Before they could attack, I ran behind them, and went to hide in the trees. I didn't want to use the teleportation jutsu just yet. I wanted to keep that a surprise for when I actually needed it. As far as strategy, I needed to be careful for Naruto's shadow clones, but my wind scythe would take them down easily. For Sakura, I needed to be careful not to let her get a hit on me. She has far more strength than I do, and I'd like to live to see lunch. They would probably try to find my weakness and exploit it like they did with Kakashi. So they'll either use Sasuke or Kakashi in some form. I needed to remember that.
I activated my sharingan so I could sense them better, though having Kakashi's nose would certainly be helpful right about now. I could tell that they were close to the tree I was hiding in, but couldn't pinpoint their exact location.
Suddenly, the tree I was in was collapsing, probably because of Sakura. I jumped down, and was surrounded by at least 100 Narutos. I scanned them quickly, trying to find the real one. Apparently Naruto has gotten better at dispersing his chakra evenly. I can't tell which is him and which is shadow clone.
"Wind style: wind scythe!" I yelled and made wind blades come from my hand movements. That got rid of most of them, but the remaining Narutos attacked in the smoke, and I was left to defend myself. I blocked most of the attacks, and got rid of the rest of the shadow clones, only to be met with a rasengan above me. Shit. I dodged it, and kicked Naruto into a tree as I moved. The rasengan hit the earth and did some major damage. I stayed in a fighting stance and waited for Sakura. She ran in front of me and punched the ground as hard as she could, sending ripples of earth flying around me. I jumped up, and landed in a tree, throwing kunai at her as I went. She dodged all of them and went to help Naruto up. Naruto made several more shadow clones, and had them all attack me. Damn. This kid has stamina. His chakra wasn't as evenly dispersed this time, so I could see which was the real him. I didn't think Sakura knew though, so I decided to toy with her, and see what she would do. I grabbed a Naruto from the middle of the crowd, and put him in a head lock, with a kunai to his throat.
"I'll do it. Give up." I said, menacingly. He was a shadow clone, but it made Sakura stop in her tracks.
"Mika-sensei. Let him go." Sakura said quietly, making me smirk. I stabbed shadow clone Naruto in the throat, making her eyes go wide. I couldn't have Naruto interfering and telling her it was a shadow clone. When he poofed away, I jumped back into my tree.
"Ninja see through deception Sakura." I warned, and ran in an opposite direction. I needed to catch my breath. Fighting so many Narutos was challenging. No wonder he wins most of the time.
I sat on a tree branch and tried to catch my breath. They were doing their best, that's for sure. But I haven't even used my secret weapon yet.
Naruto came flying through the air, with a rasengan pointed right at me. Shit. If I did nothing, he'd hit me. I quickly threw my special kunai past him into another tree, and teleported to it, making Naruto hit the other tree instead. I took a deep breath, and went in after him, attacking with punches and kicks until he jumped off of the tree branch. Sakura followed him, and punched the tree I was standing on. I threw another kunai to a tree a little further away, seemingly confusing both of them. I teleported to it, and I could see Sakura's frustration levels growing. I have to admit, this technique was irritating to fight against. I remember sparring with Minato-sensei and I literally couldn't touch him. It was so irritating.
"Don't show me your emotions." I laughed and jumped back to Sakura, kicking her in the side, and spinning to face Naruto. He looked determined to stop me, but could he actually? He created even more clones, making me groan inside. How much chakra does this kid have? I couldn't tell the real one, so I decided to just go for a wide range attack.
"Fire style: Phoenix flower jutsu!" I yelled and shot a fireball out of my mouth that broke into small fireballs which I threw shuriken into. It easily took out many of his shadow clones, but not all of them. My chakra wasn't gone, so I went for another.
"Wind style: wind scythe!" I yelled and made wind blades come from my arm movements again. All of the shadow clones were gone, and Naruto ran at me with a rasengan again. I glanced at Sakura, and she was running at me too. Shit. They're trying to corner me. I threw a special kunai up into the air, and teleported to it quickly, making the two of them run into each other instead. I jumped into the trees, and moved away enough that I could see them, but could get away when they got up. They still had a long time left before noon and I knew they would be angry if I called it now. I needed to rest anyways. I used a lot of chakra between the fire and wind styles, and teleporting. I have to admit, I was more tired than I expected to be.
