,' he thought irritably.

"Karin, get Sasuke."

She left without a word, running after the three who were currently serving as a patrol team for their new and not entirely friendly territory. He paced like a trapped lion, rousing Yamato and Genma (they had been running night shifts) and sending them out to get everyone ready for a possible altercation.

Why wasn't Aiko coming to tell them what had happened? Konoha should have had word from his ninken, or would very soon. It was possible that Konoha didn't know the borders had changed yet, of course, but unlikely.

It just didn't make sense. Having an intruder in the village would have made it difficult or impossible to conduct regular business and efficiently managed orders and communication, but almost all of the Akatsuki were accounted for, and the actual shinobi of Ame had surrendered after only skirmishing. If the most powerful Akatsuki had been returned to Ame, then there would be nothing more time-sensitive for Aiko than finding his team and telling them that the Akatsuki leader had been returned to Ame. Of course, she could have assumed that they would know via Karin…

"Sasuke, summon Katsuya and find out what's going on from Tsunade," he ordered snappishly as soon as the boy returned with Karin, Naruto and Yamato. Sasuke made a face, but obligingly moved to run through the handseals to summon his familiar. "Karin, update. Has anything changed?"

The redhead tilted her head slightly and let her eyes get a bit distant. "Um, the scar- the Akatsuki," she corrected, clearly embarrassed. "Anyway, he's still on course to intercept us. We won't be seeing him for a while, but he isn't slowing down. Aiko only spent a couple of minutes here. She's gone."

'Well, at least that means she isn't laying somewhere in the middle of the country bleeding out,' he thought facetiously.

"Kakashi, Katsuya isn't responding." Sasuke looked downright bewildered. "She's never not answered."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I guess the old lady is working with her?" he half-asked, moving to summon one of his contracted toads without being asked. The animal that showed up was disconcertingly large. Kakashi barely stepped back in time. "Yo, Gamakichi," Naruto greeted casually, clearly unfazed by the horrifying size of his summons. "Could you find the pervert and find out what's going on in Konoha?"

The toad released a put-upon sigh, but nodded. "Okay, boss," he rumbled long-sufferingly. "One message coming up." In an offensively-scented puff of smoke, he disappeared.

Kakashi put his hands in his pockets to hide the tenseness and strain in his muscles while they waited. And waited. And waited.

Looking irritated, Naruto called his summons back after ten minutes of awkward silence. "What the hell?" he snapped, putting his hands on his hips.

The toad looked sheepish. "I… yah." He fidgeted. "Jiraiya told me not to talk to you." He brightened up a bit, turning around to look at the others standing around. "I can talk to the Hatake brat, though," Gamakichi added cheerily. "That's what he said! So, which one of you is the brat? You all kinda look alike."

Genma choked a little, but said nothing. Kakashi aimed a scalding glare at him anyway. "Everyone, clear out," he decided. "That means you, Naruto." The blond gave him a mutinous look, but let Sasuke tug him out of sight. He turned back to the toad once they were alone. "What's going on?"

The toad glanced guiltily in the direction his summoner had left, and then flexed his webbed toes. "Five or six Akatsuki are in Konoha," he confided solemnly. "I'm not sure on the details, it was a little confusing and busy. Dad's there. Anyway." Gamakichi shook himself. "It's bad. Really bad. They evacuated days ago, so the civilian casualties are minimalized, but the buildings are all gone."

It took a moment to be sure he had heard correctly.

"Pardon?" Kakashi asked weakly, raising one hand to his neck. "The buildings are-"

"All gone, yes," the toad confirmed irritably, digging its fingers into the ground. "It's a crater."

"Unfathomable," Kakashi muttered quietly, trying to wrap his head around the idea.

Damage to the village he could understand. The Kyuubi had done terrible harm to the village's infrastructure. But the village was a crater? Konoha had stood for generations. In terms of space, it was one of the largest hidden villages. And how had they misplaced so many Akatsuki?

Gamakichi snorted. "I don't think that word means what you think it means. You wouldn't be so pale if you couldn't fathom it."

He gave the toad a dirty look. At times like this, the amphibian inability to register the seriousness of a situation grated on his nerves. Still, the information was useful.

"I assume Jiraiya didn't want Naruto running back to Konoha and basically handing himself over to Akatsuki with a nice pink bow?" Kakashi drawled, trying to figure out what should be done. He couldn't send any support to Konoha when they were on the verge of having to engage in their own fight. But it was more important to do what they could to keep the villagers and surviving comrades safe than it was to hold a newly gained territory.

"Sounds about right," Gamakichi admitted sheepishly.

#vapors #uzumaki aiko #electrasev5n #ninja daily #fanfiction #naruto fanfiction

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thou-can-say-azrail · 4 years ago

Note

Itachi is loyal to the Akatsuki (despite he’s said to be a spy) and here’s why:

We know Itachi joined the Akatsuki to spy and sneak the informations back to Konoha, right? But let’s ask yourself this question:

“How much informations has been sent back to Konoha so far by Itachi???”

And after many researches, the answer is “NONE”

First, Itachi, as a fellow Akatsuki member, must know tons of info about his comrades power (Hidan’s and Kakuzu’s immortality, Deidara’s art...) and he could have sneak those infos to Konoha but no , he didn’t, proved by the fact that whenever a team of Konoha faced a brand-new pair of Akatsuki, they just showed their “WTF” face through out the entire encounter, and usually took many more fights to work out the power of said Akatsuki pair.

Second, and this is also the most important piece of information that Itachi knows about the Akatsuki , is Pain’s/Nagato’s power. Itachi is an Uchiha so he must recognize a pair of The Rinnegan when he sees one (he’s an Uchiha, duh, they have a real piece of stone in their basement that talks about The Rinnegan). We don’t know how much Itachi knows about the Rinnegan (probably not to an extent that he could work out the secrets behind The Six Paths of Pain), but he must know one or two things about the eyes. But the point is

“Itachi keeps the secret to himself and not sharing it to Konoha”

This info about the Rinnegan , if shared, could actually save Jiraiya’s life. Itachi just need to say “hey , our Leader has The Rinnegan , which is super powerful, so be careful” and Jiraiya will know exactly who the Leader is, and how he should approach the fight against Pain/Nagto. But, no, Itachi didn’t reveal any shit to any one, coz HE’S LOYAL.

There’s also a few more small facts like Itachi taking part in stalling the Konoha’s shinobi to finish the One-Tail sealing or giving advices on how the Akatsuki should take actions (he said it when Kisame successfully captured the Four-Tails in chapter 353).

And that’s my opinion, please share me yours, would like to know.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YES

THANK YOU

ive been waiting for an opportunity to rant, buckle up bitches here we go

first of all itachis loyality lays with sasuke not with konoha and you can fight me on that he may have killed the clan for konoha but as far as we know he could have just ghosted them afterwards

i like to think he just told them the biggest bullshit like: “yeah you see there is that smol gremlin whose superpower is annoying ppl into submission, he calls it katsu but if you ever hear him say that just stand still and cover your ears and you are definitely safe” or “there is the huge blue guy, you cant miss him, he actually just looks like that cause he fucked up when he dyed his hair that one time and now he just kinda vibes with the shark aesthetic but dont worry about sharks, there arent any”

cause konoha didnt know jackshit when they came, i am especially fond of the fight against the zombie combie cause they were so fucking clueless “oh no what is he doing with that circle? why doesnt he die? what does he do with the blood? who is the big guy?”

and the fact that kakashi had to tell them “oh yes thats the guy that tried killing the first hokage that we maybe should have recognized cause its a powerful enemy who tried killing our first hokage, oh wait why is he with the akatsuki?” is sending me every time like itachi saw him and was like: “should i tell them that powerful guy that could really fuck them over is still alive and a member of akatsuki?...........nah”

we can safely assume itachi didnt tell them shit and i love it

and what you said about pein is true too, i didnt even think about that yet its the fucking rinnegan, he saw them and didnt think that the fact that the leader has the most powerful eyes in the history of his clan was important for konoha to know? pls

that just adds to my wishful thinking that the akatsuki did like each other and were all loyal

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keepyourpantsongohan · 6 years ago

Text

Ayesha Liveblogs Naruto Shippuden S20 (Pt. 3)

I wonder if going after Karin’s Tsukuyomi bulb was happenstance or whether Tobirama went “I smell an Uzumaki” and had at it

“Just be quiet for a bit” How dare you speak to your father this way Sasuke, Kakashi does nothing but love you

“EVERYONE WILL OWN A DOG. GO GET A DOG, HOKAGE’S DECREE!“ you’ve got my vote, Kiba

Mirai as a baby is an absolute unit and I love it

Shikamaru, getting down on one knee in front of Temari: Will you not marry me?

You know what. All these dreams are extremely realistic. I buy it. A teenage boy would totally dream about kicking his friends’ asses for fun even if he had the opportunity to do anything in the world. 10/10 believability

Sai dreams about being told he has a nice smile and being twirled around by Naruto my boooooy 😭😭😭😭😭😭

“[My Sasori transformer] will be the guardian deity of the Sand” Kankuro pls

Omg Temari’s dream is so cute she wants her little brothers to need her

God the fact Gaara’s dream is about having a happy childhood PICK UP THE PHONE RASA I JUST NEED TO TALK

“Madara, don’t you dare talk about the Uchiha. The only one who has that right, is my big brother.” But he did... murder them, Sasuke. That is a thing that happened. My dear. My dude. He done did it.

Having read Itachi Shinden none of this should be shocking but FUGAKU REALLY YOUR SON IS FOUR WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS

“Listen Itachi, never forget this sight” well he sure won’t now that you’ve given him CHILD PTSD FUGAKU

“We finally have peace, and we must do our best to maintain it” Hmmm.... must you, Fugaku? Is that a thing you must do?

“What is life, anyway?” Damn my existential dread didn’t kick in at least until I was in school, Itachi

Sasuke was such a weird-looking newborn I love him

I wonder how the English dub will deal with the mild implications of inc/est between Itachi and Izumi

Please Mikoto your son is like 6 why are you having him babysit

God I am so used to every version of Itachi having the voice of a grownass man that hearing a child-like voice even when he is 6 is almost off-putting lmao

Full offence Obito but why do you have to be such a little bitch

“Oh good, I knew that you’d be alright” HE’S 6 FUGAKU

Why is Naruto just sitting in a basket on top of his father’s grave??? Who let you do this? Hiruzen what is wrong with you??

“I’m glad that you didn’t die” an accurate representation of Itachi’s social skills at all ages

DFhsdjfhkdsjhfk I love that Itachi has accidentally become these kids’ leader

AHHHHH I guess that’s Hana next to Itachi I wanna see the cat ninja and dog ninja fight

“If the fighting can be stopped, I’d like to stop it” Shisui <3

Itachi’s sweet tooth is so goddamn cute ahhhh what a little nerd

Hhgfkhjfhl SASUKE’S PAW ENCYCLOPEDIA THE PREQUEL THIS IS WHAT I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED

“I mean, [ladies] are clueless” “How dare you insult my woman” Turns out the alcohol this cat was drinking was Respect Women Juice

God I love Minazuki-sensei he’s such a mess

“No they blew away in the wind” guess Itachi hasn’t picked up his snitching tendencies yet lmao

Baby Sasuke has acquired a younger voice too I guess. It is real late in the game to be establishing these lmao

Obito. I’m. Stop???? Please. Is this how Kakashi felt during the war

God I love Shisui the tiny ninja detective they really have left off some of the cooler aspects of being a shinobi in all the wild and flashy jutsu like during the Land of Waves arc when Kakashi kept noticing relatively mundane clues

“Shisui picked up on how I felt right from the beginning” welcome to empathy Itachi

“I’ll hand this intel over to Lord Hokage, and he will deliver a just and fair judgment” I like this ANBU vs. ROOT dichotomy but bold of you to assume Hiruzen won’t ultimately let Danzo do whatever he wants lol

Damn what the shit how does Shisui know who the foundation already isn’t he like 12

The animation of this arc is nice but also so weird they really did make Itachi and Shisui’s eyes like half of their face

These wholeass adults getting between by two prepubescents lmao

“A teleportation jutsu has no mass” wait WHAT I have so many questions Shisui what does that MEAN

