Tainted Blood of a Ninja

Chapter Twelve: The First Death

With dawn came expected dread. Mitsukai turned over and looked up at Itachi, whom was looking down at her with obvious disapproval. “It’s time to get moving.”

She frowned. “What time is it?”

“That doesn’t matter. We’re moving and you need to get up.”

She opened her mouth to respond but his hand grabbed her shirt and promptly yanked her to her feet. Once he was sure she had her balance, he let go and walked past her. “Morning, kid.”

She turned to see Kisame trudging along behind Itachi. “Morn—Why are we leaving? I haven’t even eaten!”

Itachi looked over his shoulder. “Kisame.”

Kisame sighed. “Ugh. Fine.” He quickly turned around and threw the skinny teen over his shoulder as if she were something similar to rope and kept going. Mitsukai started to complain about being carried until Kisame handed her a biscuit he’d made from breakfast and promised to give her another one when she finished the one she had. Instead of being rewarded with her third biscuit, she was put down and tied to a tree.

“What—“

“We have something we need to do and I don’t want to be bothered with you running off.” Itachi muttered sitting down on a rock. Mitsukai didn’t bother to argue with him. Uchihas were stubborn.

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The two artistic Akatsuki members approached the entrance to the cave they had been directed to. Deidara looked at its smooth surface, curious since it didn’t really resemble an entrance aside from the stone arc that stood in front of it. Unlike the mountain that was their headquarters, they didn’t have to teleport inside. Instead with a little chakra channeled into their rings, the stone lifted and granted them passage.

The body was dropped on the cold floor of the dark cave. “You’re late.” An impassive voice echoed in the darkness. “Prepare it immediately.”

Deidara adjusted his hat with his remaining hand and peered around. “The jinchuuriki was stronger than I thought…yeah.” Deidara pointed out as his clay bird disappeared safely. That was something he worked on over the years. If he control his creations’ detonations, then that greatly increased his fighting skills. The opponent assumed all of his creations would detonate then they would become more concerned with not getting blown up, thus forgetting him. If they assumed that some of them were safe to be around, then their guard would drop and he gained an increased percentage of the element of surprise.

The holographic image of Leader didn’t acknowledge the blonde’s statement. He instead made a hand sign and pressed his hands to the ground. The small cave began to shake and for the first time ever, Deidara saw the statue that the older members like Sasori made such a fuss about. Made entirely of stone, it was as tall as the cave itself, leaving inches from the ceiling to its own apex. It was blindfolded and handcuffed, seemingly being gagged with a scroll. Its hands were positioned in front of it, fingers spread out.

From what he had been told, each of them was to stand on their respective position on the statue’s fingers, according to what finger they wore their own ring on. Using the sealing technique of Mystical Dragon Nine Exhaustion, it would then take them three days and nights to extract the demon. He gritted his teeth with anger. It wouldn’t take so long if they had Orochimaru’s ring to meet the requirements of a quicker extraction. However, he had taken it with him when he had left, thus prolonging all extractions. This was the reason they wanted him dead. Who knew how long it would take for them to capture all the demons?

A sad smile curved his lips. Knowing the truth finally, he was glad that she was gone. They had no intention of extracting her demon when they got up to the five tailed beast she contained. No. Instead they wanted her to live until the very end. They wanted her to be alive because they knew she would be of use in capturing and sealing the nine tailed fox. For that she would be needed to lure its jinchuuriki. He dreaded that time. He’d rather die while in the Akatsuki without having fulfilled his personal goal before having to watch that final sealing. He squeezed his eyes shut to get rid of the image Itachi had implanted in his mind. ‘You need to accept the truth…you can’t prevent it from happening. It’s her destiny…’

Ugh. He hated that bastard.

“Right.” Leader whispered once the statue had appeared. He formed the goat sign, activating the other members’ rings. “Assemble.”

Immediately, holographic members began appearing on their respective positions on the statue’s fingers. Deidara looked up and was surprised to see Itachi and Kisame on time. Usually they were the last to respond to any of leader’s summonings. He and Sasori promptly took their spots on the statue as well, leaving the Kazekage’s body on the ground.

