Ayuda's P.O.V
All of us rushed our ways to wherever that Reina was leading us to which was actually the Uchiha hideout, the place where Itachi and Sasuke would meet up and have their fight there. Although I was extremely puzzled to how she knew where the Uchiha hideout was, I simply surmised that she was informed of this by Itachi before our reunion.
Matching the pace of my sister alongside her was the teacher and the squad leader of my Team 5, Shiori-sensei. After taking a quick glance over my shoulder, I finally realized that Kaito and Kazuki were right behind me. It was at this moment I figured out that my entire squad members were behaving like my strict bodyguards and were guarding me against any potential risk of me being abducted again.
They have become paranoid to that extent, let me tell you.
"Are we still quite far away from there, Reina?" I heard Shiori ask my big sister.
"Not really," answered Reina without moving her eyes off of the front, "The hideout is just up ahead so we would arrive there soon enough."
"Alright!" exclaimed Naruto eagerly as he zoomed past Reina and Shiori to suddenly lead us all in the very front, "We're very close now, everyone! Let's pick up our pace! We will reach there in no time!"
That was when Hinata – whose Byakugan was activated the whole time – called out to him with palpable concern for the hasty blond boy, "Wait, Naruto-kun! This chakra...!"
Before any of us could question her or stop Naruto from advancing further, a black figure appeared out of nowhere, standing on a sturdy tree branch right in front of the hasty blond boy. A childish boy's voice greeted us, "Howdy!"
"What the-?!"
Naruto stuttered his words for he was so deeply shocked that he ended up toppling over to the ground. The rest of us immediately halted and landed around him while the newcomer briefly laughed at Naruto's fall. The man then spoke with his oddly childish voice, "Well now... how's it going there, there, and there? Imagine running into the Hidden Leaf in a place like this... I mean... it's two, four, six... thirteen against one. Such bad timing."
I was taken aback when I fully recognized who this childish grown man was. It was Deidara's partner when they ambushed me and Sasuke while we were waiting for the rest of Team Hebi members. I lowly gasped, "You are..."
"Oh?" the masked man shifted his full heed onto me, "Oh! You are that... uh... the girl who attacks with arrows! Yeah, yeah, yeah! I remember you! It's good to see you again! It's a pity that you got separated from Sasuke! You two seemed like a great couple, after all!"
I instantly put on a deadpan expression while I ignored the questioning looks from some of my peers.
"Ayuda, you know this weirdo?" asked Kazuki with his crimson eyes glued on the Akatsuki member.
I nodded my head as I successfully prevented blushes from emerging on my cheeks, "Sasuke and I had fought him and Deidara before."
"I see..." the brown-haired Jounin whose name was Yamato then pointed out, "Then he is without a doubt an Akatsuki member."
Kakashi added, "Though he wasn't on the list that Kabuto left us."
The masked man who was called Tobi laughed lightheartedly, "Oh, I'm a newbie. Nice to meet you!"
Kiba scoffed, "Hah! Think you're funny?! Don't waste our time!"
"Don't be rash," said Kakashi, "Study the situation first. Right now, we have him outnumbered."
"Oh dear..." said Tobi who seemed like he wasn't at all concerned that he was indeed outnumbered by us, "Am I being underestimated? By you guys?"
My frown deepened as I started to mull over this Tobi guy's motive for delaying us in our pursuit. It was clear as day that he intended to prevent us from reaching our destination with a solid reason. Could it be that Itachi asked him to do this?
I sneaked a glance at Reina who was glaring at this newcomer with ferocious malevolence. She's pissed for sure which shows that she didn't know who this guy is and has no clue if Itachi asked for his help or not. Or maybe Itachi did not inform her about this but he wished for her to stay out of his and Sasuke's battle and so for this reason he requested for this guy's assistance. Or maybe this Tobi guy has his own wicked motive that none of us and Itachi knew.
All of a sudden, another Naruto – probably another Shadow Clone of his – appeared out of nowhere with Rasengan in his hand, flying in the air and charging headlong at Tobi from behind him. The masked man yelled in shock and had no time to move away. However, to our shock, Naruto and his Rasengan moved through his body. It's as if his form was not a physical object but instead an illusion. Then I recalled the time when I fought him briefly while Sasuke was handling Deidara. He did that to me quite a lot and it was plain annoying. Perhaps making things go through him was some sort of a special technique which he mastered.
