"I would like to talk to you about something" Chikako said before walking away. Kakashi lifted an eyebrow before following Chikako to wherever they were going.
Chikako finally stopped walking when she stood on top of the Hokage's heads looking out into the village. People were bustling around. A few people opened their shops for a bit hoping the visitors would but their products.
"It's nice here" Chikako said quietly startling Kakashi.
"Yeah" he answered absentmindedly.
"It's been almost eight months since I came here" Chikako hesitated when her eyes landed on some students from the academy walking around with their parents.
"I'm leaving" she blurted out. Her voice didn't sound panicked at all. If anything it was completely empty. If Kakashi hadn't heard it before he would've missed the sadness in her voice. It reminded him of the first time he heard it.
"Goodbye big brother" an image of Chikako laying almost dead in the snow flashed across his eyes.
"Why?" He asked. There was slight panic in his voice, but he had to much pride to express anything else.
"Danger comes. Sasuke's mark is too dangerous. I will kill them before they kill the people of this village" Chikako said turning her head slightly to the side. Glancing at Kakashi.
"The ninja of this village are strong. We can protect this village with your help" Kakashi pleaded.
"No. My secrets are too deep" Chikako replied. Her soft voice being taken by the wind.
"After this test I will leave. Do not try to stop me. It's for your own good. You are welcome to anything I have in my possession" She continued. Kakashi furrowed his brow.
"You know I'll try and stop you. Why would you tell me?" Kakashi questioned in a quiet and deadly voice. Chikako stayed quiet not answering his question.
Kakashi stepped forward as Chikako turned around. She spread her arms out and tipped back. She fell head first down towards the ground.
Kakashi's eyes widened and he looked down the Hokage's heads. She was gone.
Chikako watched as Kakashi worriedly hurried towards the edge of the heads. She was sitting in a tree behind him. Earth clone jutsu.
Chikako woke up in the midst of a fever. She was remembering a few days ago when she told Kakashi she was leaving. It was morning already. Sasuke was no doubt awake and Kakashi is looking for her.
"It was nice while it lasted, but I know more than you. It's best to be ignorant" Chikako whispered to herself. Doing her best to push through the aching in her bones and the extreme pain that flooded her body, Chikako moved at a steady pace away from the village.
Chikako fell to her knees and curled into a ball. Forcing a curse to another's body aggravates it. Chikako had to go through the same thing Sasuke did, but her pain was doubled because she wasn't the original receiver of the curse mark.
Despite the pain Chikako staggered to her feet. once more She was wobbly, but able to move. She needed to continue on.
She walked well past nightfall. Panting and sweating, she collapsed in the middle of the forest. Chikako was exhausted. The pain hadn't subsided even a little. She was strong, but everyone had their limits.
Chikako decided to rest there. She called upon the earths chakra to make bushes around her to hide her presence. Chikako tried to sleep, but the pain kept her in a trance like state. Half asleep, but able to feel every bit of the pain.
It didn't take long for Chikako to pass out from the pain. She laid in the middle of a bunch of bushes sprawled out on he ground panting.
Heat radiated off of Chikako in waves. The insides of the bushes were being burnt, and repeatedly rebuilt by the Earth chakra.
Sasuke burst through the Hokage's offie.
"Where is she?" He demanded. Kakashi was already in there with a dire expression.
"My Lady!" Sakura burst through the door crying.
"What's wrong Sakura?" Tsunade asked going into her Hokage mode.
"It's Chikako! She's gone" Lady Tsunade eyes darkened.
"I know. It was her choice. We can't stop her" Her fingers laced together and she settled her head upon them.
"But she could be hurt somewhere!" Kakashi argued.
"It's gone" Sasuke spoke as his hand unconsciously met the skin of his neck where the curse mark used to be.
"So she did take it. I don't know how that's possible. Take me to where you woke up!" Tsunade ordered. Sasuke lead The Hokage to where he woke up in the forest with Kakashi and Sakura following close behind.
Tsunade knelt down and touched the grass gently, letting it brush against her fingertips.
"She fused her chakra with the ground." She stated. Tsunade was unsure how Chikako even did that, but it was the truth. Kakashi could feel it to. Chikako's chakra was all around them.
"Is that even possible?" Sakura asked. Tsunade shook her head.
"Apparently" The woman huffed as she continued to study the grass.
"What's going on? Where's Chikako?" Naruto asked. He noticed his team go into the Uchiha compound and followed them.
"Chikako took Sasuke's curse mark and is missing" Sakura explained.
Sasuke honestly didn't know how to feel about it. That mark could have given him great power, and now it was gone. He needed that power, but at the same time his mind was more clear than it had ever been since he got the mark from Orochimaru. It was like a haze of anger had been lifted from his vision.
The whole situation seemed unreal.
Chikako woke up later than usual due to the pain, but she began moving right as she rose. Staying on one place for too long increased her chances of getting caught. Sasuke has most likely met up with Kakashi by now. It's only a matter of time before she was being chased again.
Once again gripping her heart Chikako slung her red kimono over her shoulder and continued going as fast as she could through the forest. She made it to the fire border within the next few hours.
