Shadows surrounded us once again as the clouds skirted across the sky to cover the moon in its dark haze, snubbing out all source of light in the small clearing. Growing more accustomed to living in perpetual night with each passing day, my eyes quickly adjusted to the lack of illumination as faint outlines of the surrounding trees came into focus. A pair of glowing red Sharingan eyes greeted me from another trunk just on the other side of the clearing, the only indication of where my companion stood. The two of us had been camped out near the clearing for days now, a week exactly by tomorrow’s end, and still there had been no signs of our associate. Normally the epitome of patience, Sasuke had moved past weary long ago and seemed on the verge of an explosion of anxiety. After all, it wasn’t every day he waited for a meeting with his brother.
“Are you sure this is the place?” the young Uchiha inquired in earnest, draped in the perpetual night of the forest.
“You’ve asked that every day we’ve been here,” I replied calmly, “The answer is not going to change.”
Still unsatisfied with the answer I had for him, he grunted irritably before turning his swirling red and black orbs to make a sweep of our surroundings once more. The conditions were in our favor; the skies had been clear enough to let us move through the trees with relative ease and the sporadic weather had provided the both of us enough time to elude our pursuers, while still allowing the messenger pigeons from Itachi to easily find our location.
“He said we can’t become official members until a position is open,” the younger of the two brothers informed me, filling in the silence in order to calm his own impatience.
“But the only way that would happen was if someone were to die,” I stated, leaning back against the tree trunk, propping a leg up as pale arms folded neatly over my stomach.
“…Exactly,” His eyes flared with a glint of red to emphasize the point he was trying to make.
“Tch, ruthless to the core, I see,” I scoffed in response, sneering at the thought, “I should have expected that.”
“It’s what we signed up for when we decided to leave,” was Sasuke’s casual retort, shrugging his indifference at the thought.
Hazel eyes filled with indecision lowered to stare at the cold ground beneath my feet as thin brows furrowed in thought. Nimble fingers calloused from hours of practicing with the cold steel associated with tools of death fidgeted with the familiar symbol of the forehead protector held in my hands. The symbol so engraved into my life had been worn down over the years, loosing the sparkling luster that had entranced me into undying loyalty for so many years. But the memories were still there as well, evident as my thumb traced along the shallow grooves carved into the steel plating.
“Are you sure joining them is the best course of action?” I pondered out loud, pointing my gaze at my accomplice.
“Where else can we go?” His voice seemed so somber and solemn, almost regretful despite what his outward appearance showed. But being a true child of his clan, Sasuke hardened his heart and instead directed his attention to my own inner turmoil. “You know, if you’re having second thoughts, it’s not too late to turn back.”
“I meant what I said, Sasuke,” I responded shortly with a shake of my head, “No arguments, remember?”
“Yeah…I was hoping you’d come to your sense,” he commented with a frown. When all he received was a pointed look from me, the young shinobi scoffed with a roll of his eyes, “…Right, I forgot who I was talking to.”
Smirking at the familial bickering that had been such a constant comfort in our younger days, I spared Sasiuke a brief glance out the corner of my eye before returning my attention to the line of trees surrounding the clearing, poised and alert to detect any approaching figure that my have been hiding in the dark. It had been a hard decision to finally leave the village for good. But what once was a place for my undying hope and devotion had quickly turned into a place of my dying soul. Constant talks of treaties and alliances that were broken as quickly as they had been formed slowly worn down my optimism until all that remained was the bitterness of reality.
“Even if I did come to my senses, it’s a little too late for me to turn back, don’t you think?” I countered, managing a playful smirk that I was sure he could see with his Sharingan eyes.
Scoffing at the notion, Sasuke simply shook his head while a small smirk crept across his own lips as well. Despite the issues that had divided us for so many years, ultimately working to erase most of the childhood friendship that we used to have, there was still a lingering innocence in our hearts; distance and disagreements could never make us forget that. Even now, the pieces were falling back into place and the two of us were taking up the roles that had been disregarded ever since the day Itachi decidedly changed all of our lives by killing the majority of his clan.
I can still smell the blood, was the thought that flitted through my mind at the memory.
Thin brows twitch at the sudden shift in the atmosphere that surrounded us, feeling an extra weight of something powerful that had not been there before. My head snapped towards Sasuke to confirm my suspicions only to find him already activating his Sharingan eyes and putting it to good use in detecting our new companion. A shimmer of a figure flitted through the branches overhead, too quick for either of us to see even with Sasuke utilizing every aspect of his bloodline limit, sending the both of us into a defensive state of mind as we prepared for an attack.
“You really should be more careful.” His voice -- because it was obviously the voice of a man -- was smooth and low as it floated through the air to engulf us both in its sweetness, merely an illusion to hide the true malice that lay dormant within the man’s soul. Sasuke and I exchanged a wary glance before continuing to search for our new arrival, still attentive in case the elder had any underlying plan to betray us both. A rush of air and I felt his sudden presence behind me, the cold touch of a steel blade lightly pressing against my neck before either of us had time to react. “You can never tell who might be lurking about at this time of night.”
