Tortured Uchiha [CURRENTLY EDITING]

The Proud Weasel and Stubborn Thorn

All the novice Nin scattered in different directions, leaving Kakashi and I standing on the rooftop alone. I could feel his stare burn into the back of my skull as I nervously pulled the bandages around my arms. The dread of Itachi’s prominent end along with my own (and not to mention everyone’s eternal love for Sasuke’s return) was starting to set in, and it made me angry, so damn angry.

“He’ll miss you,” Kakashi said, looking up into the cloudless sky.

“He already does,” I murmured, pulling the collar of my Akatsuki robe up past the bridge of my nose.

“You shouldn’t have to do this, sacrifice yourself for the good of the village I mean. You aren’t Itachi, you shouldn’t have to follow in his footsteps to be with him,” Kakashi pressed his palm between my tense shoulder blades. “Naruto needs you more.” 

“I’ve already lost them both a thousand times, maybe this time…we’ll get lost together,” I whispered, already feeling my consciousness leave me.

***

Kuragari ruffled his feathers beneath the cover of a heavily leaved branch. My crow overlooked Kisame and Itachi taking refuge in the ever-present storm in Kemurigakure. Being the only two true surviving Akatsuki members, I pitied them; especially Kisame―he would become the source of information once Itachi and I are dead.

“It hasn’t let up one bit,” Kisame squinted up at the sky. “It’s odd for it to be raining so much here in the Smoke, especially at this time of year.”

Itachi silently took five bold steps forward into the downpour, angling his head so the droplets could disguise the tears that smeared his cheeks. Itachi was an actor until the end, trying to play everyone for fools, but the Sharingan see through all―even deception.

“We shouldn’t stay out here for too long,” Kisame urged, a grimace played on his lips when Itachi didn’t respond. “Look…I’m not too sure what you’re thinking, and given how ruthless you are, it’s strange to say this but…from here it looks like you’re crying. It’s certainly a shame about Etsuko’s demise and Sasuke’s off-radar status. But think of this, you could possibly now be the sole member of the Uchiha Ichizoku.”

“No,” Itachi’s voice echoed. “Etsuko is not dead yet, and besides…”

“What?” Kisame frowned.

“The storm,” Itachi winced, “has passed.”

 

[Time Skip]

I rendezvoused back with the squad, with an Inazuma boy leading the way with his own personal hound. I didn’t want to protest and say that finding Sasuke would be futile, that tracking him down would lead to an unwanted battle―but no, Sasuke would not fight, he’d one to be in his top condition to fight Itachi. To kill Itachi.

“Hey Shinkoshoku, whoever you are, would you slow down? You’re throwing off my concentration,” the boy yipped at me like the domestic hound he was. “I need to focus as hard as I can to not lose what little scent there is of Sasuke, and with you digging that huge blade of yours into the trees to propel you forward, isn’t helping.”

Just to make my point known, I swung the Nagamaki into an oncoming branch, shattering it instantly from the force of impact. Wood chips and splinters tore through the air, imbedding themselves into the rain soaked earth below. A few complaints erupted from the Nin behind me who were currently brushing fragments of wood from their cloaks.

“What’s wrong, Kiba?” Naruto piped up from the back of the crowd.

Kiba had stopped his pace (since he was trying to go faster than me) and was still on the branch two in front of me. I struck the Nagamaki into the side of a trunk and perched on it, awaiting the news from Kiba’s ‘gifted sense of smell’. I could feel the shift in power easily, but my nostrils didn’t have the gift of tracking and Sasuke’s chakra signature was too faint to pinpoint a definite location.