“Now…let us begin…” Leader said taking his position as well.

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Mitsukai watched the pair as they sat silently on their rocks. She tugged at the rope but apparently it was charged with chakra since it didn’t even budge. “How long will I be here?”

“Three days and nights.” Itachi answered quickly.

Mitsukai wanted to die then.

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The scroll fell out of the statue’s mouth and landed with a loud thud on the cave’s floor.

“From this point onward, it’ll take three days and nights to complete. Everyone be mindful of your real bodies.” He looked around at them. “Zetsu, use your real body as a lookout. Use your largest range.”

“I know.” Came a short reply.

“With Orochimaru gone…shouldn’t we expect to take longer than three days?” Kisame asked.

“If you really think so,” Leader looked at him, “then let’s get started already.”

With that said, everyone began channeling their chakra into their rings, thus causing the fingertip they were standing on to glow. The statue’s mouth began to glow ominously.

“Fuuin Jutsu, Genryuu Kyuu Fuujin!!” Leader called out the seal and nine dragons made purely of light shot out of the mouth and dived towards Gaara’s body. He was instantly lifted into the air as the cave rumbled due to the powerful force of the energy being emitted.

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Curiosity killed the cat. Or so Mitsukai had heard. But watching the pair sit there unmoving was boring. “Hey! What are you two doing anyway?”

“Shut up.” Itachi muttered.

She rolled her eyes. She wanted to know what was going on. They couldn’t be just meditating. Their rings were glowing. Years of looking back on her time with them allowed her to realize several things. She was sure that one of the uses for the rings they wore was for communication purposes. Also, they were used as keys to get in and out of their base. So if they weren’t trying to get into their base…then they were communicating. She looked at Itachi then Kisame. Well getting into Itachi’s mind didn’t seem like it would be easy or have a favorable outcome so she focused on Kisame. Originally she thought she had to touch the person to get into their mind like she had with Sasuke, but with a bit of training with Kakashi, she learned it was all about eye contact with the target.

“Hey, Itachi what are you doing?!” Kisame barked.

Itachi frowned. “What are you talking about?” He spoke calmly keeping focus. “Your projection is fading. Keep focused.”

“I can’t with you trying to pry into my head! Stop it!”

“I’m not—“ Itachi opened an eye and looked at Mitsukai. “Mitsukai. Stop it.”

“You won’t tell me what’s going on. So I’ll find out myself.”

“Gah! We don’t need this kind of distraction! We just started the extraction!”

Mitsukai’s blood ran cold. ‘Extraction…?’

Itachi glared at her and merely waved one hand. The ropes around her dropped and he made a signal for her to come to him. She stood weakly and felt her legs move against their own will towards the raven-haired man. He pointed to the ground in front of him and her body sat down Indian-style. “Give me your hands.”

Mitsukai almost went crossed-eyed. “I’m sorry?”

He closed his eyes. “If you want to know so badly…place your hands in mine…making the same sign. You have to do it quickly.”

She nodded and made the sign. His hands quickly covered hers and she closed her eyes too.

Gaara floated in the air surrounded by the energy from the statue. The sight made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. “I-is he--?”

‘Yes. He’s a jinchuuriki like you.’ Itachi’s smooth unemotional voice whispered in her mind. ‘As long as you cooperate…this won’t happen to you.’

‘Lies.’ A voice growled inside her. Houkou. ‘You’re a container like he is. As long as you have me inside of you…itwill happen to you. Don’t let them fool you.’

Itachi was slightly surprised. He knew the Houkou had become part of her mind…but her subconscious? If she were to ever be knocked unconscious, they’d have to deal with it.

“An enemy from Konoha is approaching our hideout. He appears to be very skilled…his name is Might Gai.”

Recognition sparked within Mitsukai. ‘Gai-sensei?’

“Who’s that?” Leader asked after a moment of silence.

Itachi remembered the man from their brief encounter…and while he had a chance, pulled out a few memories of Mitsukai’s. “He’s quite talented. Take care not to underestimate him.”

