Chapter 23
'You could've told me something like that earlier!'
'It was unimportant at the time. He hasn't made a move yet, so why waste your thoughts on him?'
'I mean, he's Madara Uchiha! He's supposed to be dead – not to mention that he's extremely powerful, you know?'
'You knew he was alive! I made a deal with him that night!'
'I knew he was alive, but I thought you'd tell me if he ever became important in the grand scheme of things!'
'I'm telling you now, aren't I?!'
I let out a muffled scream of frustration into the arm of the sofa. Kakashi reached toward me, concern showing on his face. How could Itachi have kept this a secret from me? I'd met Madara in person that one time!
'Kira, are you still there?' asked Tsunade.
I let out one last growl and responded, 'Yeah, sorry. I'm conversing with the other one right now. I'll be back to you in just a moment.'
'Look, I'm sorry for not telling you earlier, but at the moment we were pretty occupied with other things. Not to mention that I have to put up my front with everybody else, including the Akatsuki themselves – and also tracking Sasuke and relaying everything to you. I'm not complaining, but I have to prioritize some information and actions over others.'
This was possibly the most serious I'd ever heard Itachi. To me, he was usually a bit of a jerk, annoying, and disruptive. He had lived in my mind for quite a few years now. We'd gotten to know each other better than virtually anybody else; he witnessed my every waking thought and action. He had directly saved my life once and had saved all of us numerous times.
And as usual, he was right about this, too.
'You're right. I have to apologize. I was – and still am – in shock.'
'Yeah, I know, I get it. It's kind of like the time I cracked a joke in front of you for the first time. Your eyes were about to pop out of your head – I know that, and I couldn't even see you.'
'What? These two issues aren't even similar – one puts our lives at stake, and the other was – was – was you being a jerkface!'
'Very mature,' he commented dryly. Hypocrite. 'You're going to have to think of a good way to get around this – otherwise, you'll have to tell them all the truth.'
'And the only problem with the latter is that the Leaf needs to maintain its reputation, right?'
'Well, yes, there's that. But there's also the Elders – they won't be happy if they find out that not one, but two outside countries know the truth about the massacre.'
'What if they don't find out?'
'That's a possibility. No matter what you say, there's going to be a risk associated with it. Stay silent, and they'll stop trusting you. Lie, and there's a chance you'll get caught. Tell the truth, and the consequences could backfire on you as well as Konoha.'
'So what should I do?'
'I don't know. You're quite smart, aren't you? Or was it all a bluff?'
'Oh, shut up. You know the situation. What would you do?'
Itachi didn't even hesitate. 'I would lie. You can't let them focus too much on me.'
I understood what he meant. If I told them the truth, they would surely want to save Itachi from Sasuke – which was exactly what Itachi didn't want. I would have to choose my words carefully.
'Okay, folks,' I said to the other chat, 'I'm back. Sorry that took so long – my confidant and I had a very... elaborate discussion.'
'That doesn't sound good,' said Gaara.
'It really wasn't. So, should I hit you with the backstory or the news first?'
'The news,' said Tsunade and the Tsuchikage in unison.
'Well, Tobi – the masked man – is actually Madara Uchiha.'
There was a split second of silence. I watched Kakashi's eyes grow wide.
It burst into chaos inside my head as everyone started yelling at once. Kakashi turned to stare at me. I met his eyes grimly. He reached for my hand.
'It's very noisy in here,' said Itachi, pointing out the obvious as usual. 'Shouldn't you stop them?'
'They're in shock, just like I was. Just let them be for a moment longer.'
They were yelling things like "Madara's supposed to be dead!" and "he died long ago!" and "how do you know this anyway?" My mind worked itself into a frenzy, trying to think up the best possible way to get out of this situation.
'Okay, everyone – I know that was a shock. It was a shock to me too, a few minutes ago, but let's regroup and discuss this as calmly as possible.'
'Y-Yes, I agree,' said Tsunade, her mind link wavering a little from her intense emotions.
'Agreed.'
'Thirded.'
'So I know you're all wondering how I know this – or, rather, how my confidant knows. As you all probably know by now, my confidant is someone posing as our enemy, which is how he gets the inside scoop on everything that's happening. It's the same in this situation; he's met Tobi – Madara – several times.'
'He's part of the Akatsuki, correct?' asked the Tsuchikage.
'Madara? Or my confidant?'
'Your confidant. We know Madara is Tobi.'
I hesitated. Itachi said to me, 'Tell them I'm an independent.'
'No. He's an independent rogue who's had many run-ins with the Akatsuki and Orochimaru, who used to be a part of the group.'
'I see.'
'What should we do about this issue, though? We've been slowly preparing for war for many years, but even so...'
'Remember the big meeting of the five lords? We need to make sure that alliance goes through.'
'Should we contact the Raikage right now?' asked the Tsuchikage. 'We are on adequate terms with them, I believe.'
'It might be better to wait for the disciplined meeting,' I said. 'That way, they can't accuse us of trying to pull anything on them. We'll all be in the same place at the same time, staring each other in the eyes.'
'It might be better to get the jump start,' said Gaara, which surprised me. He rarely opposed me. 'Since three of us are already allied, it might be easier to convince the other two.'