I sat in my tree, just observing for a long time, when I noticed that both Naruto and Sakura were gone. I guess I zoned out. Oops. I scanned the area with my sharingan, trying to see if I could see them. I even activated my mangekyo so I could scan the area more efficiently. I wouldn't use the abilities though. I valued my eyesight more than power. And the two abilities I had were not ones to use in a friendly spar with students. I could sense their chakra, and they were coming this way. I decided to just hang out in this tree and wait for them.
When they arrived, I also saw Kakashi with them, and raised my eyebrow. Was he helping them? Cheater. Upon closer inspection, his hands were tied together, and Naruto had a kunai at his throat. At first, I was concerned, but the more I thought about it, the less likely it was that that was Kakashi. I saw Sakura standing near by, so it wasn't a transformation. It must be a shadow clone. I nodded to myself.
"Come fight us fairly, or we'll stab him." Naruto said nervously. If it were anyone else saying that, I might be nervous. But there was no way Naruto could even stab a shadow clone of Kakashi. Neither he or Sakura had ever killed a person, for one. And two, they both loved Kakashi. They wouldn't kill him. I decided to play with them more. I jumped down, pretending to be scared, and I was thankful that manipulating emotions is one of my best skills.
"I'm sorry, Naruto. I underestimated you two. Please let him go. I'll do anything." I said in my best fake panic voice, even letting tears fall from my eyes. Apparently they didn't know that I play with people's emotions on just about every mission. It's my specialty. Naruto looked shocked that his plan worked, and Sakura had wide eyes as well. This was too easy. They're too naive. Naruto let go of 'Kakashi' and I ran to hug him, trying to keep up my facade of being a panicked girlfriend. At the last second though, I sent Naruto and Sakura a smirk that made them both look confused.
"Chidori!" I yelled and shoved my lightening covered hand through the shadow clone, making it poof away. "Nice try." I smirked at both of them.
"What if he were real?! You would have killed him!" Naruto yelled in disbelief. I rolled my eyes.
"I know Kakashi way better than you do, kid." I laughed, and got back into my fighting stance. This wasn't over. Naruto and Sakura followed suit, and I waited for them to attack.
"Hello, Mika." I heard a familiar voice say behind me. My eyes went wide, and I turned around slowly, arms out to protect Naruto and Sakura. It couldn't be. Not him. Why were they attacking now? I looked and saw Itachi standing on a tree branch in front of me. My whole body went rigid, and my blood started boiling. Why is he here? Is he really already coming for Naruto? How did he even get to the village undetected? I mean, Tsunade and Jiraiya were both here.
"Why the fuck are you here, Itachi?" I said with venom in my voice. I looked at him, and he was wearing that stupid black cloak with red clouds, but no hat. He looked sick. I wanted to punch him in the face. My anger couldn't get the best of me now. If I waited, I'm sure the others will come. He's not that stealthy, right?
"I can't come say hello to my sister?" He said sarcastically. I scoffed, rage filling me. It took every fiber in my being not to attack him. I had to protect Naruto. I had to remember what Jiraiya said about the Akatsuki. I had to prove that I could handle this.
"Sakura, go get Kakashi, now." I said in the most stern voice I could muster. There's no way I could beat him alone. And I wouldn't let him run away like last time. She nodded and ran off to find him. "You won't get to Naruto, Itachi. I won't let you." I reactivated my mangekyo, ready to use it if necessary, no matter the cost. I ran at him, and was surprised to see that he didn't even flinch or try to move away. His sharingan also wasn't activated. Weird. Did he really think so little of my skills? I grabbed a kunai, and prepared to shove it through his throat. He grabbed my hand to stop me, and held me up by my arm, my body dangling above the ground. It hurt, but it was nothing I couldn't bear.
I used the arm he was holding to pull myself up, lit up my chidori on my free arm again, and shoved my arm into his stomach, making my heart stop, and my eyes fill with pain. I watched as his eyes went wide in pain and betrayal. I tried to remember to breathe. It was the right thing. Killing him is the right thing. If I told myself that enough, maybe I'd believe it.