Kisame nodded at his own memory. “…Ah…that bizarre beast, eh….”

“I’ll use that jutsu.”

“Let me go…I’ve had one hell of a time finding my jinchuuriki…and it’s starting to piss me off…”

Mitsukai tried to pull away. They were talking about Gai as if he were nothing more than a fly on the wall. However, Itachi didn’t let go.

“No…” Kisame said. “I will go. I have personal vendetta against that man.”

Mitsukai only wanted to free one hand so she could throw a rock at the back of the fishy man’s head. How dare he?!

“Indeed…after all, that jutsu is suitable for you since you have a large amount of chakra. However, I’ll still need to have 30% of it for the jutsu to power it while you do this.”

“Bastard.” Hidan grumbled.

“Oh well…finally…” Kisame smiled and opened his eyes. “It looks like I’ll be able to pay him back for that kick he gave me.”

Mitsukai opened her eyes. “Kisame, don’t you dare!”

Kisame snorted. “Like hell I won’t. It’s action. I’m all for it.”

Mitsukai tried to pull away again. Neji was in Gai’s group. Neji had tried to save her alongside Shikamaru. “Itachi, let go.”

“No.” He murmured and pulled her hands closer to him. “Now shut it before someone notices you.”

She froze. He didn’t want them to know about her whereabouts?

“Close your eyes and watch.”

Mitsukai shut up and did as he told her to. She watched with sadness as purple chakra was absorbed from Gaara. She had heard tales about him during the Chuunin Exams. She had heard from Naruto about him. She had seen by visiting the Sand Village that he was a great Kage…and was now losing his life.

“There’s another…shinobi of the Leaf.” Zetsu broke the silence after a few hours. Mitsukai snapped out of her light nap.

“Well…” Leader looked around. “Who’s next…”

“…Me.” Itachi whispered. He had no choice. If even one of their names were to be mentioned, Mitsukai would know who it was and try to run back to her team. He quickly let go of her hands and pinched her neck, causing her to fall over unconscious. He ignored that she had landed on his thigh and convinced himself that they were both fine…as long as she didn’t drool.

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‘My right arm too…now I can’t use jutsu…is this it?’Deidara perched himself on a branch looking down at the tattered sleeves of his once fearsome cloak. ‘But…that there is someone who uses doujutsu at Itachi’s level…this jinchuuriki is no danger…but the problem is Kakashi…hn.’ It would be easy to ignore some hyperactive brat…but to escape his sensei would pose a problem. He calculated his odds of survival and the steps it would take to ensure such an outcome. He became so preoccupied that he quickly forgot his target.

“…I’ll get you.” Naruto whispered with his back to the murderer. It had been two and a half years since Sasuke left them, since Mitsukai had disappeared as well. Two and a half long years to nurse his broken heart and confused mind, which he still had yet to accept their decisions. Now to lose another one that was so much like him, Gaara, was more than his mind could process.

Deidara snapped out if his thoughts upon hearing what he deemed to be such an empty threat. He chuckled. “Gotcha, gotcha. I’ll fight you again soon…hn.” He hadn’t the time nor resources necessary to continue any fight.

Kakashi’s tired voice interrupted Deidara’s gloating. “You’ve let your guard down.”

It was in that next split second that Deidara’s awareness registered the incoming attack. ‘Shit.’ It happened so fast that the only thing he could do was look over his shoulder in time to see Naruto rearing his fist back and push it forward with such force that he knew this wasn’t going to be a love tap of a punch.

POW!

‘Nice right hook…hn.’ Deidara made a note to kick himself later for thinking that if he lived to do so.

Naruto felt his rage increasing and his control slipping away…but didn’t care. He saw the red clouds on that black cloak and immediately thought of Itachi…the one who had stolen his brother’s mind, causing him to go mad and leave them. He knew that his person wasn’t Itachi…but if he could, he’d settle for killing each of them one by one until he could get his hands on Itachi. His hands made a familiar seal but his mind was processing what he was doing. He was allowing his rage to take form and act on its own violent nature so that it could satisfy its urge to kill…

“Kage Bushin!!” He bellowed prompting four clones to appear sharing the same violent rage he was radiating. All of them grabbed one of Deidara’s limbs to hold him in place as Naruto delivered a powerful kick directly to his chest, supposedly where he thought the monster’s heart should have been. Deidara groaned out in pain as punches battered his face.

