七
blossoms in blood
Lightning flickered across the ominous sky as they set off to find an apothecary.
Kuina had never thought begging Itachi to take her to the doctor would actually work. The fact that he would comply with her made her realise how lucky she was to be the Fragrance.
The rain poured heavily onto the branches of trees overhead that provided them little shelter. Kuina was heaved on Kisame's shoulder like a sack of sand as they travelled through the forest at full speed. Her vision was hazy as she peered up at the stark path that lead into the endless void of the night.
"Why did you even insist we set off straight away just because this little thing complained about her pain? Seriously, we should have just waited for the rain to die down first," Kisame complained, his voice raising to talk through the harsh sound of the rain.
"Travelling at night would be better for avoiding the enemies," Itachi replied, his voice deep with subtle annoyance.
Kisame grumbled as he rolled his eyes. "Then why do I have to carry her?" he mumbled. "She's super light, you could carry her too."
"I am tired," Itachi said blandly.
Kisame looked at his partner and let out a sigh. "Well, who is to blame? I already told you to sleep, didn't I?"
Itachi said nothing as he kept his gaze ahead. Kuina looked over at him, and although the rain veiled his features, she could tell that he was terribly worn out. A part of her felt saddened, knowing this man was terminally ill, yet he still stood tall as if he were okay.
She shook her head as she averted her gaze away from him, regretting having seen his life. She knew she always had a soft spot for anyone whose past and future she had seen.
One time, she saw through the life of an old farmer who lived at the outskirts of the hibiscus field. And when he died, she remembered crying for weeks. His life felt like her life; his future was something she knew, yet she couldn't change.
She never wished to use her power to see other's lives again, but she decided to see Itachi's, for she thought it would be advantageous for her to be knowledgeable of her captor. And since it had come to this, she would harden her heart, so that she would never have to suffer from the same pain she did with the farmer.
Her train of thoughts erupted when Itachi and Kisame suddenly came to a stop in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by thousands of towering trees. The rain poured onto them heavily, drenching their garments.
Kuina shivered as she glanced over at Itachi, confused as to why they had stopped.
Itachi looked exhausted and the grimace that overcame his face made him look intimidating. "They are here," he muttered in his low voice. "Protect the Fragrance at all costs."
Kisame, who had always been rather fierce, immediately looked unsettled. "You take the Fragrance, I'll deal with them. You've already been overusing those eyes of yours these past few days, you're not fit for a fight."
"No." Itachi closed his eyes and tilted his head towards the sky. "We will not be able to escape without killing them all. They have blocked all the routes."
"Those fools," Kisame spat before he scowled at Kuina. "I don't even like you, little thing. Yet, here I am, having to protect you again, all because leader-sama thinks you are so great," he complained before he roughly placed her down onto the ground. Performing a quick hand sign, a bubble made of water was formed around Kuina, caging her inside. "Stay obediently in the barrier as we finish this off."
Kuina was still utterly confused, but just as Kisame had finished his sentence, a dozen men, dressed like the Anbu Black Ops, vaulted towards them from all directions. She gasped as she crouched and covered her head with her arms.
Itachi muttered something under his breath before he snapped his eyes open. Blood trickled down from them, as veins popped around his Mangekyou Sharingan. "Amaterasu," he muttered in a murderous tone, his voice echoing with supreme force.
The dozen men that launched head-on at him shrieked as they ignited into black flame.
Kisame's face darkened as he snapped his gaze to Itachi. "You are hasty, Itachi. Normally, you'd only use those weird eyes of yours when the fight is—" He stopped short when a hand shot up from the ground and wrapped around his ankle. He cursed before swinging Samehada, cutting it off by the wrist.
Fountain of blood splashed into the air as the limb flew and landed right beside Kuina. Her eyes popped wide, but before she could scream, countless enemies leaped out from the ground, and then suddenly, the forest right before her ignited into a bloody battle.
The stench of blood and flesh soon suffocated her nose as she placed her hands over her mouth, gagging. Cries and screams rang throughout the forest like vile demons going berserk.
She breathed heavily, hugging onto her knees to hold her trembling body still. She didn't know what was going on all of the sudden. She had always been surrounded by peace within the barrier of the hibiscus field. The only red that she had ever seen in her life was the beautiful crimson of the hibiscus blossoms. Now, all that her vision could see was the red from the blood that was spilt.
