Memories

Blinding Confidence

Chapter 13

"How have you been?" asked Itachi, a genuine smile on his face. Nagato, standing beside him, looked surprised.

"Kira-sensei, isn't that Sasuke's brother?" asked Naruto suspiciously, pointing. "Why are you so friendly with him? He's a criminal!"

"So is Pein," I pointed out. He fell silent. "Anyway, unbeknownst to most people, Itachi has saved us more times than we can count. It's a shame that he's on the opposite side for real, now."

"Well, I don't really have a choice," Itachi drawled. "I mean, it'd be nice to just be free from this stupid jutsu. As Nagato and I were discussing on the way here, it's a shame we had to be resurrected. We were having such a lovely time in the afterlife."

"Nice to see you too," I said, dropping down from the branch and landing right in front of him. "Are you going to attack me now?"

"Unfortunately, we won't have much of a choice," said Nagato. "Naruto, you're going to have to fight me, once again."

"Bee, Naruto, take Nagato," I instructed. "I'll deal with this annoying fly over here."

"I'm hurt!" Itachi whined. Nagato looked confused at Itachi's sudden show of childish emotion. Then again, Itachi Uchiha had probably been extremely stoic and serious all the years most people had known him.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said, not sounding at all sorry. The smile was still huge on my face; I couldn't help it. "You know, I'm glad to see you again, even if it's like this."

He gave me a small smile in return. "Likewise. Have you made good use of the gift I left you?"

I thought of all the trouble it had caused. "Yes," I said. "Thank you, by the way. I was able to solve the one mystery you couldn't."

"Which was?"

"That of the Izanami Clan. They're still alive and have joined our side after attempting to kill me once."

Itachi's eyebrows rose. "Impressive. You'll have to tell me all about that later."

"Itachi, prepare yourself," said Nagato, and the aura around them seemed to change. "We won't have any choice but to attack!"

I leapt to the left, as Naruto and Bee led Nagato to the right. Splitting the two of them up was perhaps easier to fight, rather than three-on-two. Itachi's eyes, in their usual Sharingan form, were glowing. He raised two fingers to his lips.

I averted my eyes from his to avoid being caught in a Genjutsu, and instead waited for him to attack. He launched a simple Fireball Jutsu at me, which I avoided easily. As he threw barrages of kunai, I did my best to dodge, but his impeccable accuracy resulted in a few cuts here and there.

"Itachi, break free!" I hissed at him. He said nothing and continued to launch attack after attack, forcing me backwards. "I know you can do it – if you can't, nobody can!"

'It's the Edo Tensei,' said Amaterasu. 'I don't think we should count on his ability to break the jutsu.'

'It's Itachi,' I stubbornly insisted.

'This is becoming a problem, Kira,' said Amaterasu. 'You're blinded by your feelings and your faith in him.'

'I'm not blinded – '