Naruto then charged back towards him, attempting to beat the masked guy into a pulp due to the blazing anger in his cerulean eyes. However, Tobi smoothly evaded his onslaught and then delivered a powerful kick on the tanned boy's cheek. Naruto was thrown into the river, causing Hinata to gasp in utter concern for him. But then the blond boy instantly emerged, revealing that he was definitely fine and dandy.
The playful-as-ever Tobi then inquired us eagerly, "Now then... what shall we play next, Hidden Leaf folks?"
"We don't have time to waste on the likes of you!" growled Naruto.
"He's right!" agreed Sakura.
"We'll go with Formation B, everyone," declared Yamato.
"Formation B?" I repeated in bafflement since I never had this sort of discussion with the rest of them regarding the aforementioned strategy.
Thankfully, I was not left out or forgotten from this conversation for Kakashi immediately issued a new order, "Reina, Kaito, Kazuki! Protect Ayuda at all cost! The four of you should also follow me in this Formation B."
"Right!" chorused the three of them as they rushed to my sides.
After watching them executing this Formation B all the while following after Kakashi, I learned that their strategy was to have Sakura throw Naruto into the air and then she, Kiba, and Akamaru dashed towards Tobi to attack him while also diverting his attention from the rest of the members who fled the scene in order to reach our destination. After eluding all of Sakura, Kiba, and Akamaru's attacks, Naruto then took that opportunity to charge at the masked man with his Rasengan.
Unfortunately, he easily dodged his attack too and then he proceeded to stop everyone from fleeing the battle by using another odd technique of his which allowed him to emerge from the ground and then disappeared back into the same spot as though he was a mole.
Shiori queried with exasperation as we all slowed down to gather altogether, "What kind of jutsu is that?"
Tobi then reappeared from the ground, giving us a show of twirling himself childishly, and then shouted enthusiastically, "I got it! I'm going to name this jutsu – Ninja Art: Whack-A-Mole Jutsu!"
Reina spoke up, "We won't be able to move forward if this goes on, unless we finish him off for good."
"Damn it," Naruto rubbed some dirt off of his eye before he glared murderously at Tobi, "We can't be wasting time in a place like this!"
"I know that," replied Yamato, "We'll go with Battle Formation A next."
Another formation, huh? It looks like they came fully prepared. But then again, will that formation effectively work for this troublesome guy right here?
Kiba was the first one to yell out, "Let's go, Akamaru!"
Akamaru responded by emitting a loud bark towards his owner before the two of them charged headlong at Tobi. Yamato then began to form a few hand signs to summon multiple giant long woods out of the ground and manipulated them to rush at the Akatsuki member. The masked man dodged all of them without a hitch while, after Akamaru transformed into a perfect replica of Kiba, the both of them then performed their skill called Fang Over Fang (Gatsuuga) at Tobi who evaded them successfully. Naruto then followed after them, preparing his Rasengan, and swung it at our enemy.
Just like I expected, Naruto once again went through the masked man who simply stood still. Yamato took that chance to control the long woods that finally put him in a tight neck-lock in between two woods. However, to our utter shock and disbelief, Tobi vanished in an instant before our very own two eyes.
"I-impossible!" exclaimed the wide-eyed Yamato.
The annoying masked man reappeared standing upside down of a branch. He was stretching his neck all the while saying nonchalantly, "Ya gotta it hand it to me. I'm pretty flexible, huh? Now for my counterattack! Secret Technique!"
Tobi then slammed his hands to one another to form a hand sign. All of us braced ourselves for what kind of dangerous jutsu he would use on us. Kakashi also called out, "Pull back, Naruto, Kiba!"
The two mentioned teen boys then leaped away – along with Akamaru – from their spots which were much closer to where Tobi was. The masked man's bottom robe suddenly followed the gravity since he was standing upside down a branch, giving him some sort of resemblance to one animal. It was then Tobi voiced out the name of that same creature, "Frill-Necked Lizard!"
The rest of us waited for any sort of surprise with bated breath for we almost believed that this childish guy would use a jutsu that's related to a frill-necked lizard or whatsoever. But then Tobi sweatdropped and rubbed the back of his head, "Umm... actually, that's all there is to it."
"He's just screwing with us," growled Naruto who was plainly pissed off.
"This formation seems to be useless as well," noted Yamato, "He's been dancing around all of our attacks so far."
Reina spoke up with a terrifying scowl on her face, "It's obvious that he's intentionally delaying us in getting to Sasuke and Itachi."
After a brief discussion among us all concerning Tobi's unique ability to make things pass through him, we then decided to let Shino attack the Akatsuki fellow with his bugs. Shiori commented, "In a situation like this, Shino's secret techniques might help us out."
