"I hate myself." I bluntly say, staring stoically at Isamu who rolls his eyes at me. "So what you can't make a house with the snap of your fingers, I'll have you know that NO OTHER NINJA COULD DO THAT NOW ANYWAYS!" Isamu exclaims, finally fed up with me always bashing myself.
"Yamato could do it just fine."
"UGH!"
I sigh heavily when Isamu lays down across my lap and I let my back rest on the sandy dunes. "Why does this desert go on forever? There's nothing but a bunch of rocks." I rhetorically ask myself.
"Haru we don't even know where we're going, The Senju temple is super far, The akatsuki changed their location so we don't know where they are, and you're now a national criminal without chakra so you cant hide in another village." Isamu comments, analyzing our situation from top to bottom.
I stay silent as I stare up at the baby blue sky, my akatsuki cloak conveniently shielding me away from the scorching sun rays. "Haru. . . what if they catch up to us?" Isamu asks to which I groan in frustration. "I don't know Isamu, why must all the odds be against us?" I ask once again, now glaring at the sky. "Do you think Naruto will come?" Isamu asks, now tilting his head over so he'd look at me.
I frown and sit up, "Can we not talk about Naruto? I'm not in the mood to dwell over failed friendships." I say, my voice giving out how tired I really am. Isamu, sensing my slight distress let's the topic go. But that doesn't stop my from thinking about it. I wonder, If I was never put on team seven what would've happened?
Would Naruto and I still be friends right now? Would Sakura and I get along better? Would Sasuke and I even reconcile a couple of years ago? Would I have ever left the village? It's just crazy to me, I got along relatively well with everyone else in my class except for the people I was teamed up with. The inconvenience of it all.
My thoughts are disrupted when I suddenly feel Isamu tense up and jump off my lap seemingly alarmed.
I furrow my eyebrows "What's wrong Isamu?" My summonings eyes narrow, and he bares his teeth in a certain direction. "We have company." He mutters.
I frown and stand up, turning to Isamu's line of sight when I notice some familiar faces coming our way. I click my tongue and zip my cloak all the way up so only my ruby red eyes are visible. My long hair flows behind me as I toy with the akatsuki ring on my index finger.
"So I don't think my R.A tactic is going to work this time around." I say sarcastically, hoping to lift up my summonings mood. I now know that they can see me, but I don't even try to retreat. There's no point to it, what will I do hide behind a rock?
Isamu on the other hand has become extremely defensive, taking me aback the slightest bit. I've never seen him act like this, maybe it's because he knows I can't defend myself like I usually could this time around. He jumps in front of me and crouches down, an ambivalent expression on his face as he stares down the oncoming ninja.
I look forwards and my breath hitches when I make eye contact with, of all people, Kakashi. Great.
I clench my fists and take a step back, by now I would've already been gone or already been attacking them. The feeling of helplessness is really becoming sort of suffocating.
"Haru!" My red eyes snap to a figure of my past, Ino, running towards me. As much as it hurts, I ignore her and look back to everyone else, who slow down when they realize that I'm standing perfectly still, my wolf baring his teeth threateningly at anyone who wants to come any closer.
My old comrades and I are no less than twenty feet away from each other at a standstill. I analyze them all one by one noticing the tired looks on their faces, and my sight stops on Kakashi, who's staring at me. But I notice that his gaze is almost sad? What's that all about?
I can't help but notice the absence of two certain people. Naruto and Sakura. I understand that Sakura wouldn't come on this mission, I think I scarred her enough. Naruto on the other hand, well I can't help but feel my heart drop the slightest bit at that. So he really doesn't care as much as everyone thought, does he?
If I were Sasuke they would both be here, trying their hardest to retrieve me and bring me back to the village.
Oh well, It's best that Naruto doesn't care about me. I applaud him for not coming here and trying to take me back to the village. Naruto, my bright and happy idiot Naruto has dreams of being hokage, of being the best. Such bright aspirations. While I dream of killing a man and saving my brother from being killed. The darkness which clouds my judgement shouldn't affect Naruto's life.
My path in life is heading nowhere as bright and he shouldn't have that negativity placed upon him even though he's chasing after Sasuke who is even more messed up mentally then I am. But still, the thought of him not caring enough to show up. . . It hurts a little bit.
I guess I'm just being silly thinking that he'd bother to show up.
I refrain myself from continuing those thoughts before staring down the unit on ninja in front of me.
"Well, this is quite the reunion." I murmur, crossing my arms over my chest. I notice them all eye the cloak I have on and I chuckle, "What? Please don't tell me you chased me down just so you could stare at my outfit." I sarcastically say, feigning confidence when in fact I'm internally freaking out.
