Beauty and the Beast - An Uchiha Madara Love Story [Edited]

Chapter 3 - Power Discovered

Itachi pov:

Another killing mission, another bloodshed moment to live through. Nothing could change in the life of a murderer like me. I lived nothing more than a pathetic detesting life.

I looked ahead blankly and with no particular thoughts in my mind as Kisame and I walked back to the Akatsuki's hideout. We were barely a few meters away from the hidden entrance when I froze on the spot, my eyes going wide upon sensing an unexpectedly powerful chakra. Kisame didn't seem to notice it and continued on but I looked in the direction of the chakra and narrowed my eyes with a deep frown.

The intensity of the chakra overwhelmed me. And the fact that whoever possessed such a chakra was this close to the hideout was even more bothersome. They could pose to be a threat to the Akatsuki.

"Kisame, go ahead without me. There's something I need to buy form the village," I said, retaining the calmness in my tone despite the disquiet I felt inside. Kisame mumbled a word of agreement and sauntered off tiredly. We had had to fight pushing past our limits in our last mission so it wasn't surprising that someone with as much chakra as Kisame was exhausted but I suppose it wasn't good that he hadn't sensed the powerful chakra.

I waited until he was far enough from me and I proceeded to jump through the trees towards the source of the chakra. I landed on the branch of a tree just a few feet away from the source of chakra and squinted in an attempt to see just a little more detail despite my failing eyesight.

I could see the silhouette of a rather frail girl crouching in a pit that was dug in the ground. She appeared to be filling a bin with mud at the bottom of the pit while humming a soft tune to herself. Despite the blur in my vision, I was almost sure that she was smiling as worked and she didn't seem to notice that I was there. With her chakra level, she would have probably noticed me the instant I landed on this tree branch but she hadn't show even the slightest change in behavior.

In fact, she continued her work as if she was completely unaffected of my presence. Was she so strong that she thought I wasn't even the slightest close to a threat to her? Or was she really just ignorant and unaware of me being here?

I was a little confused and wary of her but I continued to stay hidden and watch her from the distance. After she had filled up the bin, she dusted her hands and wiped her face with her forearm. I vaguely made out that a smear of mud was left on her cheek her antics somehow gave me the feeling that she was innocent and actually unaware of the power she possessed.

She didn't look physically strong and I couldn't quite understand why she was collecting mud. She huffed as she managed to lift the bin and place it on the ground outside the pit but smiled brightly and innocently as she did so. She then reached up to get out of the pit. She tried climbing several times and even jumped but she could barely make it halfway out of the pit.

She gave up with a sigh after several attempts and said, "Aww man...how am I going to get out of this pit now? I should have let Grandpa come with me this time..." She looked around while jumped like a child, probably hoping to spot something to grab onto and pull herself out. When she saw nothing, she sighed again.

A few minutes passed as she remained stuck in the pit and I began to believe that she wasn't a shinobi despite her amazing chakra. I also thought that I should help her. But I stalled when I saw an old man walking up the terrain from the direction of the village. His chakra was very weak, like that of a normal civilian, and I noticed the girl in the pit perk up upon hearing his footsteps. She jumped several times again while waving her hands in the air, as if trying to get the attention of the old man.

"Grandpa! I'm over here!" she hollered and the old man walked to her.

He picked up the shovel that was lying on the ground outside the pit and hit her on the head with it gently, but perhaps enough to feel a light sting, and she yelped while rubbing the spot on her head before whining, "Grandpa!"