She gulped down her fear as she peered up at the fight ahead. A dozen of Anbu was attacking Itachi and Kisame like a pack of wolves attacking two prey - except Itachi and Kisame were no prey.
Most of the enemies were already under Itachi's Genjutsu, but several more seemed to pop out of nowhere endlessly, trying their best to tackle Itachi's weakness, his stamina.
Itachi may have overpowered the enemies with ease, but he looked visibly worn. She knew he hadn't slept for many days, and she knew he was sick and had issues with his eyesight. He was in no shape to force himself to keep going.
The more she thought about Itachi's health, the more her breathing laboured. And for some reason, her heart felt heavy, watching him fight as if everything was fine.
She clenched her fists as she turned over to Kisame. Kisame might have a great amount of the chakra, but the enemies were smarter than him. They were somehow trying to separate him from Itachi by luring him along with the fight. Now, he was yards away, she could barely spot him.
As they were fighting with all their might, an Anbu slithered out from the tree in front of her. Kuina's eyes widened as she tried to back away. The Anbu flicked out a kunai, and without hesitation, he flung it her way. She closed her eyes and held her arms out to block herself. To her surprise, the kunai simply dropped to the ground, blocked by Kisame's barrier.
But then her eyes widened again when she spotted a paper bomb attached by the handle. Her scream rattled into the night when the blast exploded, igniting a blinding spark and incomparable heat.
She winced, thanking Kisame's water barrier for keeping the explosion from reaching her. But at the same time, she cursed when she realised that the barrier became somewhat thinner.
The Anbu made a hand sign, and what looked like vines shot out from his mouth and towards her. She gasped, and this time, the barrier was too thin that the vines easily penetrated through. It wrapped around her body, tugging her along the muddy track and towards him.
She screamed, trying to run the opposite direction but in vain. "Let go of me!" She cried as she struggled. "What do you want from me, just leave me be—" She paused when the vines suddenly lost its restraint on her, dropping her onto a puddle.
She looked up at the Anbu as he coughed hard and collapsed cold against the ground.
Behind him, Itachi stood tall, soaked in rain. His hair messily fell against his face as drops of water ran from it. Blood trailed down his face like tears as he looked at her, terribly displeased.
The enemies continued to launch at him from behind, but something towering and monstrous, which she presumed was his Susanoo, knocked them all off.
When all of the enemies that tried to launch at him turned into corpses, he closed his eyes, and the Susanoo behind him vanished into thin air. He breathed heavily as he walked towards her with visible weariness. "Get up," his deep voice croaked out of his throat.
Tears welled up in her eyes at the agony of her internal wounds and an unexplainable pain from just seeing Itachi so worn out. She quickly blinked as hard as she could to get rid of them before pushing her limbed body to stand.
Kuina began staggering towards Itachi, but before she could take more than a few steps, someone shot out of the ground right behind her. He threw something sharp at her and she could hear it cut through air. Every limb within her froze still before turning into jelly.
Itachi's eyes turned from black to red instinctively, and he appeared right before her in a flash. He grabbed her wrist, jerking her to him before he held his sleeves out over her head and pressed her close to his chest. Her breath hitched in her throat, utterly in shock.
She heard a soft grunt escape his lips before he shot a razor glare at the enemy, making him collapse cold under some kind of genjutsu.
Itachi breathed hard before he released her from his grasp. He stood still within the rain, swaying slightly as if he were about to lose balance. His brows furrowed as he placed his hand over his mouth and began to cough.
Kuina rushed over to his side as she tried to hold him upright. "Are you alright?"
Itachi's face darkened as he looked at the blood on his hand and then at his arm.
Kuina followed his gaze, and her eyes widened when she spotted a Kunai embedded into his cloak, penetrating shoulder. "Your arm!"
His eyes turned piercing cold. He gave a guttural grunt as he grabbed onto the handle of the blade. Without hesitation, he violently jerked it out. Pain swept across his expression as he clenched his jaw, looking ahead at the clearing. "Find a shelter, let me rest." His voice rasped out with command.
Kuina nodded rapidly as she enriched her pain, and they both staggered out into the woods.
*
𝐹𝑅𝐴𝐺𝑅𝐴𝑁𝐶𝐸
うちはイタチ