Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Second Birth ❯ Ch 5: Ally ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Ch. 5: Ally

Fifteen months…

It seemed like a much longer time had passed since then, and yet not such a long time. His travels led him away from the agreeable Fire Country climate and into lands even the Hunter-nin would avoid. Along the dangerous border between Cloud and Water, known commonly as “The Horizon,” was a no man's land. It was here in this jagged land the worst of the worst thrived. Criminals, savage nomads, mercenaries—the law of the land was that there was no law.

This was the only place fit for someone of Itachi's credentials.

Mass-murderer.

That's what they called him. And, of course, that was very true. At age thirteen, he picked up the sword and erased his wretched Clan. Though he'd yet to find that sense of freedom or euphoria he imagined would have followed. So many months and so many miles later, he found himself soaking wet in a gray town with nothing to his once-golden name. Nothing, save for the weight of a heavy crime.

Itachi let his feet stop, let the rain pelt him mercilessly. There was nothing familiar here, or anywhere these days. But what truly got under his skin was that absolutely nothing had changed. He still hadn't obtained what he sought. He wasn't sure what he sought. He should have known there was one thing to expect here, though.

Her hair was longer now, as to be expected. She grew a bit more and perhaps gained a bit of muscle in their time apart. She still had a scar running lip to chin from when his blade clipped her. And she evidently still smoked in the rain, just like the stubborn child he thought her to be. She, too, paused in the rain to get a good look at him. Through the mist and drizzle, she knew his face so clearly. It surprised the words right off her tongue. In her rush to fill in those holes in her defense, maybe she showed a bit of hope.

“It's been quite a while, Yanagi.”

She settled down a bit, her stonewall façade perfectly on display again.

“What brings you `round a place like this? You got a mission or somethin'?”

“…No. Not so much.”

He was almost startled, perhaps, that her reaction was not stronger. Fifteen months of hard travel after he…He imagined she must have heard the news by now, especially in a criminal's sanctuary. He realized that it may have even seemed like betrayal on her part to not realize what he'd gone through.

“Don't you know?”

Yanagi regarded him for a moment and he sensed her confusion set in.

“Nope. Ain't heard a thing,” she answered blandly. Her feet shuffled against the loose gravel street as she breezed past him. He imagined she hadn't much of an intention to hang around any longer. After all, she wasn't the type to stick around long enough to run into the same person twice. Three encounters had to make her suspicious.

“Tell me over supper.”

And just like that, he was sitting in a rundown shop while she devoured dango, just like she said she would. Still such a child…But he wasn't so focused on her, or on much of anything for that matter. He stared out at the falling rain, though didn't see the gray day. All he could watch was a late summer night with its full moon and its heavy stench of death.

“They're all dead, you know,” Itachi's features remained empty, “My Clan.”

Yanagi paused in mid-bite, her mouth hanging open dumbly as she looked over at him. Recovering herself, she made sure not to skip a beat.

“Oh? There a big war out your way?”

“…I killed them.”

Itachi remained ever the statue despite her stare turning angry. He couldn't blame her, he supposed. Being the orphan that she was, Yanagi really didn't know any better. She didn't realize what a burden a family could be. But he imagined it would be futile to explain it to her. She couldn't understand his reasons. She'd always had the freedom to do as she pleased.

“All of `em?” Yanagi was on her feet now, likely ready to storm out, “Even the lady who made you lunch?”

Itachi could have pointed out that “the lady” was his mother, but he doubted the clarification would have mattered much to her. Yanagi was too sensitive to physical things, especially when it came to hunger. She'd defend anyone who gave out free food. Lunch or no lunch, Itachi knew better than to take anything with the Clan at face value. Even if Yanagi thought he simply took such things for granted.

“They were hardly saints. I'll say that much.”

Itachi was almost startled by how easily his true thoughts spilled out. Never once had he let these sentiments be heard aloud. Yanagi shrugged and settled back down, perhaps thinking a family was overrated. Either way, she was calm and quiet again—and that was what suited Itachi best. It's when that silly girl spoke that he was always forced to reexamine his situation.

“So what're ya gonna do now?” she asked regardless of her full mouth, “A place like The Horizon offers a lotta work for people like us.”

“Like us,” she says…

Being grouped with a common murderer had yet to sit well with him, and he wondered why that was. He'd always been a murderer. Just not the right kind…? Was there such a thing as being a justifiable murderer? And, of course, he had an answer to that thought just as quickly. No one could ever question the acts of those in power. And the damn Clan had been righteous enough to convince people there was nothing to even debate.