It's like I've entered a kenjutsu match without a sword. . . OH MY GOSH WAIT I CAN USE A SWORD!
But I can't summon my sword. . .Never mind then.
"Haru, we don't want to have to fight you. Just come with us and no one has to get hurt." Kurenai says, not daring to move a muscle with Isamu glaring intensely at her. I sigh and twiddle with the ring adorning my index finger. "But where's the fun in that?" I ask, smiling sweetly at Kurenai.
Even though the smile wouldn't be visible due to my zipped up cloak, they all knew what I was doing by the slight squint of my eyes. "I don't think you're in the position to be smiling like that Haru, you're outnumbered." Asuma warns, also eyeing me sadly but with caution.
Well, If this were a month ago being outnumbered wouldn't be a problem. The problem now is that I can't do anything about it. At all.
We all stand in a tense silence, that's when I notice a sort of signal going on between the unit, like a countdown. Shit!
I quickly jump upwards and low and behold, right when I do so Shikamaru extends a shadow in my direction at an extremely fast rate. I feel my heart burst through my chest as I land a couple feet away. The rest of the ninja have now dispersed out of my line of vision and Isamu acts like all hell broke loose. From the corner of my eye I see him go after Kiba and Akamaru hiking my anxiety levels up a bit.
Sure Isamu isn't completely gone but he's not right next to me. My only line of defense is gone. I nearly shriek in surprise when I feel a presence behind me.
I quickly turn to face Neji who's staring at me with pure confusion in his powerful eyes. Well, this whole situation just reached a new level of inconvenience. "Long time no see." I casually say, feigning arrogance when in reality I'm about to shit myself.
He narrows his eyes at me and grabs my wrist when he realizes I'm about to punch him and make a run for it. Suddenly it feels like he and I are the only ones left in this sandy playing field as he stares into my eyes, holding my wrist in a vice grip.
"What the hell happened to you?" He asks, and at that moment I know that he knows that I'm basically defenseless. I close my eyes and bring my other hand up to unzip my cloak revealing my face. "As much as I would love to tell you the story over a cup of tea I'm afraid we're no longer acquainted enough to do so." I say, not even trying to get out of his grip.
Neji arches a brow at me "Even at a time like this you manage to say shit like that."
I, in my last reign of fake arrogance, smirk and lean closer so our noses are almost touching. "And you just love me for it don't you Neji?"
Before he manages to respond a whizz of kunai fly between us catching me by surprise yet conveniently freeing me from Neji's hold. My eyes snap over to a very determined and somewhat angry looking Tenten who has a whole bunch of scrolls lined up and ready to use. Tenten. . . I'm not messing her up for the pig again am I?
I arch my brow as a sudden idea comes to mind. Weapons! I may not have a sword lying around but I could just use whatever Tenten throws at me! At least that would mean fighting back. With the sudden rush of adrenaline pumping through my veins I manage to pick up all the thrown kunai and create some distance between Neji and myself.
Okay, now I have a bunch of kunai with zero chakra. I can make this work! I turn around and freeze when I come face to face with the one guy I was hoping to avoid throughout all of this. Rock Lee. At this point I find myself cornered by team Gai. Oh hell no.
I quickly decide to take the offensive route, with another burst of adrenaline I lunge forwards and manage to kick Tenten in the abdomen using every muscle in my leg sending her back a couple of feet. Now for not using any chakra that's impressive, but it looks strange when an S-ranked criminal can't kick an individual further than a few feet.
I whirl around, two kunai's equipped in both of my hands as I fling them towards Neji and Lee who both easily dodged them. Damn, at least it was worth a shot.
Neji, having enough of my antics, runs towards me and brings his fist forwards to send me quite a packed punch. I narrowly dodge it and nearly curse out in surprise when I'm forced into a back bend due to an incoming kick from Lee.
The hyuga quickly turns the tables back around as he takes the offensive route. He rushes towards me and sends a fan kick. I manage to duck on time but the teamwork between Neji and Lee proves to be strong when Lee bends down to my level to swing his leg around knocking me to the floor.
I cringe as a whole bunch of sand sticks to my clothing, this is probably going down as one of the most pathetic moments in my life. I quickly stand up once again and bring my fists forwards, landing a sickening punch on Neji's ribcage. But of course that proves to be only a clone when it poofs away in a cloud of smoke.
I click my tongue and bring my forearm up to my face, blocking me from the strike of a kunai that Tenten sent my way. I hitch my breath in pain when I feel the kunai lodge in my arm, and I almost comically feel all the confused stares from the ninja around me when they realize that they haven't been fighting a clone this whole time.
