With you till the End - Uchiha Itachi Fanfic [Edited]

Chapter 17 - New Member

Emiko pov:

Everything around us was quiet except for the soft breeze. It was a warm day and definitely not the day for a violent fight like the one Itachi and Kisame kun were busy in at the moment. It had me sighing as I gazed at Itachi, once again worrying that he was overstraining himself right from our first mission after the break. Kisame kun seemed to be fighting with much gusto, unlike Itachi, and his chakra was turbulent.

"Are you alright, Itachi?" I asked in a whisper so Kisame kun wouldn't hear.

"Yes, don't worry. I'm only doing what I should to stall them. They'll defeat my clone by the time we're done sealing the Ichibi," he answered, giving me a small smile.

I nodded whilst returning his smile - I was glad that he had no intention of hurting the Konoha shinobi too much in this fight. The same could not be said about Kisame kun though - he was not only enjoying his fight but he would surely be aiming to take a few lives too. But considering the fact the it was his clone that was fighting, and that Konoha shinobi were strong too, I had confidence that the latter would manage to survive.

A sudden sharp twitch from Itachi had me curious and worried. Leaning closer to him slightly, I asked, "What happened, Itachi?"

"Kakashi seems to have noticed that my eyesight has gone bad. It's impressive that he was able to analyze quite a lot by experiencing my tsukiyomi just once," he answered flatly. "It's probably because he possesses the Sharingan in his left eye as well."

"It's dangerous if he knows that, isn't it?" I asked.

"Everything will be fine, don't worry," he reassured.

I wasn't convinced but I nodded. I returned my concentration on sealing the Bijuu while the two with me continued with their fights as well. It was nearly the end of the day that we were done sealing the Bijuu and Itachi and Kisame kun were done with their fights as well. Kisame kun had been defeated but Itachi's chakra in his jutsu had merely run out - he was so strong that several opponents had not been able to defeat him.

Seeing him like this sometimes made me wonder why Konoha wished to make an enemy out of someone so powerful - if he really was an enemy through and through, they and the rest of the shinobi world would have been in big trouble. It also made me wonder if Sasuke would be able to become just as strong - not that I doubted his Uchiha prowess, but Itachi was a prodigy and it seemed to me that he was at a level very difficult to reach.

Leader sama was satisfied with how the Konoha shinobi were dealt with, kept away and unable to hinder us anymore during the rest of the sealing, though Sasori seemed to be a bit irked by the lack of gratitude Leader sama had towards him.

"How about showing a bit of gratitude, considering that the bodies you sacrificed were my subordinates," he hissed.

Leader sama just scoffed in amuse. "You should be thanking me, since they were able to become full Akatsuki members, even if it was only for a short time. Zetsu, clean up those two we used for the shape shifting technique."

I suppressed an expression of disgust at his words, well aware that Zetsu's method of cleaning up was eating them. Itachi and Kisame kun then briefed Leader sama about the shinobi they fought - who they were and how strong they were.

It was the wee hours of the morning by the time we were done with the sealing, leaving us quite exhausted thanks to continuously concentrating chakra and lack of sleep for more than two days. We were waiting for this to end so we could take finally relax a bit. I was thankful that Leader sama decided to let Deidara and Sasori deal with our pursuers after we were done sealing the Bijuu. I sincerely hoped that neither side were hurt much, since both would be fighting to the death most probably.