Had been…

That was over now. He needed to figure out what to do now with his days, just as Yanagi pointed out. Itachi supposed keeping her around would probably prove to be rather useful. If she managed to keep herself alive in this place, he had no doubt that her skills had remained sharp. As for what she wanted…he supposed that didn't really matter. She likely wouldn't have cared much one way or the other.

But there was something odd about The Horizon. Being as full of dangerous criminals as it was, it proved difficult to completely keep track of every soul lurking about. Even Itachi and all of his power hadn't realized they were being watched.

* * *

Days pass in the town of quiet chaos without much notice. Itachi came and went, just as Yanagi came and went. It was easier on their tight budget to rent a room together, though they tended not to flutter too closely to one another. Yanagi slipped in with a soft sigh as she shook off the rain. She took note of Itachi slouched at the table, a grim expression gripping his face. Only after a few moments did she notice the piece of paper in his hand. She found it strange that only a few strokes of ink on paper could make a person so subdued.

“What's it say?”

Itachi didn't answer right away. He was slow to rise as he left the letter facedown on the table. He presses his palms against the wood surface, possibly even more serious than usual.

“It's an invitation,” he says quietly.

Itachi didn't pay much attention to Yanagi as she flopped down onto a chair. He vaguely heard her wonder if the sender paid well. Well, she was intuitive enough to guess it was more than a simple party invitation. He didn't bother explaining the truth of that letter. No one with the sort of power that this so-called Akatsuki likely bolstered simply invited people. He knew his appearance was mandatory. Though that was just as well anyway.

It's not like he had anything better to do.

* * *

“It is our hope that you find our offer to be acceptable.”

Itachi remained silent. He really had no real reason to turn them down now. As he rose to his feet, he paused at the door. It seemed there was something he had to ask, after all.

“…There is one suggestion I would like to make.”

* * *

Itachi returned to the inn, somehow unsurprised to find Yanagi sleeping rather unceremoniously at the table. The overflowing ash tray made him wonder if she'd spent the entire time waiting for him to come back. She probably didn't want to be stuck paying off the hotel bill alone, he told himself.

“Do you plan on remaining my ally?”

His soft voice seemed so terribly loud in the silent room. Though Yanagi didn't stir, so he was convinced she was still asleep. He planned on retiring to bed when the mild rasp of her voice snagged his attention.

“Ain't got a reason to stop.”

Her voice was muffled against her folded arms and though she didn't turn to face him, Itachi could sense her relief. He could only imagine what it was about his presence she took any sort of comfort in.

“Gather your things. We're leaving.”

* * *

“Is this some sort of joke?”

It was a different meeting place than last time, but the same dreadful people were gathered. And they were not pleased. Though he couldn't rightly blame them for doubting him. He knew all too well how unobtrusive she seemed.

“It is not my intent to insult you,” Itachi spoke in as polite a tone as he could manage. The Clan had him well-trained in that regard. “I would not implore you to consider such a recommendation if I didn't believe it to be such a worthy venture.”

Yanagi seemed uncomfortable here, though it was undoubtedly from kneeling for so long before the…committee. Her features remained generally vacant and Itachi imagined she was possibly even bored being here. Either way, she undoubtedly had no idea how dangerous the situation might prove for her. But if there was a chance they would recognize her seemingly impossible strength…

“And what do you have to say, little girl?”

“I'd say a bunch a'guys all wearing the same stupid-lookin' cloak don't got the right ta say shit to me.”

A wave a surprise and perhaps outrage at her audacity passed through the group. They certainly hadn't expected such a little brat to be so arrogant. Though after the members let their pride settle, it occurred to them that she was still calm. Did she not understand the situation she was in?

“Need I remind you,” a voice rumbled, “that any of us could kill you without warning.”

“Try it.”

Yanagi reached for her sword but Itachi kept her hand at bay. He glanced with unabashed Sharingan at the group. He wanted them to remember exactly who he was. “This child,” his voice was even, if not a little condescending, “has managed to even kill an Anbu elite without much effort. It would be foolish of you to pass judgment on her mere appearance.”

For I had been a fool, as well.