"Yikes!" shrieked Tobi who put two and two together once he caught a glimpse of the bugs that started to surround Shino, "Are you from the Aburame Clan?! These swarms of bugs are nasty!"
Shino launched his bugs at Tobi who then jumped away from his spot, once again dodging an onslaught. This caused Naruto to tell, "Hey, Shino! He's dodging them pretty easily!"
Kakashi pointed out, "Rather than attacking a single point, the Aburame clan focus on attacking throughout large areas."
"Naruto, you haven't been on many missions with Shino, so just sit back and watch," said Kiba to the increasingly frustrated blond boy, "You'll only get in the way of his insects."
Once the swarms of bugs reached a few meters above Tobi's head, Shino commanded them to scatter all over his surrounding which granted him no opening to run away from those insects. The Akatsuki man seemed to be panicking as he looked on various angles as though trying to look for ways to escape.
Shino shouted once he got the Akatsuki fellow cornered, "Secret Technique: Insect Dome!"
The insects then began to engulf Tobi's whole form in a tight dome without even giving any slight chance of an opening. I grinned victoriously as well as Naruto who crowed with amazement, "Alright! Good job, Shino!"
The insects then closed any gap between them and their target, prompting them to closely blanket him until there was only a black humanoid figure. Hinata confirmed that Tobi's chakra was still located within Shino's swarm of bugs. Yamato followed up by summoning a few long woods around the bugs, clearly intending to subdue Tobi once the right time came.
All of a sudden, the firm black humanoid figure dispersed, revealing nothing within them, which means Tobi had once again miraculously escaped from my fellow comrade's technique and disappeared into thin air. Nearly all of us gasped with wide eyes as we watched the swarm of insects flew about the same spot as if searching for their target.
A drop of sweat rolled down Shino's cheek as he apprised us, "The insects that were tracking his chakra lost him completely. That's impossible."
"Did he use the Body Flicker technique?" inquired Sakura.
"No, it's not the Body Flicker technique," replied Shino who still eyed the spot in disbelief and perplexity, "Why? It's because my insects would've followed his direction anyway. Escape would still be impossible."
I frowned deeply and spoke out one concern that had been in my mind, "So he managed to teleport without using any seals, summonings, or markings?"
"Is there a technique such as this?" my query was responded with another question by Reina, "Or could this be the technique that only he could do?"
Kazuki asked in utter disbelief, "Can one simple vanish out of existence?"
"He can make things pass through him and can also make himself disappear without a trace..." noted Kaito, "Now it's no wonder why he is in the Akatsuki organization."
That's when Hinata alerted us, "Found him! Over there!"
All heads were turned to follow the direction where Hinata pointed at, and lo and behold, there was Tobi standing on top of a thick branch, already waving at us like a child who seemed eager to play with his playmates. He annoyed us even more by greeting rather cheerfully, "Howdy!"
After that, Kiba recklessly dashed forward and executed his Fang Over Fang at Tobi who then simply sidestepped him. That resulted in Kiba impacting with the ground headlong, making him predictably dizzy and confused.
At that moment, we perceived distinct movement on the right-hand side of Tobi. We all cast our attention at him and caught sight of Venus flytrap-like thingy emerging from the aforementioned spot on the branch next to Tobi who simply glanced at it unworriedly. I heard the masked man ask, "How'd it go?"
The two Venus flytrap-like extensions parted to reveal a green-haired humanoid whose half of his body was completely black in color while the other half was pure white. A very deep, heavy voice answered, "It's over."
"What... is that?" murmured Sakura with slight fear.
Kakashi informed us all, "He's in the Akatsuki file that Kabuto left us."
"One thing after another..." hissed Reina, "Does that thing also comes here to toy with us even more?!"
Naruto exclaimed furiously, "More of them just keep getting in our way!"
Without paying any heed to any of us, the black-and-white humanoid spoke to Tobi this time with a lighter masculine voice, "Sasuke won. Uchiha Itachi is dead."
Utter shock was the first emotion I felt when I heard that. My shoulders subtly shot up in astonishment and I was not the only one who had this kind of reaction for all of us were in deep shock as I was. Then disbelief came coursing through my vein as I thought: What? Sasuke managed to defeat Itachi? Is this true?!
And finally, concern followed suit, not towards Itachi who was proclaimed to be dead by that strange Venus flytrap-like guy, but towards Reina who harbored feelings for the older Uchiha. My older sister was standing right beside me at that moment so the urge to sneak a glance at her face was inevitable.