Then, he disappeared in a puff of smoke. I fell to the ground, and looked around, shocked and confused. What just happened? Why would he send a shadow clone? If he wanted to fight, why not come himself? Did he want to see if I could actually kill him? Oh god, I actually killed him. I started to panic, and my breaths became uneven.
Then I heard the bells ring behind me.
My eyes went wide. They tricked me. Naruto and Sakura tricked me, and I fell for it. Damn, they have gotten good. I tried to collect myself, but I still felt anger at seeing Itachi, and at myself. The panic was long gone though. I got up off the ground, and went to punch both of them before my anger faded. It was a good strategy, but it made me angry nonetheless. Both of them winced as I hit them.
"Ow! No fair! We won! You can't keep hitting us, ya know!" Naruto said and held his arm where I punched it.
"Yeah, Mika-sensei!" Sakura agreed. I was about to punch them again, when Kakashi came out from the trees, stood in front of them, and grabbed both of my shoulders, making me look at him. His face was filled with concern, but most probably read it as indifference. I could feel myself tense and I wanted to cry.
"Calm down, Mika. It was a shadow clone. Itachi was not here." He said bluntly, snapping me from my anger. Instead I was filled with sadness and regret, and I didn't understand it. Why was I feeling like this? He deserved it, and he wasn't even real, so why did it matter? Tears started forming in my eyes, and Kakashi pulled me into a hug, letting me hide them in his chest. "Good job, guys, you played on her weakness well." Kakashi praised them. I could tell by his tone that he was proud of them for beating me. I was too, but I couldn't shake the feeling of heartbreak.
"Are you okay, Mika-sensei?" I heard Naruto ask. I pulled away from Kakashi and wiped my tears. They deserved an answer. What if we had to fight Itachi for real? They needed to know why I reacted this way.
"I'm fine, Naruto. And you guys did incredibly well. Luring me in with Kakashi, and having a clone of Itachi ready. It was brilliant, honestly." I smiled at both of them, though tears were still threatening to fall. I was so proud that they came up with the strategy. They probably could have beaten me in an all out fight eventually, but this was much more effective.
"It was Sakura's idea!" Naruto yelled. "She said she's never seen you as angry as she did when it came to Itachi." I nodded, and smiled. She was more perceptive than she let on.
"It was good, good job!" I said again, smiling at both of them though the emotion did not reach my voice. The mix of emotions I was feeling was strange to say the least. I was proud of them for figuring out what would make me lose it, but at the same time, I was angry about seeing Itachi, and sad about killing him.
"Then why are you crying?" Sakura asked. I took a deep breath and wiped away my remaining tears from my eyes.
"Itachi is the only thing that I cannot control my emotions around. While I do not seek revenge like Sasuke does, I do hate him, but apparently I'm not ready to kill him. I'm crying because I stabbed my little brother and I feel horrible about it, even if it wasn't real, and even if he deserves it." I explained. Kakashi grabbed my hand and I felt immediately a little better.
"That being said, it was an excellent strategy." Tsunade said, coming out from the trees with a smirk on her face. "If you had used anything else, I'm not sure she would have reacted." I nodded.
"It's true. You saw me kill Kakashi without a second thought. No offense." I smiled at him. "I knew he wasn't real though. I saw through your shadow clone, which was your intention. The same thing would have happened if it were anyone else, even Sasuke. I couldn't see through the shadow clone of Itachi because of my hatred. Good job, guys!" I gave them a closed eye smile.
"I'm sorry we made you cry, Mika-sensei." Naruto said, looking sad.
"Don't worry about it. It was good practice. We might have to fight him one day, and I need to be prepared for the idea that I might have to kill him. At least I know now that I can." I said, sadly. I didn't want to kill him. I wanted to bring him back here and interrogate the hell out of him and maybe let Ibiki torture him a little, but I didn't want to kill him.
"So, I think the deal was that whoever lost had to buy lunch? Right, Mika?" Kakashi asked, smirking at me. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, let's go." I grumbled, and started walking into town.
"Can we get ramen? I haven't had ramen in forever, ya know?" Naruto yelled. I rolled my eyes again.
"Sure, Naruto." Kakashi said, and continued to hold my hand as we walked to the ramen shop.