Tainted Blood of a Ninja

Mitsukai turned slightly to face them. Deidara fought a smile. She had ditched her original outfit for an outfit more suitable for high-impact training. While it was more practical, he had to admit her lilac button down looked better. He was just happy she hadn't donned that stupid purple rope Orochimaru and the Sound Five found fashionable. It wasn't lost on any of them that she had also abandoned her mask. The sun made her slightly pale face shimmer like a pearl. Her dark blue eyes, however, held no emotion, not even when they landed on Deidara. 'What has he done to you?'

"Mitsukai," Kabuto spoke, not taking his eyes off of the group, "Stay here…I'll go let Sasuke know his brother is here."

Mitsukai nodded once. "Hai."

"Happy belated birthday…nii-san." Mitsukai could feel his presence no less than a foot away from her. Sasuke passed her and stood in front of her.

Itachi's eyes moved from Mitsukai then settled on his younger brother. "Thank you…Sasuke-kun."

"Mitsukai," Deidara took a step forward, away from Itachi, Kisame, and Tobi. "Come with us."

Her hands immediately balled up into fists. "Why should I?"

"Because you belong with us." Itachi answered immediately.

"Don't you mean 'to'?"

"However you want to say it, let's go." Itachi commanded.

"No."

"Mitsukai–" Deidara started to protest but she interrupted him.

"I don't mean anything to any of you. You've controlled me from birth–even before that! I am nothing more than a container for your bijuu until you're able to seal it away. Nothing more than a tool to use in battle to tip the odds in your favor." She looked at Itachi and Deidara as she continued to rant. "Itachi, you know what it's like to be used. Deidara, you've been there since the beginning. You know what it's like to be trapped like a caged bird. I guess being with the Akatsuki makes you forget what you've been through…who you used to be…" She reached behind her head and slowly unsheathed her katana. It was in proportion to her own height and very lightweight, all silver accented with a silver white handle and blue tassel . "I will never forget!"

Sasuke side-stepped out of the way and allowed Mitsukai to charge forward at the group. Tobi let out a scream and immediately abandoned his fellow members, seeking shelter in a tree far above ground. Kisame chuckled and withdrew his own weapon, going for Kabuto's face. Itachi attempted to intercept Mitsukai but immediately had to dodge an attack from Sasuke, separating him from Deidara and Mitsukai.

"Mitsukai-chan–" Deidara put one hand in his pouch and held the other up. Mitsukai plunged the sword's blade into the ground and used it as a leverage to swing around and plant a firm kick to Deidara's throat, sending him flying back into the brush that they emerged from. Once she got her footing, she yanked the katana from the ground and took her fighting stance.

"Mother and Father would be proud of you, Sasuke." Itachi muttered. Sasuke growled and unsheathed his own katana, charging it with Chidori.

"You're not allowed to call them that, you bastard." He made several swipes that Itachi dodged with ease, until Orochimaru came outside to see what all the commotion was.

"I thought I sensed you…Itachi-san."

Sasuke took advantage of Itachi's distracted state and made the Chidori extend to slice at Itachi's arm, which fell limp due to the Chidori's numbing side effect. With his good arm, Itachi quickly released a kunai from the holster on his forearm and made a simple flick of his wrist, nearly stabbing Orochimaru in the face had he not caught it in time. Orochimaru dropped the kunai, hand bleeding. He wasn't strong enough to battle. His borrowed body was reaching his limits and if he were to have Sasuke's body as a replacement as planned, he needed to wait just a bit longer. He was fairly certain Sasuke, Kabuto, and Mitsukai could hold off the Akatsuki members.

Sasuke watched as Orochimaru fled. 'He took one hit and ran away…and I'm being trained byhim?' He shook his head then returned his attention to Itachi, who seemed a bit more interested in Orochimaru.

"Mitsukai, listen will you?!" Deidara yelled catching her leg to prevent being kicked in the face. "He exaggerated those things! I care about what happens to you. If I didn't, why would I bother to come find you?"

"Because you were told to!" She gripped her katana with both hands and swung hard, still missing. Her balance was off after putting so much force into the swing that Deidara was able to simple kick her over, causing her to slide across the ground.

"Just listen to me." He kept his distance, allowing her to take her time getting back up.

"Can you promise me that you will personally look after her? I understand what my husband has done but still she is my baby. I can't just let her go that easily. If I knew that someone else would care about her like I do...then I would be able to breathe just a bit easier."

'I'm trying to keep that promise…but she isn't making this easy, yeah…' "Mitsukai…I made a promise to your mother, back when this all started. She was a very kind and loving woman. She would be at the door when I would come to pick you up. She'd be at the door waiting for me to bring you home. You were her heart, Mitsukai, and she made me promise to protect her heart as if it were my own." Mitsukai looked at him, disbelief in her eyes. "I did. And it's true that we're in the same situation, but it's all about taking control and making it work for you." He took a step closer, opening his hand that had been hidden in his clay pouch to reveal a tiny clay hummingbird. "A caged bird craves the freedom of the vast sky. It sits in its cage, putting on a show for its captors to make them happy." The clay bird took flight, perching on her right shoulder. "It dazzles them with its beauty; it sings its beautiful songs." He noticed Mitsukai's eyes start to water with unshed tears. "It waits for the most opportune moment…to strike back and flee." The bird exploded and Mitsukai fell over on her side.

"Mitsukai!" Kabuto yelled but had to back flip away from a jutsu Kisame fired off, leaving him unable to get to her. Sasuke looked over his shoulder to see her lying on the ground and cursed. He didn't like her, but he didn't like the idea of her being with his brother either.

Deidara readied a second creation, this one being big enough for him to sit and carry Mitsukai while quickly flying them back to base. "I've got her. I'm going to head back. Try not to take all day." With one good flap, the clay bird instantly lifted into the air.

"Hey! Wait a minute, sempai, you can't leave me!" Tobi shouted, letting go of his tree branch to latch onto the bird's tail.

With their goal accomplished, Itachi relaxed his stance.

"Don't think this is over!" Sasuke exclaimed, slicing right through Itachi's neck.

"It was over…before it began." Itachi's body dropped to the ground, revealing that it wasn't Itachi, but another product of Pein's jutsus.

"Well, Sasuke," Kabuto sighed kicking at the corpse then looking over the corpse he'd been fighting, "looks like they got away."

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"You could have found another way, Deidara." Kisame grunted. Itachi leaned against the wall furthest from Mitsukai's bed while Deidara sat in a chair next to it.

"I was told to do it quickly as soon as the opportunity presented itself." He shrugged and leaned closer, noticing that most of the burns done to her face from the blast were beginning to heal. He would remove the bandages in a few days to make sure her eye and ear was okay.

"Your haste to get it done may have cost us her eyesight and hearing." Itachi pointed out with a hint of bitterness in his tone. "You have other things to do. Take your partner and leave."

"Aw! But Mitsukai-chan likes me!" Tobi whined, fingering a few strands of her hair that spilled off of her pillow.

"It's been two days. If she won't wake up today then it will be a while before she does." Kisame grunted, turning to leave the room. Left alone with the blonde, Itachi stared at the back of Deidara's head, contemplating violence.

"There's nothing you can say or do, Uchiha, to make me feel worse than I already do." Deidara muttered, holding Mitsukai's limp hand.

Itachi pushed away from the wall with his foot and stood next to Deidara. "I'm sure I could find something to top that. If I were you, I'd start praying she wakes up soon–and whole–unless you'd like to see what Leader has in store for you."