“Naruto…” Kakashi spoke softly yet loud enough for the blonde to hear in warning. He was losing it…

Naruto heard his name but didn’t stop. He held up his right hand and a clone immediately began forming Rasengan for him. The same second it was formed he slammed it down into Deidara’s chest…and was covered in clay as a reward. He breathed in heavy gasps looking down at what should have been a pile of bones, skin, and blood. He had used a clay clone to escape. All of that for nothing? He had failed to kill Gaara’s assailant?

A new level of rage consumed him and he allowed the surrounding clones to disappear in a poof. His head dropped as he felt the demon within him slowly slip through the cracks in his control.

‘That’s what…Jiraiya-sama was talking about…’ Kakashi watched in awe as a tail made of pure red chakra formed behind Naruto.

Awe seemed to capture everyone who was watching and paralyze them. Mitsukai stood rooted where she was watching as the second tail slowly formed and the Naruto that she had known slipped deep inside himself. ‘Well, well, well.’Houkou chuckled inside her bewildered mind. ‘That is Kyuubi…it seems the seal containing him within his human container isn’t as strong…He’ll kill everyone in this area if he gains full control…’

Itachi and Kisame both were perplexed by this. They had heard rumors that the jinchuuriki’s were able to draw out the chakra of their contained tailed demons…but it hadn’t occurred to them that they could also take form of them as well. This changed things. They would have to reconvene and discuss this new information to better develop tactics for capturing the remaining eight demons. Itachi pictured the Kyuubi standing over Konoha all those years ago and watched as Naruto looked around wildly, looking for a target, something to snatch apart. Mitsukai took a step forward and Itachi immediately reached out, grabbing her by her shoulder.

“That’s not the Naruto you know. If you try to approach him in this state, you’ll be killed. We need you alive.” Itachi whispered low enough for her alone to hear. Mitsukai returned her wide-eyed stare to Naruto and nodded once. She had a sense of self-preservation, contrary to the overprotective one’s beliefs.

Deidara smiled watching the newly transformed Naruto leap to another rock. ‘Well, no wonder each hit was so heavy…’

Itachi watched intently as Kakashi whipped out a piece of paper with a seal on it then press it to Naruto’s forehead. Within seconds, the boy was back to normal. “Have you calmed down?”

Mitsukai watched as Naruto returned to the one she’d left those years ago without a proper goodbye. Her eyes watered. She listened to the talk of his now deceased friend and guilt assaulted her heart. She bit her lip to fight the tears but one escaped and fell down her cheek.

Kisame and Itachi both heard one brief sniffle from the girl. Itachi knew that allowing her to come see her former teammates would do them little good, even if they’d learn something useful. “We need to go.”

Mitsukai turned and looked at him with indifferent eyes. “What about Deidara? That was a clone…so shouldn’t we go find him?”

“Sasori will collect him. He’s not our responsibility.” Itachi murmured coldly.

Kisame eyed the group surrounding Naruto, and he noticed the two women that had dropped down. “Sasori’s dead.”

Itachi’s eyes snapped back towards the group. Though he’d had no contact with the third kunoichi that had originally been part of Sasuke’s former Genin team, he could faintly make out the eye irritating pink hair color. “The one that had been left to fight Sasori, I presume?”

“Yes, Itachi-san.”

Itachi didn’t say anything for a moment. “Let’s go.”

Mitsukai turned around. “What about Deidara?! You just said his partner is dead! We should go retrieve him and take him with us. Leader might not like the idea of us abandoning those who contribute to our cause to die after having aided in the sealing of the first demon.”

Itachi looked over his shoulder. “Since when did you care about our cause?”

