Crow's feathers - Naruto fanfiction

Chapter 35 When there's nothing left to say

And Naruto wasn't the only back-up plan. He had taken all the precautions he could think of. Now there was only one thing left to do.

He waited patiently for Sasuke to enter the cave.

"So you've come at last," Itachi said.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi stepped out of the shadows and looked at his little brother calmly. A crow was sitting on his shoulder.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"You look taller," Itachi said.

"You haven't changed at all," Sasuke said, "your eyes are still cold."

Itachi's expression didn't change. "You're not going to just go crazy and charge at me like last time are you?" he asked.

Sasuke scoffed. "You know nothing about me." He attacked his brother from behind with a lightning blade. The crow flew up from Itachi's shoulder as Itachi was pinned down. "You have no idea how much hatred for you I hold in my heart," Sasuke hissed, "how strong it has made me. You know nothing!"

"You've gotten stronger," Itachi said. His body disintegrated into hundreds of crows. Sasuke stared at it stunned. Then Itachi's voice resonated throughout the cave. "Meet me at the Uchiha hide-out. Alone. We'll settle this there."

A rain of feathers fell down on Sasuke. His three comrades came running towards him.

"Sasuke!" Suigetsu called.

Sasuke shifted his eyes toward them. "I thought I told you not to move until I gave the order."

"Karin said she sensed another chakra here. We got worried," Suigetsu said.

Karin was staring up at the cave's ceiling. "Feathers?" she questioned confused.

Sasuke shook the feathers off and walked towards them. "Follow me," he said, "We're leaving."

***

The hardest part would be to determine which road he had taken. This time he had made sure to cover his tracks. Finding him wasn't going to be easy. He knew her well. She had to approach this logically.

She wasn't sure at what point he had left her. She had slept at least a few hours. Assuming he had left the moment she had fallen asleep, he would have no less than four hours on her. His trail would be cold, but not completely erased.

Aside from that, he would have to get some sort of message to Sasuke. Meaning he would need to find the boy first. Going from where she had last seen him, he wouldn't be too far away. And Sasuke was already looking for his brother.

Still... That wasn't enough information. Where would she want to die if she were Itachi? Not too far away, but in a familiar surrounding. The border with the land of fire was not that far.

Taryn nodded to herself. Standing around would get her nowhere.

Taryn looked around the canyon and gritted her teeth. They were outnumbered by far. Even with their skills combined, they would probably not get out of here alive.

She blocked an attack with her dagger and dared a glance towards Itachi and Kisame. They were both being targeted by five shinobi.

She kicked her opponent in the gut. Immediately spun around to wear off another attacker. She gathered her chakra and sent a fireball jutsu towards one of her attackers. She wouldn't use her wind blades, because those were long range attacks and Ryoki was out of the question as well. It would take too much time to gather enough chakra and it required a bit more space to be unleashed. It would only injure her and her comrades in the process. So gentle Fists was her only option at the moment.