The look on her face made my heart ache painfully. The pure sadness gracing her features was palpable so much that it made me feel very bad to take a peek at her when she was displaying such vulnerable look. I could see and feel a huge part of her shatter into small pieces – so tiny that it's impossible to pick it up and tape them altogether – from the look of her eyes. I could not bear to look at her face any longer so I ended up look back up at Tobi and the black-and-white humanoid.
"That's unbelievable!" shrieked Tobi as his hands shot up to further express his astonishment. That's when he dropped his arms and shifted his attention to us. To our surprise, a very deep masculine voice enacted directly from the supposed childish man Tobi himself, "But it's just as I thought."
I widened my eyes once again. That voice... it's no doubt coming from him...!
The black-and-white humanoid also shifted his yellow-colored eyes to us and appended with a lighter voice, "Sasuke's down too, so what now? He might be hanging on by a thread."
I inwardly gasped. Is he saying that Sasuke is on the verge of death now?!
"Hey, you spiky, aloe vera bastard!" bellowed Naruto who pointed straight at him, "Where the hell is Sasuke?!"
The Venus flytrap guy seemed thoroughly offended by Naruto's nickname for him, "Aloe vera?!"
A much deeper voice, also belonged to the same humanoid man, spoke up, "Ignore him."
This guy... he is weird-looking and also seems to have two different personas and two voices... could it be that the white half possesses the lighter voice while the other black half has the deep one?
It was that moment when something bright reddish color moved just within the only hole on that orange face mask that Tobi was wearing. I focused my gaze on his face only to be met by another sight that left me open-mouthed once again on this same day.
There was a Sharingan on his right eye!
Tobi spoke to us in a deep frightening voice that sent chills down my spine, "I shall continue my fight with you another time."
The blazing Sharingan he possessed terrified us, rendering us speechless, as all we could do was to stare at him wide-eyed. The black-and-white humanoid then closed his Venus flytrap-like extensions and disappeared back into the surface of the branch while Tobi bid his farewell to us before he slowly made a show of himself disappearing right before our eyes. It's as if to display that there was no genjutsu, illusion, or magic involved in making himself vanish without a trace or making things pass through him.
All of us were still in a state of confusion and loss when Kakashi suddenly dashed forward and told us with haste, "We've gotta get to Sasuke before they do!"
Once we were sure where to head for next, we rushed towards a particular area in the middle of the forest – that was said to be engulfed in black flames, according to Kakashi and Hinata – with all the speed and hurriedness we could muster.
Throughout the entire rushed journey, I kept sending occasional glances at Reina who was awfully quiet ever since we heard the announcement of Itachi's death. The grief and sadness on her face were still very much obvious but this time her eyes shone with hope – the lingering hope that Itachi was still somewhat alive and was just hanging on by a thread and that we would get to see him by the time we reach our destination.
I immediately noticed that the more we got closer to that place, the darker the sky became, although I was unsure if it's because of the time of the day or it's because of the black flames that were found scattered all over a specific spot in the forest.
"I've got their scent!" announced Kiba, "They've reached Sasuke's position already!"
"Damn it!" cursed Naruto.
Once we reached the black flames that impeded us from going any further into the area, Yamato lent his assistance using his Wood Style to make a clear way for us to go through. Everyone except him then proceeded without a hitch.
That was until we arrived at a certain area where there were only large broken cement pieces all over the place and also a nearly heavy downpour. This must be the place where Sasuke and Itachi had a battle and from the look of it, it must be a pretty brutal fight. Is this the magnitude of a battle between two of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan users?
The only thing that lasted and stood still in that place was a large wall that had a huge Uchiha insignia carved on it. I was standing in front of it and staring at it when Naruto asked Hinata, "Where's Sasuke?!"
The only Byakugan user among us had already activated her special doujutsu and was scanning the entire area with her eyes with intense concentration judging by the deep frown of her eyebrows. Once she completed her task, she shut her eyes and answered softly in disappointment, "The only chakra I can sense now is ours."
Kiba added, "I can still pick up traces of their scents, but..."
"We were too late," Shiori completed Kiba's statement with a pair of downcast eyes.
Then Reina finally spoke up with a cracked voice as if she was so close to crying, "Even Itachi... is not here...?"
Once she received the shaking heads of Hinata and Kiba, she hung her head very low and spun around, showing her back to the rest of us. Kakashi spoke up, "If Itachi's body is not here, then I bet the Akatsuki has already recovered him."