“Since I realized that until you decide to extract the demon in me there’s no point in worrying about death. Besides…it’s easier for us all if I simply cooperate right?”

Kisame smiled, “Thinking like that will get you biscuits for breakfast everyday!”

Mitsukai’s eye twitched at the thought but she quickly shook it off. “Can we please find him first?”

Itachi didn’t say a word, opting to keep walking as if the girl hadn’t made such a ludicrous request.

Kisame shrugged and followed. “He should be around here somewhere. With no arms, how far can he have crawled?”

Mitsukai decided then and there that Kisame’s sense of humor was slowly being killed by Itachi.

‘Unbelievable…’ Deidara looked at the pink haired girl and the old woman she supported. ‘That the little girl and old hag could defeat Sasori-danna…Like anything is left for the future as a thing for eternal beauty…he got killed straight off. That creation of his real body with the exposed weak point was just him being overconfident…hn. Well, even if I do say so myself…that was an end fitting for an artist.’ He crawled on his knees from his hiding spot in bushes and immediately looked up aware that he wasn’t alone.

“Well done, Neji.”

The first thing Deidara thought upon seeing the older male in his tight spandex outfit flanked by his squad caught even him off guard. ‘….What the hell is wrong with his eyebrows, hn?’

Of course, Gai’s voice alerted the other squad thus returning all attention onto Deidara. Mitsukai reached for her own shuriken to deflect the ones being aimed at her senpai but found them missing. She turned to give her captors an accusing glare and only Kisame bothered to shrug in apology. Even with only one kunai in his mouth, Deidara was able to dodge the ninja tools, but he knew he couldn’t keep it up for long. ‘Now there’s no way I can escape…’

‘There has to be something I can do…’ Mitsukai thought. She knew it was impossible for Deidara to best both teams…so if she could distract one of them…

Itachi couldn’t cover her mouth quick enough when he realized what she had planned to do. “Don’t you da—“

“HEY NARUTO!!!”

Naruto’s entire body froze as a familiar voice reached his ears. Sakura turned to look in the direction of the new voice and her jaw dropped in shock.

“…Mitsukai?” Kakashi spoke her name softly, the way a parent finally being able to rest knowing their child is alive would.

Mitsukai took a step out into the opening where they stood and waved tentatively. “Hi.”

Naruto stood slowly and turned to her, not sure if he were dreaming or not. “Mitsy?”

She nodded and took another step forward, smiling with her head tilted to the side. “How have you been Naruto?”

Had she blinked for a second too long, she would have been smacked upside the head by Naruto’s foot. “LIES!”

“NARUTO WHAT THE HELL?!?!” Mitsukai screamed ducking another one of his round house kicks and putting up both hands to block his punch.

“YOU CAN’T BE MITSUKAI!!!” Naruto screamed stepping back to summon a clone. Her eyes widened and immediately she did the same, knowing if she didn’t try to keep up with him he’d end up kicking her ass all over the meadow behind them and forest.

“WHY NOT?!?!”

“BECAUSE THE MITSUKAI I KNOW WOULD NEVERHAVE LEFT ME WITHOUT AT LEAST SAYING GOODBYE!!! SHE KNEW HOW IT HURT THAT SASUKE TRIED IT AND WOULD NEVER DO THE SAME THING!!!” Both Narutos took off towards her with kunais drawn, prepared to strike. Mitsukai stood there rooted to the ground. Her clone disappeared with a poof as her will to fight disappeared.

“...I-I’m sorry. I didn’t think of that.” She whispered staring down at the ground between them. Naruto saw the broken expression on her face and his footsteps slowed down to a walk.

“….Why?”

She lifted her blue eyes to meet his. “So many reasons….but I didn’t want to bring harm to you anymore.”

Naruto choked on a laugh. “I bring harm to myself just by being alive, Mitsy! It wouldn’t have mattered if you were there or not…but I prefer you there.”

Before she could respond, Itachi appeared at her side putting his arm around her waist and leaning down to whisper into her ear. “Sorry to interrupt but we must go. Deidara opted to blow himself up.”

“Wha--?”

KABOOM!!!!