Regardless of his past errors, the Inner Circle seemed to heavily contemplate this new prospect. With Orochimaru's desertion, there were actually two spaces left to fill. To gain the Uchiha prodigy as a member would be an undoubted success. But more interesting was to have a young man of his capabilities demand the acceptance of that little upstart Yanagi. She truly was proving to be quite an intriguing find. There really was nothing left to ask, except…

“Well, little girl, what will your answer be?”

* * *

They walked the rocky path together in silence. Bare and knotted trees weighed heavy with rot along both sides, yet this place still felt so impossibly wide. It was quite an exhausting hike back to The Horizon and Itachi somehow doubted they would be returning there. Yanagi had yet to answer the Akatsuki about their offer and seemed—angry—about it. Itachi wasn't one to even venture a guess about what she found so distasteful about their organization. They hardly were carrying out acts any more despicable than what she could accomplish on her own. They merely worked on a larger scale, as it were.

“Are you serious?” her voice finally found itself, “About joining them…”

“What is it you find so disagreeable?”

Killing is killing, after all…

Yanagi turned to him with terrible anger in her eyes. Yet he could still not place why she was so furious.

“You believe in their cause? Lots more than your Clan's?”

No. He really didn't care at all about what they wanted to accomplish.

“I wish to test my limitations. And I believe this is the best course of action to take for that purpose.”

That's what Itachi told her, but leave it to that girl to speak with such commanding words and not even realize their power. Find his limitations? Was that what it was? He vaguely recalled her asking the point of doing anything at all if he couldn't devote himself completely…

“Seems like a big senseless waste,” Yanagi stated more calmly than how she probably felt, “Why get caught up in such dangerous stuff for no good reason? It's too damn risky, if ya ask me.”

I don't wanna die.

He should have known she would be scared of joining the Akatsuki. As tough as she was and as daring as she was, Yanagi wasn't the sort of girl to risk her life for mere ambition. She killed out of necessity, nothing more and nothing less. He should have realized she would turn down such an offer.

She stopped walking now, freezing up at where the forest gave way and let the road open up into the clearing. He could tell there was something more she wished to say, her eyes hidden behind a veil of hair.

“You ain't even realized it, have ya,” her little fists trembled at her sides, “Ain't you had enough a'being somebody else's tool?? It ain't gonna be no different than that clan a'yours.”

“I know.”

But I don't know how to live any other way.

Yanagi's small features took on an overwhelming look of surprise when his sword slipped between her ribs. Her spine smacked against the rough bark of a tree as the tip of his blade pierced through its wood. Her breath came as short misty puffs in the cold autumn air, her unspoken words drifting away like clouds.

“It's a shame,” Itachi's voice was soft near her face, though somehow undefined, “That we couldn't remain allies.”

Yanagi didn't cry. Not once. She gripped at his shirt, perhaps trying to reach for his throat. All of this just came as such an unwelcome surprise. That's what she'd tell herself when looking back on that day. Blood spilled over her lips as a warm and disconcerting contrast to the cold air. Her chest hurt so terribly. She could hardly breathe through the horrid pain. Her feet could not keep their bearing, now that the ground grew heavy and red.

Itachi's callused hand was cool against her cheek as her hair fell through his fingers. His breath was somehow calming against her ear. Words were spoken to her, ones she wouldn't learn to completely comprehend until years later. But they would nonetheless be her guide, through rain and though hardship.

* * *

“Truly unmerciful,” the voice was vaguely familiar, “Just as I expected, Itachi-san.”

The man, if he could be regarded as such, stood a great deal taller than Itachi. His skin was a cold and clammy blue; his features appearing not so unlike a shark. An Akatsuki member…

The shark-man went on to commend him for showing such loyalty to the organization, even going so far as to silence his own friend.

Itachi tried to tame his scowl. He did not like hearing her being referred to as such, as a friend. All he wanted was to have someone to join with him so he would not have to worry about being totally surrounded by potential enemies. Though that couldn't be right, either. It wasn't as if he ever trusted that stupid girl. She was a huge factor in his downfall. It was her fault he was in this state.

Though even he could not deny there wasn't much difference now compared to how things used to be. Nothing ever really changed. And suddenly it occurred to Itachi that he was rather dissatisfied at this turn of events. It wasn't “silencing” Yanagi that particularly bothered him, either.

As he walked on, he grimly realized it was the surprise that got to him. Surprise that she chose not to follow him, after all. She had the conviction to truly follow her own path without one other soul. While he chose…

Itachi chose captivity.

Nothing ever really changed.

…It's a shame.