“I want to you to think of me as your older brother” HELL YEAH HE DOES

Ffgdfkghkjh what an abrupt voice change between age 8 and 11 Itachi

How many times have they animated these same goddamn Itachi scenes

Holy shit it’s like they tried to tell the story of the Itachi Shinden novels and then got bored halfway through gfkhgfkhgkjh

“I’m exhaAAAUsted from my mission” Itachi pls why say it like that

“You have the Mangekyo as well?” Fugaku had a friend???? Unrealistic. Blocked

THEY KIDNAPPED NARUTO??? I DON’T REMEMBER THIS IN ITACHI SHINDEN

Genjutsu but I don’t remember that either ?!?!?! Doesn’t Fugaku spend all of Itachi Shinden being emotionally distant and sending Itachi mixed moral messages

Who is the Fugaku hater on this storyboard staff lmao I’m crying

I have a lot of thoughts about this art direction honestly why is everything in the shadows why are the character models so weird why is Itachi suddenly outside in the lightning for his murder discussion meeting instead of inside the council room if you had to shout over lightning people could hear you

“I challenge you to the high jump” “You’re no match for me” Sasuke you’re the most obnoxious seven-year-old in the world I love it

“There’s something that I’d like you to help me with” a very casual opener when you’re proposing the murder of your entire clan but okay

They really leaned into the horror movie aesthetic huh fair enough

I have some objections to register about Izumi’s death like both options are weird but at least in Itachi Shinden she wasn’t humiliated by Obito begging for Itachi to save her she had a degree of awareness and it was an impactful if strange scene

FUCK THE TOBI VOICE I KNEW IT WAS COMING BUT I’M WHEEZING

Cute new ED but also the idea of Tobirama giving anyone a fistbump amuses me immensely

“Who would’ve thought that that scuzzy bearded jerk would’ve been able to use a taijutsu like that” RUDE but also ‘scuzzy’ jhfjghkjhfgj

Omg that’s so funny they literally gave the former owner of Zabuza’s blade the same voice

This doesn’t make any fucking sense how could Juzo have the executioner’s blade when Zabuza would be like 21 when Itachi was 13 oh my god

“The Hidden Mist doesn’t keep any prisoners” unsurprising but interesting

Is this meant to imply that Juzo is killed and then Zabuza immediately finds the sword and starts a coup because that’s hilarious

Wait how does them fighting the Mizukage make any sense isn’t Yagura under Obito’s control lmao who wrote this

Did Itachi just.... accidentally cripple the Mizukage omg [Zabuza screams in the distance]

Hahahaha I know it’s supposed to be evil but it’s really funny that Kakuzu killed his partner for being too slow

“I wouldn’t know how to cater to your moods” kjfhgkdhfgjh Kakuzu just got wrecked by a thirteen-year-old LMAO

“I’m not sure what to do with you... whether to kill you right now or find a way to use you” KILL OROCHIMARU, ITACHI, IT’S GONNA SAVE YOU A LOT OF TROUBLE

Why the hell would Kabuto be hanging out near the Akatsuki anyway isn’t he in a long term infiltration of the Leaf Village lmao or can Orochimaru summon him like a snake

On what basis does Pain decide these partnerships did Kisame and Sasori take a babysitting course or smth

The cutaway without the “This... is art” scene is almost funnier because it implies Itachi just had to flash his eyes at Deidara and Deidara was like, “HELLO AKATSUKI I AM HERE”

“I wouldn’t mind giving you a taste of my art” [insert ninja sex joke about Deidara’s mouth hands here]

Deidara really should not be old enough to be here by this point in the narrative but this entire arc has been wacky timeline wise

Man it must be fucked up to fight a puppet version of your own corpse

“What I really wanted... was to get a hold of Itachi’s body” you are the definition of stranger danger Orochimaru

From what I remember the video games had Kakuzu and Orochimaru approaching Hidan and not Konan and Itachi but I’m game for any Orochimaru erasure lmao

I’m pretty sure all of that blood was Hidan’s?? World-building whomst

“He licked Kakuzu’s blood” did he though?? Show me his wound Itachi

OMG they’re really heavy-handed with Leaf!Itachi as if we did not just watch a bunch of episodes of Itachi caring about his village like honestly look at this:

Kisame: So even you have feelings for your birthplace, is that it?

Itachi: No. Not at all. [Sasuke, I hope that you’re safe.]

(Me too Itachi 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭)

“It’s been a long time... Saaasuke” could you say his name a little less weirdly please Itachi

You really can’t get mad at Kakashi for teaching Sasuke chidori Itachi like maybe if you would murder less people Kakashi would feel a little less overprotective

God was the only point of animating and voicing these scenes again so that Itachi could mentally apologize every twelve seconds? You know what fair enough, anxiety and depression be like that sometimes

“You still have people who’ll protect you” Oh plot twist Itachi was actually writing a “Nice” list instead of a “Naughty” list and Kakashi, Jiraiya and Naruto are all on it

Oh yeah I kind of forgot that this was all supposed to be like a 5 minute span for Sasuke’s flashback of Itachi’s entire life lmao

You know.... it’s real unclear to me how Obito wakes up from his trance lmao he may not be in a cocoon but he’s certainly exposed to the light

“Be careful. We’re surrounded on all sides by four of his shadows” “Yeah I know that” Yeah, Naruto knows it, but Sasuke’s warning where the Shadow Madaras are entirely for Kakashi and Sakura’s benefit BC HE WORRIES MY BABY BOYYYY

“This chakra is even way stronger than Ten-Tails” I really heard “Tenten” there and I was like, wait what did I miss with Tenten kfhkjhgkjhg

OH GOOD ANOTHER UCHIHA FLESH MOUNTAIN JUST WHAT WE NEEDED

“They’re turned into White Zetsu” I hate this nonsensical bit of world-building it made more sense and felt less weird when they were Hashirama clones like what the fuck

Oh I can’t believe this is making me feel almost bad for Madara did Zetsu really edit the Uchiha Stone Tablet’s Tsukuyomi section to say “Peace Plans” ain’t that how like the CIA entraps people

“Hashirama... where did I go wrong” We’d need a lot more time than you have to unpack that Madara

“Countless nights passed” I mean. Was it countless nights. Because I think it was. A couple hours. This war arc spans like two days. I have spent more human hours on this arc than they’ve spent ninja hours in this war

“I can’t believe such a person existed” neither can I Sasuke it’s almost like she was invented specifically for this arc

For real Obito no offence but like why aren’t you dead it just doesn’t make much sense khkjfdhkjhgkjh

Hmmm not 2 be that gal but Kaguya’s voice is v pleasant on the ears

“Sorry to be so rough with you, Obito” Kakashi. You loving, kind, dumb bitch. He stabbed you THREE TIMES in the past two days you really owe him like -1000 apologies

“This is also one of those times where your body just moves on its own” SASUKE CALLED OUT FOR LOVING HIS COMRADES

“I’ve got to get to Naruto” I love your dedication Minato but I feel as though the loss of both of your arms makes helping more difficult

Kakashi is not NEARLY as surprised about this levitation thing as he should be. I think as this point he’s just like. ‘This might as well happen’

All other things aside Kaguya’s really fun to look at damn

Okay okay okay not to look for too much logic in this ninja show but don’t both Naruto and Sasuke have Six Paths chakra why can only Naruto float is a metaphor for Sasuke’s fall from grace

“I am Kaguya’s child” I can only imagine a Game of Thrones-eque shadow flying out the hooha situation

“Just before the seal took hold, she gave birth to me, in order that she could be restored” I can only assume Kaguya fucked Bitterness and Regret and you know.... fair enough

I gotta tell you Zetsu being the primary narrator of this arc is jarring

Tenji seems kinda nice it’s a shame something terrible will probably happen to him

Say what you will about SP’s animation inconsistencies they can animate some beautiful-ass skies

“Is there anything that you desire” Get u a man like Tenji

Fellas is it gay to sit under the stars with your handmaiden who adores you in comfortable silence

“Even now you’re not scared. That just makes me like you more” take a shot every time a man is Like That (bah dum tss)

“Do Not Touch Me,” wow Kaguya mood

I will clarify I said that BEFORE she exploded the men gkhkjfhgkhh

Tenji, that Aino lady is your subordinate are you really gonna leave her with the creepy That man u are not the man I thought you were

“Just tell him, and I’m sure that Lord Tenji will forgive you” to be fair Aino you could’ve elaborated u were just like ‘yup she killed them’ and left it at that

WOW I RESCIND ALL COMPLIMENTS TO TENJI CALM DOWN DUDE

When life gives u lemons use people as fertilizer for ur infinite lemon tree I guess

Are you telling me 1) Gamamaru has existed since the DAWN OF CHAKRA and 2) He knew all about this Tsukuyomi shit just like. Kept it on the DL. WHAT KINDA WORLD-BUILDING

Okay but for real did the Otsutsuki clan stem like.... all the clans, because there’s the Kaguya clan (through Hamura I guess?), and the Hyuga clan definitely through Hamura, and then the Senju, Uchiha, and Uzumaki through Hagoromo like just how many people did your kids sleep with and for that matter how long ago was this

“A real talking toad! Think people would like it if we caught it and took it home?” Why are Hagoromo and Hamura the cutest things in the world this is the sibling content we deserve

“You’re just a snake oil salesman, and not a very good one” oh I think I love Hamura oh no I would love a character who gets stuck on the moon

Take a shot every time a woman exists to die and make a man sad

“She fell in love with the ruler of this land and in time she became pregnant with the two of you” notice that at no point does Gamamaru say they got married can u believe Kaguya invented premarital sex

You know none of this goes against mine and Sloane’s Kagumo theory

“How can you see so far into a toad’s heart that clearly” Gamamaru and Hagoromo’s interactions are killing me

How much time has passed for Hamura’s hair to grow that long

Hamura @ Kaguya: BROTHERS BEFORE MOTHERS

HOW MUCH TIME HAS PASSED FOR HAGOROMO TO DEVELOP THIS BROW RIDGE SAGE LAND TAKES A TOLL

Tenji doesn’t even appear in this flashback about love and betrayal it’s just Kaguya being bitter bc her gal Aino died they were in lesbians together

Every so often I’m reminded that Kishimoto has a twin brother and I wonder what he thinks about making the twins fight

“You enabled me to awaken the mangekyo sharingan and rinnegan” how do u even have words for those things. Didn’t they just happen right this moment

Wow this is all very Little Shop of Horrors, Momma feeds the tree with people juice and in turn it wants to protect her from harm

“I split the Ten Tails into nine souls” SOULS? HAGOROMO CAN... JUST MAKE SOULS. COULD HE POINT AT GAMAMARU AND SAY “YOU ARE TWO FROGS NOW” AND THAT’D JUST BE TRUE?

“We won’t be that far apart,” said Hagoromo, just as his brother was about to teleport to the moon

Side note: Maybe ur crops were failing bc without the moon the tides are all out of whack and you know, the moon was apparently just invented right now

“Time passed, and so did Hagoromo” I love this particular literary device

“Time after time I’d approach the reincarnates of Indra and Ashura” okay so we’re supposed to be down for not only regular reincarnation in Naruto but Indra and Ashura ONLY BEING BORN TO THE SENJU AND UCHIHA CLANS REPEATEDLY WHAT WHO WROTE THIS

Does this mean that people Naruto and Sasuke every 50 years????You’d think the Land of Fire would just. Get used to it

“Just with that alone, a thousands years passed” well at least we have some idea of how much time it’s been since Kaguya era lmao

Ur telling me that this horseshit happened bc Tobirama doesn’t know to leave dead bodies well enough alone

SHHHHH I PREFER THE ZETSU BEING WEIRD HASHIRAMA CLONES

This montage of Zetsu taking credit for everything Madara and Obito did is not appreciated lmao take some responsibility for your actions!!!!