I noticed right away that Reina's body trembled vaguely upon hearing that. While everyone was delivering their sympathetic looks to Naruto who was also utterly disheartened about once again failing to reach Sasuke in time, I was walking closer to Reina until I stood right beside her.
"Reina-oneesan... I'm..." my voice faded into silence for my mind was out of things to say to console someone on this situation, "I'm... I'm so sorry about all of this..."
My sister did not say anything. She just let her face being covered by her hair which had become very drenched due to the rain. Feeling unsettled by the silence she gave me, I continued, "I'm not sure what to say, but I want you to know that I care and that I am here if you ever need someone for support and to listen to you."
Once I articulated all of that, Reina finally lifted her head up a bit, showing most of her face to my eyes only. Her weak-looking eyes and the skin around them were red due to the fact that she had already shed tears. She looked spiritually and emotionally exhausted. There was no glimmer of light in her eyes as if she was now on the verge of turning into a lifeless mannequin. Not to mention that the rain that was showering over us made it seem like she shed millions of tear droplets.
That's when her mouth parted to speak up, "Am I... wrong for being so selfish...?"
"Hm?" I faintly raised my eyebrows in bewilderment.
Reina brought her eyes back down and began with a weak, gentle voice, "I was so persistent in asking him to meet me right after his battle with Sasuke. He ended up promising me that. But now I wonder if that promise put a heavy toll on him when he realized that he was about to die without getting to fulfill it... I feel bad for asking him that because I want him to go at least without any worry in his mind but... I've always wanted to meet him..."
She balled her hand into a fist for she was clearly so enraged at herself for doing that. I pursed my lips, having nothing to say, as I merely held her fist to uncover it only to intertwine our fingers together. I wanted to tell her by my conduct that I was always there for her to be listened to.
"Caw!"
I turned my head around sharply to dart my eyes to the sky. A single crow was seen winging over our heads, letting out a few croaks that sounded a bit louder than the din of the rain. It circled in the air for a while before it glided straight for... me and Reina...?
Once it reached us, it landed on my sister's shoulder without a hint of fear. Then it remained quiet while Reina simply eyed it with a pair of tired eyes. It took her quite a long while to make her move and pet the crow gently, causing it to emit a few grating coos as though it felt pleased to be caressed.
"Everyone, let's head back to the village," declared Kakashi.
***
Third Person's P.O.V
Sasuke Uchiha found himself awakened from a deep slumber in what seemed to be a dark place which was only lightened up by a single candle. The ceiling was not the usual flat ceiling but instead, there were numerous spikes pointing towards the ground.
The ravenette sat up in the futon which he was lying on. With a pair of weak, tired eyes, he looked straight at the shadow that concealed a certain someone who was watching him. It turned out to be Tobi who spoke up in his deep voice, "I've treated your wounds. You won. Although, you've suffered quite a bit of damage yourself. You shouldn't overexert your body like that."
Tobi walked out of the shadow, revealing himself to Sasuke that he was donning his usual orange mask and a black long-sleeve top that covered his neck and a pair of dark-colored pants. He added, "We've met once before. We were enemies then, but you can now forget about what happened with Deidara. I'm not your enemy anymore. I brought you here because there's something I wish to talk to you about."
Sasuke shifted his weak, unfocused gaze downward and proceeded to stare into space. He resembled a kid who seemed lost and had no aim in life which was odd since he had recently accomplished his number one goal. But even so, he felt empty.
Even Tobi himself was aware of this instantly and he stated, "You don't seem too interested. Well then, let me tell you something to freshen you up. The girl you seem so smitten with, Ayuda Makino, has already escaped her cage."
Sasuke's facial expression twitched immediately before he furrowed his eyebrows deep enough to show that he was growing livid yet tired at the same time. He cast his onyx eyes to Tobi with something shimmering within them.
Tobi seemed satisfied and pleased with his reaction, "Finally, there is some fire in your eyes. However, that's not all. Yes, she ran away, but she would not be able to escape so easily if it wasn't for the help of your brother."
The ravenette's eyes widened little by little and he even lifted his head up a bit to take a good look at Tobi. He then spoke up with a clear hint of malevolence towards Tobi and also towards the idea with a hoarse voice, "What are you talking about?"
"Hmph," Tobi stated, "You believe that you know so much about your brother and yet you really know nothing. This is what I want to talk to you about. It's about Itachi Uchiha."
***
A/N: Soo... I hope you guys like it so far! Please leave one or more comments to tell me how you feel about this chapter, story, or any feedback for me! Thank you!