Kakashi in particular sends Asuma a look of confusion, wondering as to why the hell I'm going the taijutsu route while it's not my forte. Plus, I look considerably weaker doing it now then I ever did before. Almost like I wasn't using any chakra.
The pain of the kunai though, is nothing to me. So, I grab the kunai by the handle and rip it off of my forearm analyzing the red coating that covers the entire kunai. I sigh and drop the kunai to the floor, letting the blood stain the sand as I stare at it.
All the other ninja catch onto Kakashi's thoughts and notice my lack of powerful attack, and it's like plan B takes place.
It's like an ambush. One second I'm standing perfectly still a few feet away from team gai, then suddenly I'm stuck in the center of a perfectly formed circle with no way out. I stay silent, knowing that anything I say or do at this point will probably not go in my favor. "Haru just give up, we don't want to hurt you." Kurenai repeats, attempting to coax me into giving in once again. Ino eyes my bloody arm and cringes when she notices that the sand below me begins to turn red, tainted by my blood.
"I'm not giving in to you leaf ninja." I say, letting those be the last words I say to them before giving myself one last chance.
I use a barrage of collected kunai, including the bloody one, and fling them in all sorts of directions causing a minor halt in their unit. Sadly, it's almost as if Neji knew what I would do before I even moved an inch.
Before I could use any more weapons to attempt escaping, Neji is already right behind me holding both of my arms tightly as my back is pressed to him.
"Good job Neji!" Tenten compliments when they all realize that I'm not a clone.
I lean my head against his chest as look up at him with an arched brow "I hope you're not enjoying this too much." I say sarcastically, chuckling slightly when I see an irk mark on neji's forehead.
I might as well have some fun before it all ends.
The unit eyes my nonchalant figure that seems a bit too comfortable in Neji's hold.
"Haru I don't think you're in any position to be making comments like that. You're under arrest, If I were you I'd watch my mouth." Kurenai warns, making me smirk sarcastically.
"C'mon Kurenai let me live a bit, at least you're making my arrest perfectly comfortable." I tease, now using my own force to wrap my arms around myself making it look like I was basically receiving a back hug from Neji.
What they didn't know, Is that my little eye spied on a raven not too long ago. This lets me know that a certain Someone is not too far away. So, I'm buying the most time I can get.
Plus, I wasn't lying when I said I was comfortable. Neji is proving to be surprisingly. . . Nice to lean on. . . Dammit. I take it to my own pleasure to give out a famous shit eating grin as I basically snuggle up to Neji, a totally inappropriate action in a totally inappropriate situation.
Eh, let me get under their skin while I'm at it.
Kurenai attempts to ignore me as she walks over to Kakashi and Asuma. "That's it?" Kurenai asks the silver haired sensei in a hushed voice before glancing over at my restrained figure.
"That was easier then I thought it would be!" Choji whispers to Ino, who's now staring at me also extremely confused.
Well, this is both embarrassing and amusing.
"Haru, you're done here. We're taking you home. And get off nevi, you're going home in handcuffs." Shikamaru says, also confused and somewhat threatened by how simple it was to take me down. He honestly had hundreds of mental plans all sketched out in his head. He had expected me to come out like some angel of death out for blood but that's not what he got.
I pout and smile teasingly at all the ninja, my gaze landing up at the hyuga who's already staring down at me. "Aw seems like they're separating us already, wanna use up some jail visitations?" I ask, making a joke out of the whole situation.
In all honesty, If I hadn't seen that raven before this, I would've been fighting against these people like it was the last thing I did before I died. I would be freaking out and probably going batshit crazy. But now since I know my brother is on his way I'm relaxed, therefore giving me the opportunity to get under their skin.
I look away from Neji and I drop my smile when I stare back off into the distance. Being the observational genius that he is, Shikamaru notices my staring, only to tense up when an unnerving smirk appears on my face.
Then, I begin to chuckle, so much that my shoulders begin to shake. This chuckle turns to full blown laughter as I'm still tightly held in Neji's grip. The older ninja watch me in disturbance as my laughing never ceases and tears begin to build up in my eyes from my hysterics.
Kakashi specifically, was watching me wearily. He's well aware of my horror stories, how bad I could be when I snap. How my crystal wings once oozed black chakra when I was pushed over the edge, how I nearly killed Sakura and basically traumatized her.
He was hoping that this wouldn't be one of my insanity cases.
The far off distance that I was once staring into proved to be more meaningful than it seemed. Suddenly a single blue eyed raven, flies ahead catching the attention of all the ninja. Then, a sudden barrage of wolves coming raging towards us, Senju wolves, with my mother's summoning Isao leading the pack.