I’m gonna keep harping on this for the rest of the war honestly like where is the ACCOUNTABILITY

“So your teen rebellion continues” LMAO UR NOT WRONG

“I know that this could be our last hurrah, but we gotta give it our best shot” not much of a plan Naruto sweetheart but fair

Tag urself I’m Kakashi’s look of despair at his hormonal students

“And Sasuke? Sorry that my sexy jutsu didn’t work” I was not prepared for the sincerity with which that line was delivered

The Sad Old Man™ energy radiating off Obito is... Immense

“We’re all ready to die” R U THINKING OF RIN BC SHE WAS READY TO DIE OR BC UR READY TO SEE HER EITHER WAY IT’S SAD KAKASHI

“I want to thank you for helping me out. And for helping Sasuke” “No, there’s no need to thank me” this is the first time Obito has been right about something since the age of 13

“I’m not going to waste time on speeches,” said Obito, in the middle of a dramatic speech

Minato..... how did you chop the branch.... with no hands to pick up a kunai???????? What kind of yoga contortion was involved

What I imagine the subtext of this scene to be:

Hagoromo: New old son!!!! I am dad now

Hashirama, whose dad was Butsuma: [choking back tears] Okay

Tobirama: I also hate our father

They’re all taking to this “demi-god pops out of the bottom half of dead ex-comrade” thing pretty well but to be fair they’ve had a complicated day

#ayesha liveblogs nahruto shipduden #liveblogging #ayesha talks anime #naruto series #long post #cutting it off here bc it got long #free meee eng dub

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553butterfly553 · 5 years ago

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Second Chance (An Itachi Uchiha Love Story) 10

Reconciliation and Introductions

It took a week for Sasuke and Sakura to return to the Mist with Serenity. I was practically bouncing off the walls as I waited at the mansion with Itachi and Kisame. The blue man and I haven't gotten along ever since that conversation, however, we still hang out. He just doesn't talk to me or even look at me. So, I don't talk to him. It makes a very awkward situation for Itachi and I feel bad for him, however, he had gladly put himself in the middle to keep the peace. “Adryn?” It was Sasuke's voice calling out to me. Instantly, I was up from the couch and out of the living room door. Itachi and Kisame followed closely by. I made my way to the entrance to see Sasuke, Sakura and my beautiful daughter standing there. “Serenity!” I cried out happily as I immediately made my way to her. “Mama!” She yelled out as she threw herself into my open arms. I fell to my knees to hug her tightly as I began to tear up. “It's been so long since I've last seen you, I can't believe you've gotten so big now!” It'd been a year since the last time I'd seen her. “I'm so happy to see you again! This visit will last a while, right?” She looked at me with big sad eyes and all I could do was smile at her. “Serenity, you're here to stay now. I'm going to raise you from now on.” “Really, Mama?!” She looked so happy and even began to cry. I couldn't help it and began to cry as well. “I love you Serenity. So very much.” “I love you too, Mama!” Serenity then noticed the two men who stood behind me. “Who are they?” I stood up and motioned to Itachi. “This is Sasuke's older brother, Itachi.” “No, he's now Papa.” “What?!” I nearly yelled out at the same time that multiple other people spoke the same thing. Itachi looked shook as Serenity just walked over to him. “Mama loves you, so you're Papa.” Serenity then looked to Kisame and smiled up at him. “You're Uncle Blue!” “Serenity, you just met them, you can't just...” I trailed off not really knowing what to say, however, Itachi and Kisame both smiled at my daughter. “It's alright, I'll be Uncle Blue. Itachi, you're now a father.” Kisame spoke up with a big smile on his face. He patted Serenity's head and she beamed up at him brightly. She then looked to “Papa” and gave him a questioning look. “I'll be Papa.” Itachi simply stated with a soft smile on his face. Serenity then lifted her arms to him, wanting to be picked up. So, Itachi picked her up and she snuggled into his arms happily. “I finally have a family!” Hearing those words not only made me happy but also shattered my heart. She'd never had a true family before since Orochimaru never treated her like a granddaughter. “Yes, you do.” Itachi couldn't help but show sadness in his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by happiness. I looked to Kisame only to see him turning away from the situation. “Itachi, watch Serenity, I need to talk to Ki.” With that, I quickly followed the blue man. “Ki, wait!” I chased him until we reached his room. Once there, he opened the door, pulled me in and locked the door behind him. “Ki?” “What if I told you that I want you to be mine? Would you give up Itachi to make me happy?” Kisame questioned as he slammed me against the door. I gasped out, a bit worried but it faded into sadness. “I would.” “You'd sacrifice your own happiness, for me?” I nodded my head. “Then that's enough for me. After seeing you risk your life for him, it made it real to me that I'd lost you to Itachi.” “Ki...” “I know I never truly had you but seeing how much you love him...” Kisame trailed off into silence. He then let me go and realized that I'd begun to cry. “I'm so sorry, maybe in a different world where Itachi didn't exist I could have been yours but I can't just give up on him.” I sobbed out as I covered my face with my hands. “I didn't mean to make you cry, Adryn.” Kisame pulled my hands down and leaned over to kiss me on the cheek. “Don't cry, I don't know how to deal with a woman crying.” His comment made me laugh as the tears began to dry. He wiped them away until nothing was left. “I'll always be right beside you, even if it's just as a very best friend.” “That's all I'll ask of you.” Kisame pulled me into his arms and we stood there for a moment, just hugging each other. He then pulled away and spoke again. “You should get back to Itachi and Serenity.” “I think I need to find Hidan and Kakuzu first. I can't remember why anymore, but I know we were fighting.” “Alright, good luck.” With that, I left Kisame's room and headed out to find Hidan first. He was in his room all alone when I found him and knocked on his door. “Ugh, you, bitch.” He grumbled as soon as he saw who knocked on his door. I stopped him from closing the door and began to speak. “I'm sorry, Hidan. I upset you and I shouldn't have. I kept poking at you when I knew it would only hurt you in the end.” “You are a bitch, you know that, but you weren't totally wrong.” Did Hidan just admit that he has a thing for Kakuzu? “No! It's not what you fucking think. Just you being with him bothered the fuck out of me. Every time you showed up, we'd go to fucking bothersome places. Then after the long-ass day of work, I'd have to hear you two fucking and it's just disgusting.” “That was a lot of fuck Hidan,” I commented, making him sigh out loud. “I understand why you dislike me and I'm sorry.” “Well, I don't hate you nearly as much as I fucking did before, so I guess it's alright. Just don't fuck around me anymore.” “I promise, no fucking around you ever again.” Hidan nodded his head and I left the area to go find Kakuzu. He'd be a little harder to handle. Even though I had no idea why he was angry with me either. I completely forgot about it. I just knew that I needed to make it up to him. Eventually, I found Kakuzu in the living room with Sasori and Deidara. As soon as I entered the room, the redhead and the blond left, leaving me all alone with the man I used to sleep with. “Go away.” Kakuzu instantly said when he saw me. I smiled at him and sat next to him on the couch he was sitting on. “Adryn.” “Kuzu, why are you mad at me?” “You keep pissing of Hidan and I have to deal with him.” “I just made up with Hidan, so we no longer have any reason to fight.” “Oh really?” “Yeah, so Kuzu, love me again.” I leaned over onto him, just to be shoved away so hard I hit the floor. “Ouch,” I grumbled instantly as I stood back up. “I never loved a whore like you.” “That's rude.” I nearly didn't believe him but I had to just go with what he said to not piss him off. “But will you admit to loving Hidan? He practically admitted he loves you.” To that, I got glared at. “I'll stop avoiding you, just leave me alone now.” He didn't admit it but he didn't deny it either. I'll take that as a win. “Fine.” I then turned around and left the room altogether. I then went to go and find Itachi and Serenity. They were still in the entrance hall with Sasuke and Sakura. “What took you so long?” Sakura questioned once she saw me. It was almost like she was accusing me of something. “I had to make up with Hidan and Kuzu as well as Ki. So it took a little longer than expected.” Sakura clearly wanted to say something about that, but she was stopped by a little voice speaking up first. “Mama, I'm tired.” Serenity wigged her way out of Itachi's arms and came walking over to me. “Alright, let's go home and take a nap then.” It was about midday anyway so it was the perfect time for a nap. At my little house, I prepared a room just for her so she'd feel like it was home. “I'll see you later, Papa.” Serenity waved to Itachi and began to walk out the front door. “Hey, you don't know where you're going!” I called out and hurried after her. I waved goodbye to everyone in the entrance and then I grabbed Serenity's hand and began to guide her to where my home was. We walked slowly, enjoying the forest as we walked. There were different birds and different plants than what she was used to, so it was all fascinating for her. Once we got to my home, I let her run in there and check things out. “Mama, where's my room?” I then guided Serenity to the bedroom right next to mine. It was full of toys and had a big bed in one of the corners. “Take a nap now, because I'll have to introduce you to a lot of people afterward, alright?” “Yes, Mama.” Serenity then climbed into her bed and got under the covers. She was out nearly immediately. I couldn't help but just stand there and watch her sleep for a few minutes. I felt whole now that she was here. However, I also felt tired, so I went to my own room, leaving the door open in case she woke up before me, and then climbed into my bed. I also was asleep nearly immediately. ~ “Mama... Mama! Wake up!” I was shaken awake little arms. I looked around, confused before remembering that my daughter was now with me. “How late is it?” I questioned as I looked to Serenity and then out of the window. It was still light outside. “We slept for a few hours. Uncle Sasuke is here.” “Oh. Why? He probably didn't tell you, did he?” I shook my head, trying to wake up fully. Once I was awake, I climbed out of bed and went into the living room where Sasuke was, just sitting on my couch. “What's up?” Serenity was right next to me and nearly threw herself onto Sasuke's lap. She smiled up at him happily as he gave her a look in return. It wasn't a harsh look, just a happy look. I don't think Sasuke is capable of smiling any longer. “The Kage want to see you and Serenity right now,” Sasuke responded after a moment of making sure that Serenity wasn't going to fall off of him. “Alright, let's go Serenity, you can play with Uncle Sasuke later.” Serenity nodded her head and hopped off of Sasuke's lap. I held out my hand and my child took it, so we left my house, leaving Sasuke in there. He chose to not follow us, but