'I don't know,' said Tsunade. 'The Raikage isn't really a friendly guy. And don't even get me started on the Mizukage!'
'If it doesn't work now, the chances later aren't much higher,' Onoki pointed out.
'That's true. We should put our foot in the door and slowly wedge our way in,' Gaara agreed.
'I really don't think the chances of success are high right now. If we do that prior to the meeting, they'll have suspicions. They may even turn on us out of fear.'
'I still have to agree with Lady Tsunade and my original proposition,' I agreed. 'Unfortunately, in an even-numbered meeting, we're stuck. I suppose I could discount myself, since I'm not a Kage – '
'That would be unfortunate for the rest of us,' Gaara interrupted, before I could finish. 'Your opinion is important.'
'Agreed.'
'Agreed here also.'
'How should we come to a decision, then? Shall we come back at this another day?'
'If I may,' Kakashi cut in, speaking for the first time. I was surprised, and so were the others, from the way their links wavered. 'I certainly empathize with both sides, so I'd like to propose a sort of compromise: perhaps it would be better if the Kazekage tried to make contact. He's a new, young leader, so perhaps they will be slower to outright reject him.'
'I wasn't aware that you were listening, Kakashi,' said Tsunade warmly. 'Welcome.'
'Welcome, indeed,' Gaara drawled. 'It's not a particularly pleasant place to be, I'm afraid.'
'Is this the Hatake we've been discussing for a while?'
Kakashi looked at me and mouthed, for a while?
'Yes, Lord Onoki. This is the Hatake who's caused Kira so much trouble.'
'Wha – ' Kakashi cut himself off, deciding not to argue with Gaara. 'I mean, yes. I am Kakashi Hatake.'
'Son of the White Fang, correct? An honorable and fearless warrior in battle. I was saddened to hear the news of his passing, but I'm glad his spirit lives on.'
'Thank you very much, Lord Tsuchikage. It's an honor.'
'Then, as per the request of our fifth member, I will accept the compromise.'
'I will accept also.'
'Thirded.'
'And I am in full agreement with Kakashi. Gaara, if you could get started on that soon, that would be good. Lord Tsuchikage, I was thinking that we could organize our exchange program next. As you know, we'd offer a very promising medical course. Would you like to take part in this?'
'That sounds like a good idea. In return, we will teach the basic defensive moves that can be used easily in battle – from basic Earth jutsu to how to defend against falling objects, which we have to deal with quite often here.'
'Lady Tsunade, what do you think?'
'I'm on board. Let's do it!'
'Sweet. Well, that's all the heavy news and discussion for today, so I'm going to go eat breakfast. I'll keep the mind link open, as usual.'
'Sounds good. Thanks, Kira.'
'No problem.'
My mind fell into a temporary silence. Kakashi turned to look at me. "What are you going to do?"
I rubbed my forehead wearily. "Well, first of all, thanks for proposing the compromise. The four of us have been chatting for so long that we miss the most obvious things sometimes."
"No problem. But, about Sasuke..."
I sighed. "I only have the support of Gaara and Lady Tsunade because they know who Voldemort is. If Sasuke carries out his plan successfully, it'll be trouble for all of us."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes. "Wait, you're not saying..."
"No – I'm not saying that I'm in contact with Itachi Uchiha!" I said quickly, fully aware that I was telling a lie. Itachi snickered. Kakashi relaxed immediately.
"That makes me feel a little better. But what are we going to do about this situation?"
"We'll have to go after Sasuke," I decided, thinking of the aftermath. Even if he did kill Itachi, what would he do after that? Who would tell him the truth?
'Personally, I have a feeling that Madara will interfere,' Itachi said. 'I'm not sure what his motives are at the moment, but I wouldn't be surprised if he manipulated Sasuke after my death.'
'The thing I'm most worried about is how he'll react if he finds out the truth,' I said. 'You don't want that, right? Because ideally, he'll kill you, be satisfied, and return to Konoha as a hero.'
'Exactly.'
'You don't think he deserves to know the truth?'
'Kira, sometimes the higher-ups have to keep things from the public in order to keep the peace. If he found out the truth, what do you think he would do?'
'Well, I mean – he'd probably set out to kill the Elders.'
'Even more than that, he'll probably wage war on Konoha. That's not really a good situation to be in.'
'So you're saying that we should go after Sasuke, let him kill you, and then make sure Madara doesn't arrive on the scene?'
'Exactly.'
I conveyed the bare minimum to Kakashi. "Basically, if Madara gets ahold of Sasuke, Konoha might be in danger. We have good reason to suspect that Madara would take pleasure in the Leaf's defeat."
"I can agree with that," Kakashi said, nodding. "So we should go after him, then?"
I considered the options. "We should probably go after him and keep him safe from outside interference – well, we're the outside interference for the outside interference. You know?"
"Sure."
I was searching every corner of my mind for another solution. "I think... I think that's the only way. The best way."
"Alright," said Kakashi, standing up and holding out a hand to me. I took it, and he pulled me to my feet. "Let's make a formal visit to Lady Tsunade and round up the troops."
My stomach grumbled in response.
Kakashi paused. "Okay, maybe we should grab breakfast first."
"That sounds much better."
As we left my apartment, I couldn't help but think about how much better it was to have Kakashi on my side. It had been a good decision to include him.