As much as Chikako wanted to sleep right now she needed to keep going. She refilled her water pouch and chugged the cool water, It was room temperature, but Chikako felt like she was boiling alive, so any water felt cold against her soar throat.Soon enough she passed the border. Looking back one more time, she continued on.
It wasn't long after she crossed the boarder when four different chakra signatures headed in her direction. Chikako stopped and waited until they met with her. She needed to catch her shaky breath.
"It's you again" a female voice growled from behind her. Chikako turned around to see the read haired girl from Orochimaru's guards. The one that had hurt her before when she jumped in front of Kakashi.
Chikako smirked and rolled up her sleeve to show the curse mark.
"Take me to Lord Orochimaru." Chikako demanded.
"We came for Uchiha not you" the boy with light blue hair told her.
"He no longer has the curse mark. I took it from him" Chikako sneered. The pain sizzled inside of her. It took all of her willpower to push it down and seem unbothered in front of them.
"That's impossible!" The red head yelled.
"See for yourself" Chikako shoved the curse mark closer to her face.
"Now, take. Me. To. Him." The four of them took on battle positions.
"If I kill you, you won't be able to show me where Orochimaru is" Chikako droned. They glowered at her.
"I'm really not in a good mood" Chikako warned. Her body wavered as she struggled to hold her own weight upright.
"We're not scared of you!" The red head yelled.
In mere seconds the light blue haired man was stuck to a tree with the earths chakra. Vines with thorns holding him in place. Chikako turned to the other three her eyes almost glowing with anger.
"Take. Me. To. Him. Or. Die" she spat. The spider man was shaking and took a step back, but held his position.
"Suffer" Chikako hissed. She made eye contact with all three of them and cast a genjutsu with her sharingan.
She warped into her genjutsu. They were all being tied to a brick wall with thorns. The needles digging into their skin. Chikako broke every bone in their body for the next few seconds. It seemed longer than a life time to the three. She was breaking their minds. A nice trick master taught her.
When the genjutsu was released all three of them fell to the ground. The red head threw up and the large guy passed out. Chikako threw a kunai at his head and it cut clean through his neck and the branch under it. He slammed into the ground with a resonating thud.
With hot, labored breaths, Chikako pulled herself close to the spider-like male. She looked at his through her lashes. Her finger twitched as they wrapped around his neck. It took quite a bit of strength to restrict his breath in her state. Instead, she grabbed a sharp rock on the ground next to her and slit his throat.
The red head tried to pull out her flute, but Chikako stepped on it snapping in half. The red heads eyes widened and she scurried back begging to be spared. Chikako tilted her head to the side so her red sharingan showing though the side of the veil.
"These eyes are the last thing you'll ever see" with that Chikako stomped on her spine with all of her weight. Her spine snapped in half and the red head died.
"Release" Chikako said. The light blue haired man fell to his knees.
"Take me to him" She snarled. Chikako glared at him.
"I think your lord would like the Odd Eyed Devil on his side wouldn't he?" She spoke. Her voice was low and threatening. This was something she picked up on the years she spent with the Akatsuki.
The man nodded his head and stood up.
"Carry me" She ordered. The man nodded again to scared to say anything else. He picked her up and took off towards the sound village.
"I couldn't find her. Sakura and Lady Hokage are going through every book possible right now to find an answer." Kakashi said his voice sounding tired. Iruka looked at his freind with sympathy.
Team seven as well as Gaara's team and a few other volunteers searched for Chikako once again, but failed in the end. Again.
"When one is lost another is a replacement" Sasuke muttered something to himself. That night Chikako took his curse mark he had a dream. The two of them sat on the pier that leads out into the lake in the Uchiha compound.
"If you could get incredibly strong, would you?" She had asked. Sasuke stared at her reflection in the lake's water. Her face was distorted and black, but it didn't bother him while he was dreaming.
"Yes" Came his reply.
"Even if it took a few years?" She asked again.
"Yes. If it will give me the ability to kill Itachi, I'll do anything" He hummed with determination. Chikako nodded beside him.
"What if it meant giving up your curse mark?" She prodded further.
"This curse mark is the old way to get stronger!" Sasuke yelled standing up.
"You won't get stronger through hate. You need to learn to work with those around you and ask for help when you need it. The people around you are the ones who can help you grow" Chikako lectured the male. Sasuke whipped his head to face Chikako, but all that was there was a bundle of color and scribbled circles. She wasn't even human anymore.
"No! Hate is all I have" He raged.
"Then what am I here for? Why am I in your dreams if you only need yourself?" Chikako's voice faded.
"When one is lost another takes it's place" It was hard to make out anything after those few words of warning as Sasuke woke up on the ground.
Chikako's words... He finally understood what she meant.
"She asked me if she could get rid of the curse mark. When I said no she took it by force. She put the curse on herself!" Sasuke yelled at Kakashi.
"We don't know what happened. There's nothing in this world that can tell us how to get rid of a curse mark and what happens when you do" Kakashi said.
"When one is lost another is a replacement! She went to Orochimaru Kakashi-sensei!" Kakashi's eyes widened. Sasuke bared his teeth and looked away.
Dammit! Why does she always leave? Sasuke yelled in his head.