it was fine, as he was allowed in my house anyway. I trusted him wholeheartedly. So, Serenity and I made our way to the Kage's place. Once in there, we headed to their chamber. “Oh, hello Adryn, and who's this next to you?” Lady Mizukage's eyes went right for Serenity. My daughter instantly hid behind me. “This is Serenity, my daughter.” I stepped to the side and stood behind Serenity so she couldn't hide any further. She just looked around the room and hesitantly smiled at everyone. “Hello.” Serenity finally spoke up as she looked over to Lady Mizukage. Lady Mizukage responded with a hello of her own. Serenity then looked around the room and hesitantly said hello to everyone else, who in turn said hello to her. “Was there anything that you all needed or did you just want to meet Serenity?” I finally questioned after they all said their hellos. “We just wanted to meet her is all.” Lady Mizukage responded simply. I nodded my head and took Serenity's hand. “Well then, we will be at the mansion.” “You're taking her to be around a bunch of criminals?” Lord Tsuchikage questioned, sounding a bit in disbelief. “I trust that they wouldn't hurt an innocent child,” I responded immediately. “If they even tried, I'd deal with them.” With that, Serenity and I made our way out of there. We headed to the mansion and went to find Itachi. We eventually found him in the living room with Kisame and Sasori. “Papa!” Serenity called out as she let go of my hand and ran over to Itachi. Sasori just looked at the situation with confusion. “'Papa'?” Sasori instantly questioned. “She immediately took to Itachi. So now he's her 'Papa'.” Kisame explained simply as he watched Serenity climb onto Itachi's lap. Itachi helped her out a bit but soon she was situated on him. Once she was properly on Itachi, she looked over to Sasori. “Hello, Uncle Red.” Serenity spoke as she looked directly at the now confused redhead. “Excuse me?” Sasori seemed to be a bit annoyed by my daughter's naming of him, but after a moment he just sighed to himself. “Hello, child.” “My name is Serenity!” Sasori didn't give Serenity any response. He just got up from his seat and left the room. “He's not nice.” “He'll warm up to you, don't worry kid,” Kisame responded patting the girl's head softly. “Uncle Blue, I'm not a kid!” “That's just what a kid would say.” Serenity then glared at the blue man. Kisame, however, just burst into laughter making Serenity pout. “So, how was your nap?” Itachi asked, directing the child's attention away from her pouting. “Mama slept more than I did.” Serenity responded simply with a smile on her face. “So, you took a nap as well?” Itachi turned his attention onto me next. “I did. However, Serenity woke me up when Sasuke arrived at the house.” I responded simply. “Not at first. First Uncle Sasuke and I talked about how I was liking my new room and my new father.” “I see.” I just smiled at my daughter. “And? What did you tell him? Do you like your new room and new father?” “I love my new room! It's so much brighter and has more toys than my old room with Orochimaru!” Serenity was seemingly thrilled about her new room. “And about my Papa, I love him as well!” “Thank you, Serenity, that's sweet of you.” Itachi gave her a small smile, but she just frowned at him. “What's wrong?” Itachi was clearly worried that he'd just done something wrong. “You didn't say it back. You don't love me?” “Serenity, he just met you, love takes a while to grow,” I explained to the young girl before she began to cry. She just looked at me, thought it over and nodded her head. “How long did it take you for you to love Papa?” “Oh... Um...” I didn't want to say the truth. I'd instantly fell in love with him as soon as I first met him. That'd be bad to admit at that moment, so I just replied something else. “Let's go meet the other residents of the mansion, alright?” Perfect, I'd distracted her, but not the two adults in the room. “Wait, I want to know too,” Kisame spoke up as I pulled Serenity off of Itachi's lap. I ignored him and carried my child out of the room. As soon as we were far enough away, I set her down and we walked, holding hands, to find the next Akatsuki member. The first room we came across was Kakuzu's. So, I knocked on his door, fully knowing that Hidan was in there as well. “What do you-” Kakuzu paused in his grumbling as he looked down at my side. “What is that?” “'That' is my child, Serenity. I want everyone to meet her since she'll be living with me and seeing everyone every day now.” I simply responded as I slightly glared at Kakuzu. “She doesn't fucking look anything like you, bitch! Are you sure she'd your fucking child?!” That was Hidan's response as he approached the door behind Kakuzu. “I went through 18 hours of labor to have her, so yeah, I'm fucking sure she's mine!” I snapped back instantly causing Hidan to just glare down at my child. “Uncle Kuzu and Uncle Silver!” Serenity didn't seem to understand the annoyance the two men had towards her, or maybe she didn't care at all about it. “The fuck?! 'Uncle Silver'?” “Your hair is silver, therefore-” “I got it, bitch!” Hidan snapped, cutting me off. “Hidan, stop swearing around the child.” “I'll fucking say whatever the fuck I fucking feel like saying!” Hidan threw a few more fucks in there than usual, just to make his point I'd assume. I just sighed and tugged Serenity away from the now arguing men. The next room we came across was Deidara's, so I knocked on his door. He opened it up and seemed to notice Serenity right away. “Is that your kid, hm?” Deidara immediately questioned. I just nodded my head. “My name is Serenity.” “Hello, Serenity, hm.” My little girl then noticed his hands and her face lit up. “You have mouths on your hands! That's so cool, Uncle Yellow!” “'Uncle who now, hm?” “She bases names off of hair color.” I simply explain to the confused male. He just nodded his head, seemingly accepting that. “Why do you have mouths on your hands?” Serenity questioned, bringing the conversation back to her. “That's a secret, hm.” She didn't like that, so she began to pout. “Come on now, Serenity, we have a few others to say hello to.” I pulled her along with me as I began to walk away. We headed towards the furthest rooms from the living room now. Those rooms were Konan's, Nagato's and Obito's. They seemed to be all in one place, so I headed towards what I think is Nagato's room. Once there, I knocked and smiled at Konan when she answered it. “Hello, Adryn, and who is this that you have with you?” Konan questioned when she looked down to see Serenity. “My name is Serenity. Mama is my mama.” “I see. Well, I'm Konan, this is Nagato and Obito.” “Aunt Blue and Uncle Black.” Serenity corrected the woman. She then paused and made a face. “What should I call him, there's already an Uncle Red.” Serenity looked up at me for help. I just shrugged my shoulders. I didn't know what to call him. “How about Uncle White? When I run out of chakra, my hair still turns white.” Nagato questioned, making Serenity smile at him. She nodded her head. “So, that's everyone. Let's go back to Itachi and Kisame now.” I spoke to Serenity as I grabbed her hand once again. She nodded her head again and followed after me as I began to walk away. “So what do you think about the residents here?” “I like them. Uncle Red is a bit mean though, and Uncle Silver swears too much. Uncle Kuzu doesn't like, I think.” “Why doesn't he get a color for a name?” “He's special to you, or at least was, right Mama?” I was taken aback by that comment. I just sighed and nodded my head. “I could sense unresolved tension from him towards you, but I don't know what it means.” “I'm sure it'll be fine,” I replied as we continued to walk around the mansion. Eventually, we made out way back towards the living room, but Serenity's stomach began to growl. So we headed into the kitchen instead. There was some cereal there that she could eat and I became hungry as well, so we ended up eating some together. While we were eating Kisame and Itachi entered the kitchen, wondering what we were doing. “We were hungry.” Serenity simply explained to the two men when they questioned what we were doing. “So, did you meet everyone?” Itachi asked the young girl. She nodded her head happily. “Yup, and named everyone.” Serenity then went through all the names of the Akatsuki members. “Why does Kakuzu get a non-color?” Kisame asked once Serenity was done speaking. She just giggled though and shook her head. “Hey, Mama, why didn't you answer my question from a while ago?” Serenity seemed to just think of that. I sighed and shook my head. “Is it embarrassing? Did you fall in love with Papa at first sight?” Serenity seemed happy to think that and my red face seemed to answer her question. “Oh really? Instantly, huh?” Kisame's voice sounded unsure. “Don't say it like that. It wasn't completely at first sight...” I was lying and it was obvious. “For a ninja, you're a terrible liar,” Kisame stated simply causing my face to get even redder. “Papa?” Serenity questioned, losing interest in mine and Kisame's conversation. “What is it Serenity?” Itachi responded as he looked over to the young girl. “Do you love Mama?” Itachi seemed to think about her question for a moment before responding. “That's complicated.” “How?” “You'll understand when you're older,” I responded instantly, trying to stop the topic. I didn't want to have him say no, and have my heart shatter completely. I hated this topic and wanted to avoid it as much as possible. Serenity just made a face at us and finished up her cereal. She then jumped down from her seat and headed into the living room. I finished up my cereal and followed her along with the guys. “Are you pouting now?” “Yes.” She was sitting in the middle of the room with her arms and legs crossed. “I see. Well, what would make you feel better?” “You kissing Papa.” “Huh? What? No?” I was thrown off completely. However, it looked as though Itachi and Kisame were also thrown off. “I can't just kiss someone who doesn't want to be kissed, Serenity.” “Maybe he does want to kiss you, Mama, maybe you just don't know it yet.” “Either way, it's not appropriate for someone to kiss someone else if they aren't romantically involved.” “Says the whore.” We all turned to the living room door to see Hidan standing there with Kakuzu behind him. “You know what Hidan, how about you just-” Kisame put his hand over my mouth before I could say something bad in front of Serenity. “Mama, what's a 'whore'?” “It's someone who sleeps around with multiple different people,” Kakuzu answered instead of me. “Hey! I don't do that anymore and I haven't done that in years! Therefore, I'm not a whore anymore!” “'Anymore',” Kakuzu stated in his normal voice with a hint of annoyance thrown in there. “Who do you think I'm sleeping with now?!” “We probably shouldn't be having this conversation around the child.” “Mama, do you want to sleep with Papa?” Serenity's innocent question nearly caused me to literally drop dead at that moment. However, within a second I recovered and responded to my child. “No, I don't.” “You don't?!” Hidan yelled out, completely confused. “My feelings aren't like that.” “How can you love someone and not want to fuck them?” I couldn't help but shrug as the adults in the room looked at me for an explanation. “I've loved Itachi since I was a child. My feelings didn't involve anything sexual then, and I guess they don't now. I don't know, I never thought of it.” “However, you loved Kisame and it was sexual, so you're capable of feeling such a thing.” Kakuzu simply stated causing Serenity to gasp out. “Mama is having an affair with Uncle Blue?” “What?! No, of course, I'm not! I'm not having an affair with anyone! That's impossible considering I'm still an independent single woman!” I was getting flustered and hearing Hidan begin to laugh at me, wasn't helping anything. “Mama-” “Nope! No more questions from you.” I instantly picked up Serenity into my arms. “It's time to go. It's getting dark now anyway.” I then glared at Hidan and Kakuzu before looking to Itachi and Kisame. “We'll see you two tomorrow. Goodnight.” Before anyone could say anything in return, I fled from the room with my child in my arms. Thankfully, no one followed us and we managed to make it out of the mansion without any trouble. Hopefully, tomorrow they'll have let go of the situation.

#itachi uchiha #kisame hoshigaki #akatsuki

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fineillsignup · 7 years ago

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Whats your opinion on Shikamaru getting to have revenge on the guy who killed his sensei (in a rather? Stupid way?) but sasuke want allowed to seek some sort of outlet or revenge for the village killing his entire family and line of people? If that makes sense,,, because I have always enjoyed the hidan and kakuzu arc and the fighting but its just.... bad writing yeah?

Great question. Comparing and contrasting between Shikamaru and Sasuke was a massively wasted opportunity. However, it was deliberately wasted because the latter half of Naruto moved away from the direct causes of Sasuke’s quest for vengeance in favour of a bullshit fate and destiny plotline, where everything bad that happened in the shinobi world was because a cannibalistic sleeve monster wanted to resurrect his rabbit alien mother figure.

But come with me friend. Take my hand. I’m going to take you on a journey to a magical place: a land where we ignore that whole Kaguya bullshit. Do you trust me?

Ok, now that we’re here in Consistency Land, let’s take a look at what could have been done here.

1. Individual vs Collective Guilt

Shikamaru wanted revenge on Hidan and Kakuzu, the two individuals who had, directly, killed Asuma. Once he had killed them, he was satisfied.

Sasuke originally limited himself to the person he believed solely responsible for the massacre (Itachi). Once he learned about the role of Danzo and the elders, he moved from not only wanted to eliminate them, but to wanting to destroy Konoha because of the idea that it collectively benefitted from his clan’s massacre. Sasuke’s clan was massacred in the first place because of this extremely dangerous concept of collective guilt.

Now according to traditional East Asian strategy and history, collective guilt and collective vengeance is a huge pattern. Somebody wrongs your kin, you have to preemptively get back not only him, but everyone who might take revenge on his behalf. If you miss somebody, then that person is gonna go after not only you but everybody who might take revenge on your behalf, and pretty soon? Everybody’s fucked? Yes.

I mean you put it in your question that “the village” killed Sasuke’s clan. Obito and Itachi, the latter under extreme pressure from the elders especially Danzo, killed the clan. Teuchi the ramen guy didn’t do shit. Iruka wasn’t involved. The vast, vast majority of Konoha was not only uninvolved but completely unaware. But Sasuke decides they all deserve to die?

This of course isn’t limited to historical East Asia. The instinct towards collective guilt and revenge is a toxic component of bloodthirsty war hawk ideologies to this very day. “We’ll bomb them back into the stone age!”

As part of a redemption arc, Sasuke should have had an explicit realization that collective guilt is a false and poisonous idea, that to pursue it would make him morally equivalent to Danzo.

2. Collateral Damage

A hallmark of Sasuke’s journey to the dark side was ever increasing indifference to collateral damage. He started out being merely unconcerned about the damage done to people who were deliberately getting in his way, but avoided harming them more than necessary. Then, under Orochimaru, he slowly became more indifferent, although he held out a firm line against killing the prisoners he was given to fight for training. After joining Akatsuki, he crossed that line when he killed the samurai. Then in the fight against Danzo, he reaches his nadir when he fires through a teammate to kill Danzo.

In contrast, Shikamaru shows no sign that he would have been willing to hurt, maim, or kill third parties to go after Hidan and Kakuzu.

3. You Can’t Change the Past, but You Can Protect the Future

There’s an inchoate idea in Asuma’s death and Shikamaru taking up his Will of Fire about “protecting Konoha’s king”, Asuma’s unborn child and, in extension, all the youth of the village. Shikamaru is not merely stopping Kakuzu and Hidan because of revenge, but because They Must Be Stopped. If they are allowed to live, they will continue to cause harm.