"You didn't think this would be that easy did you?"
••Third Person POV••
"Sensei she's close I know it!" Shinji exclaims as the two men race towards a specific direction in the vast desert. Suddenly Itachi reaches his hand out and stops Shinji from running anymore. Shinji, obviously frustrated and worried, lashes out at his well respected sensei.
"What are we waiting for?! We have no time to loose! My baby sister is out there, defenseless, while possibly getting beat up by her old friends and I'm not there to stop any of it! I don't care Itachi sensei! I've come to realize that you probably don't care for her nearly as much as she does for you. But that's okay because it seems like that happens to Haru in nearly every relationship she makes. So I'm sure she's used to that feeling!" He pauses, only getting more frustrated at Itachi's uninterested look.
"Anyways even though you may not care I sure as hell do! She's my family and I'm not just going to sit here and wait around while she's out there alone!" Shinji rants, refraining himself from strangling his stoic sensei who has so far shown little to no regard in terms of Haru's life.
It frustrated Shinji to no end. Itachi on the other hand, seemingly unfazed by his students mini rant, arches a brow and stares down Shinji. "Haru is fifty feet to the left away from us, I want you to be prepared and not overreact." Itachi calmly says, effectively taking Shinji aback.
"When we get there, we take Haru and that's it. No big event fighting. Understand?" Itachi orders, the tone of his voice slightly unnerving the Oshiro prodigy. "Understood."
What Itachi failed to notice was the crossed fingers behind his students back.
The two ninja race towards Haru's location, and when they arrive the sight is less than ideal. The sight is a literal war zone, a bloody and worn out Isamu I standing in front of Haru like a true loyal summoner, but he's not alone.
There are many other wolves involved, most of which have thick white fur coats, and a couple have midnight black coats with the occasional red intricacy laced throughout the fur.
Shinji instantly recognized these wolves as Isamu's younger siblings. Itachi didn't care for all the other wolves, but his eyes narrowed in on one specific wolf.
The biggest of the pack, a slightly bigger and older version of Isamu. There stood proudly, Luna Senju's old summoning wolf, Isao.
Itachi hadn't seen the wolf for a very long time, but they had history to say the least. Isao met Itachi when Itachi was only an infant. Granted, Luna met Itachi when he was only a couple hours old so it was only natural that her wolf met him around the same time.
Itachi grew up around the wolf seeing as Luna was always around as well. That wasn't what made Itachi so intrigued by the sight of the wolf though.
Isao knew many things, too many things. He would never tell, but he would always listen. Isao knew of Itachi's true intentions behind the Uchiha massacre. Isao knew all about it.
And that it why the sight of Isao was so surprising to Itachi. Itachi didn't think he'd ever see the wolf again after such a. . . Gruesome goodbye.
But alas, Itachi shoved these thoughts aside when he noticed that his student was no longer right besides him. He had never seen Shinji so emotionally invested in someone, he had never seen Shinji so close to breaking down just because he might've lost someone.
So Itachi watches by afar when his student speeds over to Haru, probably the fastest Itachi has ever seen Shinji run, and the Oshiro lands right in front of his little sister. Itachi does nothing but watch when Shinji notices all the wounds marking his little sisters body, all credit to the leaf ninja they're currently facing.
Itachi does nothing but watch when Shinji closes his eyes and starts murmuring something to himself, trying to restrain his anger. Suddenly the Oshiro's eyes snap open and he's no longer the Shinji that Itachi is familiar with.
His eyes are pitch black, no white to be seen, and wings suddenly grow from his back. The massive, impressive, feathery black wings that are very different from his usual crystal wings.
Then Itachi makes eye contact with Haru, who looks extremely petrified. Then to him she's no longer the Haru he now knows. She's suddenly a little girl again, staring at him as if he were the only person that could solve all of her problems.
He stares into her watery red eyes and sighs, knowing he may regret his decisions later.
He decides to be the guy he once knew, and he went in to save little Haru.
•••••••••••••
HELLO LOVELY READERS!
So this is a pretty long chap. . .Let me know, do you guys prefer longer chapters with a longer time in between updates OR shorter chapters with shorter update periods?
So, so much is going on lol!
First of all, what do you think about Haru's reaction to Naruto not being there?
And her interactions with Neji?
Plus, what the hell is going on with Shinji?! And how will the Konoha unit react to Shinji's sudden physical changes?!
What do you think about the ending to the chapter?! Is it indicative of what's to come in Haru and Itachi's relationship?
Any predictions for the upcoming chapters?
And finally, whaddya think about this overall chap (Do you like how long it is)?
Let me know in the comments! I'll see you all next chapter!