Escape [Sasuke Uchiha]

Chapter 44: Itachi And Kisame

I swallowed hard, trying to gather my courage before I let out my trembling voice, "what do you want with Naruto?"

The blue man chuckled darkly, "Look at this girl, acting so brave and reckless when there is a chance to run away. Itachi-san, letting her leave will also give her the opportunity to call for help, so why don't we cut off a leg or two?"

I inwardly gasped. What did he say...?

"That's enough, Kisame," the crimson-eyed man spoke monotonously, "I can simply make her faint."

His words literally made me shoot my gaze to him in a flash, alarmed and dumbstruck. The blue-skinned man grinned widely, "Go ahead."

I gritted my teeth in fear, horrified of what this Sharingan-eyed man could do. My trembling eyes locked with his unfaltering ones and it took all of my mental strength to keep my gaze there so I could detect every movement he would make. Naruto and the big blue guy watched us with two different facial expressions – the blond boy beside me looked panicked while the other blue one looked amused.

But the red-eyed man did not do anything at all; instead, he spoke, "It's been a long time... Sasuke."

I blinked my eyes questioningly; confounded at the fact that this man had just mentioned the name of the boy whom I adored deeply before I glanced at something behind him. A wave of relief washed over me when I spotted Sasuke Uchiha standing not far from us, facing the backside of the cloaked men.

Wait a second... this man who came out of nowhere with Sharingan eyes... he knows Sasuke, so that means he is...

As if on cue, Sasuke voiced out my thought, "Uchiha Itachi."

Uchiha Itachi... the older brother of Sasuke... the one who single-handedly massacred the entire Uchiha clan and left sparing only Sasuke... so he is... Sasuke's big brother is here!

"The Sharingan..." the big blue-haired man spoke up, studying Sasuke's whole figure with a relaxed grin, "And he's very similar to you. Who is he?"

Itachi answered without taking even a quick glance at the younger Uchiha, "My little brother."

The blue-skinned guy who was called Kisame stated, "I heard the entire Uchiha clan was killed... by you."

The older Uchiha said nothing and Sasuke took this chance to call him out, "Uchiha Itachi! I'm going to kill you!"

Itachi finally moved, turning around rather slowly, staring at Sasuke with an unreadable expression. The younger Uchiha, on the other hand, had a very deep scowl on his face. The raging hatred burning in his Sharingan eyes was so obvious and was meant solely for his brother. His anger-filled gaze never looked away from Itachi ever since he came into the scene.

I had never seen Sasuke this pissed off.

"Like you said, I hated you, detested you, and just to kill you, I've..." Sasuke growled as his left hand was charged with ferocious Chidori, "I've survived!"

"Sasuke!" Naruto called him from beside me.

"I'm going to kill you!" Sasuke declared furiously before he slammed his Chidori to the wall and sprinted across the hallway, dashing towards us at tremendous speed all the while dragging the Chidori across the wall with him.

Naruto and I were about to leap away to safety when we noticed the quick movement Itachi made. The next thing I knew, the wall beside us was blown up by Sasuke's Chidori. Everyone here was unharmed, especially Itachi, the one that Sasuke attempted throwing his Chidori at. The older Uchiha had seized Sasuke's wrist and stayed there, staring down at his brother with an untroubled look which was a complete opposite to Sasuke's enraged mien.

This guy... he deflected the Chidori with just a flick of his wrist.

The Chidori in Sasuke's palm had abated to nothingness and Itachi tightened his grip on his little brother's wrist, bending it slightly and threateningly, causing Sasuke to grimace in pain.

"Sasuke!" I called worriedly before I reached around my back, expecting my bow and arrows secured there, only to feel nothing and realize that I had left my weapon in the room. I can't go back in there, not now, so the only weapon I have is... several kunai and shuriken. These things must be a harmless toy for people like Itachi and the blue guy, but if it's to provide a distraction for Sasuke, then I'll do it! And Sasuke can take that chance to pull his hand out of Itachi's grasp!

I swiftly took out a kunai and flung it at Itachi without an ounce of hesitation. I was expecting that such simple attack could divert Itachi's attention from Sasuke and hence let his younger brother's wrist go, but I was wrong. How foolish of me for expecting that. That silly attack would never give any effect to powerful people like him!

I emitted a startled gasp upon seeing Itachi sliding his index finger up into the hole of the kunai in a split second, halting the flying weapon with no effort at all. He then sent his menacing gaze at me, making me think that I'd just dug my own grave.

Sasuke suddenly raised his right arm into the air (the one that wasn't held by Itachi), closed his hand into a fist and snarled at the older Uchiha, "Why you...!"

"You're a bother," I heard Itachi remark coolly, followed by the sound of bone cracking, and then Sasuke's anguished scream.

Oh no... Itachi just crushed his left arm!

"Sasuke!" Naruto and I called him in unison as the ravenette fell to his knee, clutching his wounded arm, grunting in pain.

Just then I felt a tremendous chakra spreading through the air. I glanced to the side where Naruto was standing at since the immense energy came from them.

It was coming from my left side... where Naruto was standing at. I looked to see that it was indeed Naruto who summoned the immense energy. Orange-colored chakra was circling around him. It looked like the same chakra that he used during his battle with Neji in the final Chuunin exam. The vast chakra grew in each second, just like my hope in beating or escaping from these two unknown guys.

However, my hope was soon shattered when the shark-like guy swooped down his huge sword through the orange chakra, somehow causing the chakra to vanish then and there. Naruto formed the same hand signs repeatedly as though he was trying to summon the orange-colored chakra back to the surface, but to no avail. He cried out in frustration, "Why isn't it coming out?!"

The blue-skinned man called Kisame grinned at us, "My Samehada can shave and devour chakra. Itachi-san, it would be annoying if he uses his petty techniques again. Perhaps we should cut off his arms before doing it to his legs."

The older Uchiha said nothing and apparently Kisame took that as a yes, for he began lifting his big sword into the air; his eyes were fixed on Naruto who resumed trying to bring forth the tremendous chakra. Doesn't he realize that it won't come up no matter how hard he tries? We have no choice but to run away but...

I looked down at Sasuke. He was still in the same position the last time I glanced at him – on the floor, grunting and clutching his broken wrist which now had an unmissable dark bruise. There is no way I'm... no... there is no way Naruto and I are going to leave him here. But these guys...k

CLANG!

The loud sound brought me back to reality, prompting me to throw my shocked gaze to the scene.

A huge smile curved my lips when I saw Reina blocking Kisame's blade with her katana. She sent Kisame a dirty look before she delivered one powerful push against his giant blade using her katana, shoving him backward, causing him to slide across the floor until there was a safe distance between them. The blue-haired guy looked taken aback to see her there.

Locking her gaze on the two cloaked men, she asked, "Are you okay, Yuda-chan, Naruto?"

Naruto wordlessly nodded his head while I answered, "We're fine, Reina-oneesan, but Sasuke..."

I noticed her brown orbs shifting to Sasuke's quivering form for a quick moment before she stared at the said boy's brother. Itachi, as always, remained straight-faced even after seeing Reina's unforeseen arrival. I almost thought he had forgotten her until he uttered her name in acknowledgment of her presence, "Reina."

Reina, wearing a serious look on her face, nodded her head subtly, "Itachi."