(I say inchoate because the Naruto ending dropped this idea in favour of letting Orochimaru run around freely abusing children, letting kids like Sumire be raised in a toxic scapegoat atmosphere, etc etc etc, but remember, we’re not in Canon Bullshit Land! I’ve taken you away to Consistency Land! Hurray!)

In contrast, Sasuke is only ever concerned about revenge for the past. He has no concept of making a better future for anyone, even himself, until the very very end with his Evil Plan To Save the World where his idea is, get this, “kill all the leaders, take over the world, and achieve world peace through everyone hating my guts”.

Then he loses to Naruto in a physical fight, and acknowledges that he’s lost, whereupon he promptly… leaves the village and basically never comes back. Um. Excuse me, sir, I ordered a redemption arc???

Where is it??? WHERE’S MY GODDAMNED REDEMPTION ARC, KISHIMOTO?

Kishimoto: redemption arc machine brokeMe: understandable, have a… wait JUST A FUCKING MINUTE

But anyway. These are what I see as what SHOULD have been the three key differences between Shikamaru’s revenge and Sasuke’s.

#reconciliation and redemption???#i don't know her #shikamaru #sasuke #naruto analysis #sasuke x revenge #the real otp #shikamaru vs hidan #uchiha clan #anti-naruto ending #anti-boruto #naruto meta #fandom to the rescue #why i love fanfiction #naruto #i should have a tag for asks

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manga2day · 3 years ago

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Itachi Uchiwa

I tachi Uchiwa is a major anti hero of the manga and anime Naruto, and the older brother of the second protagonist of the license Sasuke Uchiwa. 👦🏻 At first he was portrayed as a major antagonist for much of the story and then was seen as a hero when his real motives were revealed after his death. Before his true motives were revealed, he played the role of one of two secondary antagonists in the Tsunade Search arc, one of two secondary antagonists in the Kazekage Rescue Mission arc and the main antagonist in the arc pitting him against Sasuke. This blog article will retrace the history of this flagship character of the manga, you will find there: - The Brief History of Itachi - His entry into the Akatsuki - His real motivations Let's find out together! 👇🏻

The childhood of Itachi Uchiwa

Itachi was born on June 9, he is the son of Fugaku Uchiwa, the head of the Konoha military police, and Mikoto Uchiwa, members of the Uchiha clan who founded the Hidden Leaf Village alongside the Senju clan many years ago. generations. 🍃 Growing up in Konoha Village , Itachi proved to be a very gifted ninja, even at a young age he was considered a prodigy and rose above most of his peers. Thanks to his talents, Itachi was sent into battle as a child shinobi during the Third Great Ninja War, where he suffered the horrors of that war. Since that day, Itachi has changed with a desire to ensure that history does not repeat itself. After witnessing Kyubi's attack on Konoha while caring for his little brother Sasuke, Itachi learns that his clan has been secretly accused of the fox demon attack and the clan has been dispatched to an ancient section of the village. There, while he bonds with Sasuke who wants to be like his brother, Itachi finds himself sent to infiltrate the ANBU as a spy for the Uchiha who have decided to revolt. The massacre of the Uchiha clan

However, Itachi instead informs senior Konoha officials, as he and Hiruzen Saurtobi, the Third Hokage, attempt to sort matters out otherwise. But Danzō Shimura's actions resulted in Itachi taking credit for the death of Shisui Uchiwa, a member of the Uchiha clan against the revolt, moving away from his family. He has distanced himself from those close to him, including his own family, although his father knows he did not commit the act. However, Itachi took a dark turn when Danzō ordered Itachi to slaughter his entire clan, promising to save his little brother Sasuke Uchiwa's life. Having no other recourse, meeting Tobi who was helping him, Itachi proceeded to assassinate his entire clan. Only his parents were left and they accepted their fate, as Itachi reluctantly killed them on their orders. When Sasuke arrives, eager to do penance for his crime, Itachi uses his genjutsu to make Sasuke see a version of the massacre that places his brother as a heartless murderer with the desire to win the Mangekyo Sharingan . With the image implanted, Itachi tells Sasuke to live in hate and become strong for the day they fight to the death. 💀 Although Sasuke attempted to kill him when his Sharingan activated, Itachi places his brother in a temporary coma before seeing Hiruzen and the other high places. While asking Hiruzen to ensure his brother's safety, Itachi threatens Danzō to honor his promise or he would expose the conspiracy before letting Konoha escape . However, still loyal to his village, Itachi joins the Akatsuki to keep an eye on the organization and the threat it poses. Unfortunately, in addition to the progressive blindness side effect of his Mangekyo Sharingan, Itachi contracted a deadly disease that he managed to contain so Sasuke could kill him before she did. Despite the trauma he suffered from killing his own family, Itachi did not blame those among Konoha's rulers who entrusted him with this mission. Although he did not trust Danzō on a personal level, he knew that Danzō only had the best interests of the village at heart.. But Itachi, in part because of the necessity of his mission to join Akatsuki, changed a lot after the massacre, rarely, if ever, showing any emotion. He became more prone to shows of force and allowed certain violent habits from his partner, Kisame, under the pretext that it furthered Akatsuki's goals. 🦈 Itachi couldn't and wouldn't completely change his pacifist habits, and he would shun confrontation or hold Kisame back if the likelihood of collateral damage got too high for him or others. Even though Kisame sometimes protested, he considered Itachi a good friend and listened to his instructions. Itachi also had a decent partnership with his former partner Jūzō, showing him respect and, after his death,

Konoha's Infiltration Arc

When news of Hiruzen's death reached him, Itachi feared Danzō would take advantage of it. Itachi took advantage of a mission with his partner Kisame Hoshigaki to capture Kyubi's current Jinchuuriki, Naruto Uzumaki, as an excuse to show that he is still alive and that he still poses a threat to Danzō. Itachi is confronted by Kurenai and Asuma alongside Kisame and Kurenai has entered the fight, but Itachi is quickly revealed to be the best user of Genjutsu and effortlessly fends off the illusion of Konoha's ninja. Even when Kakashi arrived, Itachi was superior and crushed all three of them without fighting at full strength and ultimately left Kakashi helpless in the face of Tsukuyomi . However, Itachi's appearance reached Sasuke as he ran to Naruto's location and confronted Itachi as he was about to capture Naruto. Seeing that Sasuke still wasn't strong enough despite his Chidori, Itachi effortlessly beats him and brutally nails him to the wall. He motivates him to return to the path he had placed him on before knocking him out with Tsukiyomi. Soon after, Kisame and Itachi were forced to leave because Jiraiya arrived . Itachi later reaches the Akatsuki reunion following Sasuke's departure from Konoha.

Capture de Shukaku

While Shukaku is captured, Itachi is tasked with delaying Team Kakashi so that they cannot find their lair, and uses one of Sasori's spies to fight them from a distance. He subjects Naruto to a genjutsu by raising his finger, though he eventually comes out and kills the Sleeping Agent with his new giant rasengan. 🌌 When news of Sasuke's victory over Orochimaru reaches him after helping Kisame 🦈 capture the Four-Tailed Demon Roshi's jinchuriki, fearing his brother's urge, Itachi decides to put his plan into action as the disease begins to win over. By sending one of his clones to Naruto as he searches for Sasuke, Itachi questions the boy's resolve, even with the possible threat Sasuke would pose to the Konoha. Impressed by Naruto's response, Itachi has a crow with Shisui's eye implanted into the boy's body before leaving.

Itachi vs Sasuke

At this point, another Itachi clone appears in front of Sasuke to tell him that their final battle will take place in the Uchiha Hideout. Asking Kisame not to intervene, Itachi waits for Sasuke to arrive. After a genjutsu exchange and a conversation about Madara Uchiwa , Itachi reveals his failing eyesight and the only way to restore it is to take Sasuke's eyes to obtain an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan . Once the conflict becomes more physical, using several of the abilities he gained from absorbing Orochimaru, Sasuke manages to use his Kirin ability to deal significant damage to his brother. However, only his Akatsuki cloak having been burnt, Itachi reveals his true secret weapon, the Mangekyo Sharingan's ultimate ability: the Susanoo . At this point, Sasuke has lost much of his chakra as Orochimaru reappears through his secret Eight-Headed Serpent Jutsu and attempts to steal Sasuke's body. However, Itachi has his Susanoo beheaded the seven serpent heads before impaling the last one Orochimaru came out of. From there, Itachi has Orochimaru sealed with his Susanoo, removing the cursed seal from Sasuke's body. How Itachi died?

However, the fight took a long time for Itachi, as the now helpless Sasuke found himself against a wall as he approached him, appearing to want to reach Sasuke's eyes. But instead, he touched Sasuke's forehead and smiled at him before saying, " Sorry, Sasuke ... but it's over " before submitting to his illness and dying. Despite his good intentions, Itachi's hopes for Sasuke are dashed when Tobi later tells Sasuke the truth about Itachi's reasons for betraying the Uchiha clan. However, the crow that Itachi placed in Naruto was going to counter this event by the time Sasuke obtained the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

The Fourth Great Ninja War

Itachi was revived during the Fourth Great Shinobi War by Kabuto who used the forbidden soul reincarnation jutsu to convince Tobi to join in the war he declared. After parting ways with Kakuzu, Itachi carries Nagato as they discuss how they were brought to their eyes and are nothing more than weapons. The last two cross Naruto and Killer B. 🐙 Itachi is surprised that the first can now use the power of Kurama. While forced to fight against his will, Itachi is horrified when he learns of Sasuke's actions after his death while begging Naruto not to reveal the truth behind the Uchiha clan slaughter for the honor of his clan. . When Itachi activated his Mangekyo Sharingan, he brought out the crow he had placed inside Naruto and implanted Konoha's protective command to override Kabuto's control over him. Itachi helps Naruto and Killer bee defeat Nagato before destroying the crow, so that Shisui's eye does not fall into the enemy's hands. Telling Naruto to entrust Sasuke to him, Itachi tracks down Kabuto to force him to release the Reanimation Jutsu. However, Itachi finds himself joined by Sasuke and ends up promising to tell him the whole truth before they fight Kabuto together. Itachi et Sasuke vs Kabuto

The two brothers are vastly outmatched until Itachi uses Izanamito trap Kabuto in his own mind. With their enemy willing, over Sasuke's objections, Itachi explains that he has nothing left, while stating that it was an honor to protect their home one last time. After using his genjutsu to force Kabuto to release the Reanimation Jutsu, seeing his brother still adamant about the destruction of Konoha, Itachi uses his sharingan to show Sasuke all of his memories. Explaining to Sasuke that things would have been different if he had never lied to him, Itachi tells him that he doesn't need to be forgiven but that he will always love Sasuke, no matter what path he takes. will choose. After a moving speech, Itachi bids farewell and returns to the afterlife. 👼🏻

Rock Lee: The Twists of a Budding Ninja

Itachi appeared in the chibi spin-off of Rock Lee : The Adventures of a Budding Ninja in Episode 38, along with Kisame, arriving at the hideout. When Lee and Tenten saw him, they realized that the group they met was none other than Akatsuki himself, despite their stupidity. Itachi, seeing him, asked his other teammates who told him that Lee is a newbie recruited by Zetsu. Like Kisame 🦈 he doesn't trust Lee either, so he uses his Sharingan and places Lee under a genjutsu, who is defeated by Tenten so he can continue to disguise himself. Once released from the genjutsu, Lee then saw Itachi covered in crows droppings all over his body. Later, after Deidara unintentionally starts a brawl within the group, Itachi, unlike everyone else, tries to stop them from fighting, but fails completely. Later, after Tobi admitted the truth, Itachi and the rest of Akatsuki beat Deidara for not saying Lee was a spy. Itachi makes an appearance in Episode 46, where Jiraiya classifies him as an occasional pervert, alongside Sasuke and Yamato. In Episode 51, Itachi is briefly mentioned by his brother, Sasuke, who teams up with Akatsuki to destroy Konoha. 💥 One could suggest thatItachi might have died before the episode .

Appearance of Itachi Uchiha

Itachi is a tall 21-year-old young man with long dark hair tied in a ponytail that was usually hidden by the high collar of his black akatsuki coat, onyx eyes, and pale skin. 👦🏻 One of her most identifiable features are the lines running from her eyes to her cheeks and her almost constantly active Sharingan.

Itachi's motivations

After he is butchered his clan, Itachi has become virtually emotionless and unfriendly. A man perfectly in control of his emotions, Itachi only expressed surprise during battle if his opponent was stronger or caught him off guard, and even this could be interpreted as a deliberate act to deceive his ally Kisame . Unlike most of Akatsuki's other members, Itachi didn't display the more typical aspects of a villain like arrogance. He treated his fellow Akatsuki members with the same respect. In fact, he goes so far as to respect and compliment his opponents for their skills and abilities. He is able to back up his claims because he has the power, not because he is He does not like combat sport and does not indulge in violent bloodshed, preferring to hasten to end his fighting as quickly as possible. Even in such a state, Itachi can still display vestiges of his kindness, expressing his distaste for Orochimaru's actions . All of his supposedly nefarious acts were so many tricks to encourage Sasuke to kill him while he cared deeply for his younger brother. Facing Naruto, he sees hope in the young ninja and entrusts him with the task of pulling his brother out of the vengeful darkness he has embraced for all these years. Indeed, Itachi (although emotionless from the outside) was unhappy, sad, discouraged, and in pain from within.

Itachi: a ninja prodigy

A talented and very powerful ninja, Itachi was a prodigy, his intelligence and abilities blossoming from a young age. He had already graduated and became a Jonin by the age of twelve and obtained the Sharingan by the age of seven. He quickly rose to Anbu's rank and even became captain of an Anbu squad . Itachi's prowess was recognized by Orochimaru as superior, Itachi effortlessly crushing the Sannin. He was also perfectly capable of killing Sasuke if he wanted to despite his illness, with Sasuke still unable to beat Itachi despite the latter's resistance.

Chakra and Itachi power

As a Uchiha, Itachi's chakra was naturally strong, but his chakra stores became very low, exacerbated by his illness. This kept him from participating in long clashes and limited his use of the Mangekyo Sharingan techniques to three times a day before he needed a significant rest, at which point even his Sharingan deactivated. To compensate for this limitation somewhat, Itachi had very refined control of the chakras, able to perform his techniques with one-handed seals. Although rarely getting involved in such fights, Itachi was very good at taijutsu, enough to easily defeat three members of the Konoha Military Police at the age of eleven. He had impressive speed and reflexes, especially with the movements of his hands. He felt like he could perform his techniques without seals, even skilled Sharingan users found it difficult to keep up with him. His speed allowed him to attack first in a fight , then immediately move to where his opponent was retreating before he even realized he was gone, giving him no chance to launch a counter. attack.

Itachi's Sharingan

Itachi quickly managed to master the Sharingan from a young age and became the clan's greatest eye expert, even rivaling Shisui. The famous kekkai genkai exclusive to the Uchiha clan and can only be obtained after having experienced trauma, emotional stress. 😨 Sharingan is an instantly recognizable dojutsu (eye technique) upon activation, as an Uchiha's normally black eye color turns blood red, accompanied by a varying number of tomoe circling the pupil. Since Itachi's Sharingan has been fully grown, it has a maximum of three tomoe. It allows the user to copy any type of jutsu they see at least once and then imitate it perfectly. It also allows them to see the flow of the chakras clearly, which is effective against most ninjas. Itachi only used the Sharingan for this last ability, as he never showed the utility of copying. the movements of his opponent. Thanks Read the full article

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recentanimenews · 7 years ago

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10 of the Most Intense "Naruto" Anime Battles Ever!

By Brandon Lee

For those who aren’t familiar, the Naruto series is perhaps one of the most illustrious anime series around the world. With millions of loyal adherents globally, there is probably something that every fan can agree to. That is that this anime series features amazing battles from Naruto to Naruto Shippuden. Without further ado, here are 10 of the most intense Naruto battles. Enjoy!

10. Rock Lee vs Gaara

I’ll admit. At first, I thought Lee was going to get creamed by Gaara. After all, Gaara looked pretty scary up until the point of the Chunin Exams, and Lee seemed like an ordinary taijutsu user. Well, boy was I wrong. Lee vs Gaara was probably the best, tick for tack match in the entire Naruto series. I’ll say that the 8 Inner Gates made Lee a bit overpowered, but he still used his raw power to nearly defeat one of the strongest Genin of the Sand Village. Gaara, on the other hand, proved that he was the stronger of the two, breaking Lee’s legs with just the palm of his hand. Still, he was in dire straights and looked like he was on the brink of defeat himself.

9. Might Guy vs Madara

Alright, this was another match that I blatantly misjudged. Of course, Might Guy is the strongest taijutsu master in the Naruto series and has totally mastered the 8 Inner Gates, but Madara is the man only rivaled by the First Hokage. I expected this match to be quick. In any case, Guy didn’t waste any time and easily transformed into the final Inner Gates. Before I get into what he did, let me say that Madara could have killed Guy with one hit if he wanted, and that led to his downfall eventually. Guy used the Gate of Death to incapacitate Madara. Even Madara truly feared for his life at that point, and the battle was nothing short than spectacular.

8. Kakashi vs Kakuzu and Hidan

People don’t truly realize how strong Kakashi is. Well, for those who believe that Kakashi is overrated, go back and watch Naruto Shippuden episode 85. In that episode, you will see Kakashi battling two of the deadliest members of the Akatsuki pretty much by himself. At this point, Kakashi used his taijutsu to deal with Hidan and still was avoiding Kakuzu’s attacks. This intricate battle favored the Akatsuki duo, but Kakashi nearly killed them both at one point. At any rate, this battle was cool for as long as it lasted.

7. Sasuke vs Deidara

Saskue may have surpassed Naruto in the initial stages of Naruto Shippuden, but Deidara sure gave him a run for his money during this fight. This battle featured Deidara at his best. He finally came prepared and seemed dead set on killing Sasuke with his explosive clay. However, Sasuke, having access to Lightning based attacks proved to be too much for Deidara. That didn’t stop Deidara from nearly killing Sasuke more times than anyone can count. These two battled until Sasuke couldn’t move. That just proves how intense this battle was.

6. Sasuke vs Itachi

The showdown between the two brothers. The clash of the Uchiha survivors. The battle of the Sharingan. Whatever you want to call it, this death match was all the hype said it would be. Something told me that Sasuke would have the upper hand after all of his extensive training with Orochimaru, but the irony of the whole battle was that Itachi was still leagues ahead of him. While Itachi did get whacked by Sasuke's Kirin and admitted that the attack would have killed him under normal circumstances, Itachi debuted the Susano along with the Totsuka Blade and Yata Mirror. The match ended with Itachi sparing his little brother, and it gave Naruto fans the fight they had been waiting for.

5. Madara vs The Five Kage

Avert not your eyes on this particular battle. The creators have been so good to us and created a rubber match between the strongest Uchiha to ever live and five strongest ninja in the world. This match did not disappoint. The Five Kage started out beating Madara, but as it turned out, Madara was only holding back. When Madara started to show his true power, the Five Kage and myself were just in awe. Still, the Five Kage came together to create this ridiculous attack that could have killed anyone else not named Madara.

4. Jiraiya vs Pain

Honestly, I don’t think anyone thought much of Jiraiya until he fought Pain. He may have been one of the Legendary Sannin, but he seemed to be like Naruto in terms of potential. However, don’t let Jiraiya’s raunchy actions fool you. He was the strongest Legendary Sannin, hands down. This was proved after he went toe to toe with the leader of the Akatsuki. Still not convinced? Itachi did defeat Orochimaru easily and Tsunade wouldn’t last with Pain. Even so, Jiraiya fought Pain head on in a suicide intel mission. Even after Pain defeated him, he acknowledged Jiraiya as a true genius and concluded that things would have been different if Jiraiya knew his secret. He was right. Jiraiya had a counter for every one of Pain’s attacks, and this fight was the best up until that point of Naruto Shippuden.

3. Sasuke vs The Five Kage

After Sasuke survived his battle with Itachi, he surpassed him and became a force to be reckoned with. I’ll admit. This battle came out of nowhere and it seemed suicidal for Sasuke to fight five of the strongest ninja in the world. Well, he went toe to toe with the Raikage, fought evenly with Gaara, escaped the Mizukage, all before being defeated by Onoki. During this whole battle, Sasuke showed off his Sharingan prowess and brute power, forcing the Raikage and Gaara to rethink their tactics. If you ever want to see a Naruto battle without all of the fuzz, then this is the one to watch.

2. Naruto vs Pain

Okay, I am done with Sasuke for now. In this battle, Naruto showed up to the Leaf Village that desperately needed him. He had surpassed Jiraiya and was now avenging his death. This wasn’t the goofy Naruto anymore. At this point, Naruto even surpassed Sasuke, and it showed. Pain, of course, used his strategy and attacks to hinder Naruto for most of the battle, but Naruto used his Sage Mode to even the score. This amazing battle featured Naruto using nearly all of the Nine Tailed Fox’s power with Pain still keeping up, a touching moment from Hinata, and Naruto’s meeting with his parents. In the end, he defeated Pain with his usual luck and the Rasengan. Very usual, indeed.

1. Naruto vs Sasuke

Where do I begin? Naruto and Sasuke fought six times in the Naruto series altogether. Every fight was entertaining, to say the least. However, the fight I am mentioning is the last battle, Naruto and Sasuke's final battle. In this fight, Naruto and Sasuke were at their peak. The state of the world was hanging in the balance, and once again Sasuke tried to kill Naruto while Naruto wanted to do the exact opposite. Both of these knuckleheads showed off some insanely powerful jutsu and clobbered each other. However, Naruto ended out coming away with the win, saving Sasuke like he always wanted. This fight was the premier battle between the world’s strongest shinobi, and it lived up to the hype.

Well, that is my take on 10 of the most intense Naruto battles. If you got any comments or suggestions, feel free to leave them below. If you liked this feature, go ahead and hit the like and share button!

WATCH NARUTO AND NARUTO SHIPPUDEN HERE ON CRUNCHYROLL!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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naruto-scenarios-plus-akatsuki · 8 years ago

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Could you do a part 3 of reader begging for konans life? Wher the reader gains feelings for tobi, or tobi starts to like the reader? Thank you so much for reading this!

I kind of made this complicated, but I hope you like it none the less. Thank you for requesting a continuation. :) Also spoilers for those who haven't gotten to the war yet in Naruto Shippuden.

Part I

Part II

Reader begging for Konan’s life: Part III

It had been a few weeks since you offered your life to spare Konan’s. You were under lock and key for the first week as Tobi had somewhere to be. He couldn’t trust you in his Kamui dimension and he hadn’t made up his mind whether to kill you yet or not. He had tested your skill and strength in a sparring match, concluding that you weren’t as strong as your former comrades. Tobi realized why Konan and Nagato left you behind in Amegakure.

You weren’t an adequate fighter but you were excellent at medical ninjutsu and chakra control. Tobi figured he may have use for you and left you for a week with a clone of white Zetsu to attend to you.

When Tobi returned, he was not alone. He freed you from your cell and brought you to another young man, whose being you could feel was full of malice and hate. Something about the young man unnerved you as the man demanded for his new pair of eyes.

Disturbed, Tobi commanded you that you were to help transplant the young man’s eyes for his brothers. You were bothered when Tobi showed you the container with a pair of floating eyeballs. Tobi had to threaten you once more with Konan’s life to get you to work.

After you had performed the transplant, you were instructed to tend to the man. You soon learned the young man’s name was Sasuke, another Uchiha that you saw was on the path of darkness. He was impatient and rude during his healing process. He didn’t make it easy for you to attend to him.

You hadn’t seen Tobi around much and he left you to your own devices, knowing you were still being watched by Zetsu. Tobi would stop in on occasion to check on the young Uchiha’s process and recovery.

“How much longer?” Sasuke seethed lowly as you placed a tray of food before him.

You knew better than to help him eat even though he was blind at the moment, because Sasuke had snapped at you the first time you tried.

“It shouldn’t be much longer. Your eyes have to heal and adjust,” you mentioned softly, not wanting to anger him.

Sasuke clenched his fist. “I want a definite answer. I can’t stand being stuck in here for much longer,” Sasuke urged, impatience laced in his voice.

“There’s no definite answer, your body needs rest- “

“I’VE rested enough,” Sasuke snapped, cutting you off, making you flinch.

“Now, now Sasuke… These things take time,” Tobi’s deep voice cooed.

You whipped your head around to see Tobi standing in the doorway. Sasuke frowned deeply as his head turned in the direction of the voice.

“Y/N, come with me and leave young Sasuke to his supper,” Tobi ordered as you hurriedly picked yourself up off the floor to head towards Tobi.

You followed Tobi out of Sasuke’s room and down the corridor.

“How is he doing?” Tobi questioned.

“It won’t take long now. Maybe another week,” you answered, obediently.

“Hm, great,” Tobi’s voice rumbled, his thoughts drifting somewhere else.

They walked in silence for a while through the Akatsuki hideout. Tobi’s thoughts wandered to the upcoming war he had declared on the Five Great Nations. His Zetsu army was almost complete. He had a good month to prepare and with Sasuke close to recovery it was good news to him.

He looked down at you through the eye hole of his mask, glad that he had decided to use you to his advantage. Sasuke’s recovery was coming along faster than he expected and with having you attend to Sasuke, it gave him more time to plan for the war. He knew you still believed he was Madara to some extent, which is why you were more incline to obey his commands.

You were of good use but he wondered what he should do with you after Sasuke was better and when the war begins. He could keep you as medical backup if his plans go arise but he wasn’t too sure of your loyalty if you found out he had gone back on his bargain.

It wasn’t his fault really. He had warned you, Konan would be spared if she didn’t get in the way, but he knew it wouldn’t matter. Konan meant everything to you and the moment you found out she died by his hand, it would be the moment you quit being so obedient.

Tobi was wallowing in his thoughts that he was surprised as Zetsu appeared before him.

“What is it?” Tobi asked, Zetsu having stopped you two in your tracks.

“Kabuto is outside of the hideout,” Black Zetsu informed.

“What?!” Tobi remarked, astonished as the information sunk in as Zetsu sunk into the ground once more. He turned quickly to you. “Follow me and stay out of sight and don’t say a word.”

You nodded, following Tobi to the exit of the Akatsuki hideout where Kabuto stood out in the open waiting patiently. You were quick to take cover as Tobi stepped out into the sunlight. You moved swiftly behind a bolder that was beside the opening to the hideout, peeking round it to watch the exchange.

You were sure Kabuto being here was bad news. You knew of the man, knowing he was one of Orochimaru’s henchmen, but with Orochimaru dead, you were curious what he was up to.

You knew Tobi requesting for you to follow him meant even he didn’t trust Kabuto. You figured Tobi wanted you close by in case the exchange came to a brawl and he needed medical assistance.

If that were to happen, it would be the perfect opportunity for you to bail. However, you wouldn’t be able to go through with it. If Tobi managed to survive without your assistance, Konan’s life would be endanger once more. You couldn’t live with that.

Plus… over the passed few weeks, you had the chance to interact with Tobi. You learned there was more to him than meets the eye. He was very somber and was quiet half the time, but there were moments when he make an unexpected joke and laugh at his own humor. His humor actually caught you off guard too and it made you laugh without meaning to. In those moments you knew there was a man that was softer and livelier under his sullen demeanor.

You had mixed emotions about Tobi, knowing he was your commander in order for Konan to remain safe but he essentially held your freedom in his hand.

“Let’s start with the greetings, Tobi.”

Your ears picked up as you focused your attention on the conversation at hand.

“Oh, that’s right, I hear you’re going by Madara these days,” Kabuto began smug upon seeing Tobi.

“I was impressed you found me,” Tobi was quick to respond, his voice deep, not amused.

“You shouldn’t underestimate my volume of intel from crisscrossing the land as a spy for an Akatsuki member,” Kabuto enlightened.

“That’s right you were one of Sasori’s spies, you’re a trader to the Akatsuki,” Tobi accused as he leaped towards Kabuto to attack.

Your heart rate quickened at the sight. You figured it would come to a fight, but you thought it wouldn’t be so soon as you continued to watch.

Kabuto was quick to retreat, before slamming his hands together to summon a row of coffins. You weren’t clueless about the jutsu Kabuto had summoned, seeing Tobi paused as well, recognizing the jutsu. Kabuto smirked as the coffins fell open, displaying five deceased members of the Akatsuki.

You weren’t appalled upon seeing the dead corpses of Deidara, Sasori, Itachi, Nagato, and Kakuzu. However, you became distressed seeing Nagato’s reanimated body, knowing that Kabuto must have found where Konan had hid the bodies of your dead comrades. Your stomach twisted in fear that Kabuto might have harmed Konan to get that information.

“Now that I’ve gotten your attention. I did not come here to fight you,” Kabuto addressed, casually.

“Then what do you want?” Tobi questioned, not trusting this snake.

“I want us to join forces,” Kabuto offered. “I’m willing to lend you my services for your upcoming war.”

“And what are you after in return?” Tobi’s eyes narrowed, skeptical.

“Sasuke Uchiha.”

You gasped lightly from your hiding place, before quickly covering your mouth. Kabuto was after the young man you were healing and you couldn’t help but wonder why. Kabuto’s eyes barely shifted to the spot you were hiding, before returning to Tobi. Tobi wasn’t fazed and didn’t take his eye off Kabuto.

“What are you plotting?” Tobi accused, menacingly.

“Nothing in particular,” Kabuto mentioned innocently, a sly smile on his face. “I’m just interested in finding the pure truth behind ninjutsu. Sasuke is necessary for my research.”

“What if I refuse?” Tobi mocked.

Kabuto smirked widened as he smacked his hands together again. He summoned another coffin and you were astounded once Kabuto revealed the reanimated shinobi he summoned. Your eyes widened as your heart froze momentarily upon seeing Madara Uchiha’s reanimated body.

Your eyes immediately fell on Tobi. Your mind was racing, wondering who the man in the orange mask really was. You had always been skeptical that Tobi was Madara but now it was confirmed. Confusion and curiosity swept through you, wondering who this man, Tobi, really was as you kept your eyes on him.

Tobi seemed stunned too by Kabuto’s reveal. Kabuto was smug, knowing Tobi could not refuse his request now and Sasuke would be relinquished to him.

Tobi shook with inner rage as he tried to keep his voice calm. “Where did you get that?”

“Oh, I have my means but don’t worry I haven’t told anyone else about this,” Kabuto stated as his eyes drifted over to where you were hiding. “Besides you and your mouse.”

Silence fell over the scene, you weren’t sure what was going to happen next and you were surprised as Tobi began to laugh deeply. Your eyes widened, wondering why Tobi found this amusing. Kabuto didn’t take the laughter kindly as it wasn’t what he expected either.

“Kabuto Yakushi. I never expected for you to become such a formidable vessel. To fight you would only lower my battle strength even if I do have a skillful medical ninja at my disposal.” Tobi commented, mentioning you as a great asset to him. “You came here at the perfect opportunity; war will be upon us soon and I will only fulfill your request after both you and Sasuke fulfill your parts in the war. Until then you can’t even see him.”

Kabuto’s grin dropped from his face. “You comprehend quickly as expected from an Uchiha who calls themselves Madara.”

“I will need to reformulate my battle strategy after assessing your battle strength, come along,” Tobi directed as he turned back to the entrance of the hideout.

“And what of your mouse you have hiding?” Kabuto questioned as he dispelled his summoning jutsu.

“She shall be of no concern of yours,” Tobi claimed, nodding to you from your hiding spot.

You had many questions at the tip of your tongue but you knew better than to ask Tobi in front of Kabuto. Tobi gestured for you to enter first and you nodded obediently as he ordered you to head back to your chores.

Your eyes connected with his, seeing his sharingan still activated, before leaving him and Kabuto alone to make plans for the war.

Link to Part IV

#tobi #obito #obito uchiha #konan #obito scenario #tobi scenario #tobi imagine #obito imagine #akatsuki #akatsuki imagine #akatsuki scenario #madara

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scatteredfangirling · 8 years ago

Text

Our Inherent Flaw

Itachi’s first words to Kisame are “You talk a lot.” Kisame learns about Itachi from the one-sided conversations that ensue over the years and comes to terms with the inevitability of feeling human.

(Note: I hashed this out over the course of the weekend (more or less), and I have sunk into the kisaita hell hole)

When Kisame first meets his partner, they meet on cautious terms. They are both members of an international crime organization after all, of which comradery is not of major importance, considering that all of them are exceptionally skilled in the art of warfare and murder. Bonds are not needed in their line of work, if Kakuzu’s long list of ex-partners (that he killed by himself) were any indication.

With this in mind, Kisame introduces himself to Itachi and gets little to no response. The kid’s head might have moved just a little. So he isn’t a talker. Kisame then delves into the Uchiha’s reputation, hoping to get a reaction so he can get a read on the Leaf shinobi he has been partnered with. Itachi just turns away and stares at the horizon.

His first words to Kisame are “You talk a lot.” This is before he delves into his own interpretation of Kisame’s reason for joining the Akatsuki. They’re all here for the same reasons, more or less. Just trying to find their place in a world of commissioned violence that makes little sense. If you’re good at something morbid, it doesn’t really seem to matter who you do it for anymore.

Kisame notes that the kid has guts, to boldly say such things about a colleague that he has just met without batting an eye. When he points Samehada toward Itachi as a warning (and also to test him, Kisame later admits), the Uchiha doesn’t flinch. Kisame warns Itachi to be wary of him, and Itachi returns this sentiment, irises red with Sharingan. It’s a somehow dramatic and simultaneously anti-climactic first meeting, that afternoon on the pier.

What sticks with Kisame about that first meeting is the last thing Itachi says before they head off to begin working together. “No matter who you are, you don’t know what kind of person you are until the end.” Ominous sagacious words from one so young.

For the most part, they’re complete opposites. Kisame specializes in Water Release, Itachi in his clan’s specialty: Fire Release. One could say that their personalities don’t really suit their chakra natures at all. As a shinobi from the Hidden “Blood” Mist Village, Kisame is eager to fight, whereas Itachi is not.

Itachi’s specialty in genjutsu, especially with his Sharingan, is something Kisame could never imitate in his lifetime. For a kid ten years younger than him, Uchiha Itachi is a young sage capable of mass destruction that makes his moves with care, and Kisame respects this immensely. This is the sole reason that he holds back whenever Itachi says to; the Uchiha never does anything without having a plan laid out in the big picture.

Everyone in Akatsuki has their dark secrets and hidden pasts, but none interest Kisame more than his partner’s. Itachi is a man of few words, so it’s difficult to get any read on him. Kisame only knows what information is on public record, thanks to the Bingo Book. Uchiha Itachi advanced through the ranks prodigiously, made ANBU captain at age thirteen, and annihilated his entire clan, save his brother, in one night. Kisame resorts to learning about Itachi in bits and pieces as they complete missions together.

At one point, Deidara taunts Kisame for being “whipped” for Itachi because of the way he obeyed the younger man without question. This is promptly met with an unexpected “Sasori was right, you are the type to die young” from Itachi, who hasn’t said anything in the past four hours and doesn’t move a muscle from his meditation position. Expectedly, this sets Deidara off, and Itachi proceeds to ignore whatever expletives the clay-user spouts (“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU ONE DAY, JUST YOU WAIT, UN!”). Kisame smirks behind the high collar of his Akatsuki robe.

Years pass, and rumor has it that Orochimaru invaded Konoha while posing as the deceased Fourth Kazekage. Itachi volunteers their two man cell to check out the village and the status of the Nine Tails. And so, Kisame finds himself standing with his partner at the top of Konoha’s border, watching the smoke drift from the center of the village.

He can’t help but wonder.

“Feeling any nostalgia for your home village?”

“Not at all.”

Itachi’s usually blank gaze flickers quickly with something Kisame thinks is doubt. Before he can open his mouth to say anything, Itachi starts moving toward the village.

When they stop by a restaurant to grab a quick bite before work begins, Kisame notices again that something is off with Itachi. He has glanced at something behind Kisame several times in the few minutes since they have sat down and ordered.

“What is it?”

Itachi simply looks Kisame in the eye. At this point, Itachi’s soul piercing stares no longer faze Kisame. He’s grown used to interpreting his partner’s eyes when his questions are met with silence.

“Nothing.”

The Uchiha doesn’t look at whatever it is behind Kisame again. Kisame isn’t convinced.

After their lunch break, the duo encounters two jonin, both of which they handle pretty easily. Despite the woman being a genjutsu user, she can’t keep up with Itachi’s eyes. Kisame is entertained by the man and his chakra blades. A third jonin, with distinctive messy gray hair and mask that covers his mouth and nose, swoops in, and he recognizes Itachi immediately. It seems that Itachi does too, because he immediately tells Kisame to keep his distance.

As usual, Itachi makes a good call, as Kisame becomes perplexed with why this Konoha jonin (Kakashi’s the name, apparently) has one eye with the Sharingan. There’s an uncomfortable familiarity and tension in the air, but it’s short-lived when an obnoxious loudmouth jonin dressed in green butts in to the rescue. Itachi and Kisame retreat. Konoha and Itachi become a more and more curious mystery to Kisame.

“That Kakashi with the Sharingan…you knew each other.” Kisame states tentatively, testing the waters with this topic as the duo sits in the shadows of the forest.

Itachi says nothing.

A couple of days later, Kisame finds himself in an inn not too far from the village, with the Nine Tails’ jinchuuriki in sight, and Itachi’s younger brother pretty much raving mad. So this is the brother Itachi left behind.

Kisame doesn’t understand the relationship between Itachi and Sasuke, and he doesn’t think he ever will. What he originally thought was Itachi’s uncharacteristic soft spot for Sasuke didn’t match up with the scene unfolding in front of him.

Sharingan blazing and Chidori chirping ominously, Sasuke’s attack is easily blocked by Itachi. The Chidori slowly (and a bit awkwardly, Kisame thinks) dies out. Itachi mechanically breaks his brother’s arm, and later pins him to the wall.

Kisame’s not surprised by the words spilling out of Sasuke’s mouth; these are expected words coming from the sole survivor of a clan massacre. He’s intrigued by the words that come out of Itachi’s. They’re twisted in a way that Kisame could not have imagined.

“You’re still too weak, foolish little brother. You’re weak because you lack hatred.”

Yet, Itachi’s actions say otherwise. He could have easily killed Sasuke then and there, but he doesn’t.

The Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya, appears and makes their mission difficult (honestly, who summons a toad stomach?), and so they retreat. Sasuke is left in one piece, and the Nine Tails jinchuuriki is still under Jiraiya’s watchful eye. This mission might be a failure in terms of catching the Nine Tails, but at least they got more intel about the state of the village.

For Kisame, this mission let him read a new page in Itachi’s tightly bound book about his life. They’re setting up for the night when Kisame randomly says, “You still love him.”

Itachi resorts to meticulously setting up the campfire with his lips pressed firmly together, silent as always. Kisame notes that his onyx eyes seem to brood for a moment. He mentally changes the status of Itachi’s relationship with his younger brother from “soft spot” to “complicated”.

Time passes, the Akatsuki capture bijuu, and Kisame continues to question just what Itachi has in mind for his brother. Compared to the other members of the organization, Kisame never pegged Itachi as a sadist. Itachi is a pacifist, whatever violence he initiates is out of necessity. So why does he antagonize his brother so much? What need is there?

During this time, Kisame gets a niggling feeling that Itachi is deteriorating. The distances they are able to cover in one day have slowly decreased during the past several months, and Itachi disappears every so often to run his own errands. It takes him longer to recover from using the Mangekyo Sharingan. These changes were negligible at first, but they began to accumulate over time. Kisame doesn’t ask, because he doesn’t want to appear nosy, or God forbid, concerned.

In this world, it’s every man for himself.

News spreads that Orochimaru is dead, killed by Sasuke, who had come to train under him just a year or two ago. Kisame swears he sees a glint of pride in Itachi’s eyes as they stand on the fingers of the divine statue.

Deidara and Tobi go after Sasuke after the group finishes sealing the Four Tails. It’s a preventative measure, if they look at the big picture. Itachi is too valuable of an asset to lose, although Deidara’s ego may think otherwise. Zetsu reports that Deidara, Tobi, and Sasuke are nowhere to be found after Deidara’s suicidal explosion.

Itachi walks out and stands in the rain while Kisame watches from his spot in the cave.

“You’ll ruin your health.” Kisame chides. He swears it’s as though Itachi has a death wish. A death wish that he will only let his little brother fulfill. Kisame will never know for sure, but that’s his latest theory as to what’s causing Itachi’s recent miniscule lapses in behavior.

Itachi just looks up at the sky.

If you had asked Kisame years ago, when he first met Itachi, if he would have ever worried for his partner, he would have scoffed and said no. Shinobi are tools, and tools have no use for feelings. These days, Kisame isn’t quite so sure anymore. Itachi’s condition has worsened drastically; it’s something that’s become increasingly difficult to hide from the rest of Akatsuki.

Heck, it wasn’t until several months ago that Itachi finally swallowed his pride told Kisame about his condition, even though Kisame had been suspecting it for at least a year prior. Kisame says nothing whenever Itachi drinks some herbal concoction or pops pills into his mouth. He has feigned sleep and turned a blind eye for the past year whenever Itachi started coughing up blood in the middle of the night.

For shinobi, pride is an odd thing, and he lets Itachi cling to what dignity he has left. Kisame’s fairly sure that Itachi doesn’t want anyone’s pity.

“If I didn’t know better, it looks as if you’re crying,” Kisame observes.

The rain continues to fall.

As Itachi said, Sasuke isn’t dead. He’s very much alive, has assembled his own team, and is on his way to fulfill this twisted plot that Itachi has arranged for ten years.

Kisame returns from a nearby trade town and tosses a bottle of herbal supplements to Itachi, whose eyes snap open from where he is sitting against a tree.

“You look like hell.” This is something Kisame finds himself saying more and more often as of late. Itachi’s already fair complexion has slowly grown unhealthily pallid. His long hair, which used to shine in the light, is now brittle and dry. He spends way too much of the day recovering what little energy he has left. The piercing gaze Itachi once had all the time is something that requires effort.

As usual, Itachi doesn’t respond verbally, only with a directed look that resembles gratitude. These days, a lot of his time is spent resisting the urge to cough his lungs out.

Minutes pass before Itachi is able to break the silence.

“I saw Uzumaki Naruto. The Nine Tails jinchuuriki. Sasuke’s old team mate,” he says softly, as he cradles the bottle that Kisame bought and pretends to read the administration instructions that he has long stopped following. Kisame already knows that Itachi is only alive thanks to drugs and sheer willpower, just like he knows that Itachi can’t read anymore when he sees the world in blurs.

Kisame responds with a noncommittal grunt. Itachi and his clones.

“I thought you were supposed to be conserving your chakra.”

A faint smile graces Itachi’s lips for fractions of a second.

“It was important.”

Itachi succumbs to another coughing fit that seems to last for ages, leaving him gasping for air, hanging onto life. Kisame watches as he promptly shoves a quarter of the bottle of pills down his throat. That bottle is meant to last for a month.

Their last encounter, a few days later, is tinged with a nostalgia that neither of them would have expected when they first met years ago.

“It’s odd, isn’t it? I’m a pawn in my own plotline that I wrote for myself the day I killed my clan.” Itachi’s voice is barely above a whisper, and Kisame has to strain a little to hear him. “The shinobi walks off to face his death.”

The two of them stare at the horizon from where they sit on the roof, as the sun rises over the small village that the Uchiha hideout resides in. Itachi silently finishes off the bottle of pills that Kisame just bought a few days ago. A weird feeling pools in Kisame’s gut when the reality of Itachi’s suicide mission finally sets in. Today is the day, today is when Itachi’s lifelong plan will come into fruition.

Kisame can’t put a word to this sensation. His relationship with Itachi isn’t something as fickle and simple-sounding as friendship. No, friendship was for relations formed and nurtured from childhood or innocence. Friendship sounds too jovial for a duo that made a living doing unthinkable things.

Brotherhood isn’t the right word either. Familial love runs deep, and although Kisame doesn’t have much experience with it, he sees a lot of it through Itachi’s however demented interactions with his brother. After all these years, Itachi stays alive only to die by his brother’s hand.

Kisame can’t definitively say that he would die for Itachi. Die with him in battle? Probably. But for him? It would probably depend on circumstance.

Ultimately, their companionship is based on trust. Itachi is the one person that he has worked with the longest, in all his years of being a shinobi. Little by little, their teamwork developed and their trust in each other grew. This is why they have the highest success rate within Akatsuki. Despite their obvious differences, they have an inherent compatibility that is otherwise lacking in all the other two man cells.

Kisame’s eyes widen as he realizes the feeling he’s thinking of is “to miss”. His heart sinks as his brain finally puts together that in his own twisted way, he’s going to miss Itachi when he’s dead. At first, Kisame can’t wrap his head around the concept of missing someone, but then he’s hit with the realization that despite his Kiri training, it’s hard to ignore the fact that Itachi is the one person that he has spent an immeasurable amount of time with, both on and off duty.

He’s also probably one of the few people who know anything about this elusive man at all. The rest of the people who knew anything about Itachi are all dead.

Kisame knows that Itachi is still haunted by his past. He sees this in the bags under his eyes, whenever Itachi tosses and turns at night, whenever his usually unperturbable blank expression is tinged with a split second of sadness. As much as the Uchiha will deny it, Kisame knows.

Kisame knows Itachi’s tea house order. Hot green tea, genmaicha if possible, with some sort of wagashi sweet, preferably dango. He knows Itachi is picky about beef (he hates steak). If they’re grabbing something to go, onigiri is what brings a small flicker of happiness to his eyes.

Kisame knows that if Itachi had the choice, he wouldn’t be a ninja. Back when his eyes were still capable, Itachi would spend their down time reading old classical literature. His penmanship is impeccable, and Kisame has no doubt in his mind that Itachi could have made a living as a civilian offering to do calligraphy on the streets. All the things that Itachi chooses to do with his time when he is not training or on a mission all point to a desire for a peaceful existence, a wish that cannot be granted in this lifetime.

Itachi will die, and Kisame will be the only one to come close to remembering him for who he is, not who he pretends to be.

“So this is how we end,” Kisame says wistfully.

Itachi makes an affirmative hum as he stands and turns to face the Uchiha hideout.

“Only Sasuke can pass, is that clear?” If Kisame detects a slight tremble in Itachi’s voice, he says nothing.

“Yeah, yeah.” Kisame stands up too, hefting Samehada to rest on his shoulder. “It was nice knowing you.” The chuckle at the end feels forced.

Itachi thinks a bit before responding. “Live and die on your terms, not theirs.” Kisame nods.

They say these goodbyes standing side by side, facing opposite directions. There’s an unspoken sense of gratitude between the two shinobi. Thank you for fighting with me. Thank you for looking out for me. Thank you for all these years in this lonely world we live in.

Itachi departs; neither of them turn to watch the other’s figure recede.

Sasuke’s team arrives shortly after. Itachi’s younger brother has grown up, but Kisame can’t help but notice that his actions and attitude are all clouded but a haze of hate. This is, without a doubt, the product of whatever insanity Itachi has dragged out for all these years. The brothers share the same eyes, but Itachi’s are always calm and calculating, while Sasuke’s are overwhelmed with anger and the façade of intimidation.

Kisame allows Sasuke to pass and eyes the rest of the team that stands before him. He doesn’t expect Mangetsu’s younger brother to be here. He allows Suigetsu to pick a fight with him, because he never needed a distraction more than now. Kisame is not one to wallow in thoughts, and all the hypotheticals that came with “what if Uchiha Itachi were to die” are not things that he wants to spend time on. The two Kiri ninja clash, and a small part of Kisame notes that Itachi isn’t there to chastise his desire to fight.

When Zetsu announces Itachi’s death, the rest of Taka breathes a sigh of relief. Kisame can’t help but feel that some small part of him died with his partner. What an idiot.

He hears himself say “If Itachi is dead, then I’m going to go spread my wings for a bit,” as if he didn’t care. He’s not supposed to care. He’s been rid of other partners during his time in the organization, so why is Itachi, a kid ten years his junior, any different?

It’s one of the biggest lies he’s said in his existence.

A tool is only as good as its weakest part, and our inherent flaw as shinobi is the fact that we are human and prone to emotion.

#naruto #naruto shippuden #uchiha itachi #hoshigaki kisame #kisaita

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