There was no denying the brief moment of panic that rushed straight to my heart at the sound of Itachi’s voice, speeding up its steady beating until I could feel it pounding against the walls of my ribcage. This had been the same man who killed his entire clan, save for one person. And both he and I would have been part of the death toll if circumstances had been different. Even now that we were older and more skilled to fight against him, memories of that day as the blood of Uchiha clan members both young and old slicked the floorboards at our feet came rushing back to haunt my waking dreams.
Swallowing down all my fears with a hard gulp, the three of us continued to stand there in perfect stillness as if we were frozen in time for all eternity in the darkness of the clearing while the blade remained poised at the vital vein pulsing in my neck. Sasuke could only watch and wait for the next move to be made, most likely cursing himself for even considering trusting his brother again after all these years. And then, just as suddenly as he had raised the katana against me, the eldest of the Uchiha brothers lowered the deadly weapon to his side where it would do no harm to anyone.
No longer under the pretense of possible death, I quickly stepped away from the eldest of the two brothers and turned to finally face him. Unconsciously my hand went up to lightly press chilled fingers against the curve of my collar bone, only mere inches away from where the blade had rested against my skin. Unable to see through the expanse of darkness that lay between us, I squinted as my eyes worked to quickly adjust to the lack of light in order to spot his shifting figure. The details of his silhouette were hard to distinguish at first, save for the white trim of his garments. But as he stepped out into the clearing where we could at least rely on the muffled light of the moon to guide our movements, his features were made clear, draped in the traditional cloak of his new family of delinquent missin-nins. Red clouds wrapped in a blanket of white swirls, the symbol of the Akatsuki organization; an elite group of criminals that represented all the evil qualities in men. That was all Itachi had become since the day he defiled the sacred Uchiha shrine with the blood of his ancestors…and mine.
“Itachi-san,” I greeted in mock respect, still feeling the lingering touch of cold steel against my skin.
“Tenten-san,” the elder Uchiha reciprocated with a glance in my direction before turning to give his full attention to Sasuke, “Otouto.”
“Aniki,” Sasuke greeted in return through gritted teeth, still holding a hint of bitterness in his tone from years of anger, “It took you long enough.”
“I had other matters to attend to,” was his response, “Just because you wish to join does not mean that I am to shun my duties to the organization.”
Twin sets of Sharingans flared in the presence of the other, sending out a challenge in bright red beacons that could no doubt be felt rather than seen for miles. Under normal circumstances, I would have been more than willing to wait out to see the result of the exchange between the two remaining heirs of the Uchiha clan, knowing that their brief staring contests were nothing more than a test of power than a battle of dominance. But there were more important things that needed to be addressed. And with hunter-nins littering the forest in search for us, there was little time to spare.
“Could we not go there, now?” I stated, breaking through their silent war by stepping into their line of sight in a poor attempt to separate the two Uchiha brothers, “We don’t have time for this.”
Gaining what little knowledge I could over the years about the progression and functions of the Sharingan, I knew to avoid looking directly into Itachi’s eyes in order to escape the risk of getting trapped in any of his deadly techniques. My gaze only went as far as either their shoulders; avoiding Sasuke’s flaring eyes as well in case he had the sudden urge to challenge his brother to a clan battle in the middle of the forest.
“In case you’ve forgotten, Sasuke, we’re on the run,” I pressed on further, turning to face the shinobi in order to get his attention, “Test your superficial male egos later when we’re not being chased by Konoha hunter-nins.”
“She has a point, Otouto,” the Akatsuki member agreed, the evenness of his voice matching the calm reverence he seemed to always possess, “Besides, we have preparations to make.”
“Preparations?” the younger Uchiha inquired with suspicion.
“You didn’t think it would be that easy to join Akatsuki, did you?” Itachi questioned in return, earning a growl of irritation when he continued by finishing the comment with, “Foolish little brother.”
That single comment alone was enough to unravel any sort of self control that the young Sasuke had managed to conjure up in the presence of his brother, bringing up years of vengeful hatred that still resided within the younger Uchiha’s mind as he lashed out violently to defend his damaged pride. Arms flailing wildly, reaching out to strangle his brother, it took all of my strength and maneuverability advantages over him to keep Sasuke from putting harm on the reserved Itachi who simply breezed past the both of us.
“Just let it go, Sasuke,” was all that I said to the short-tempered shinobi, “We can deal with the details and any ‘concerns’ you have about them later when there’s actually time.”
“Hn, I can see why you brought her along with you on this journey,” Itachi said smoothly, his voice soft and calm as it breezed by my ear, “Then again, I suppose our family does have an affinity to the darker side of life.”
With that said, the elder shinobi brushed past us towards the other side of the clearing, no doubt leading us to another location that would be safer and more secure for our dealings. Being one of the top members of Akatsuki, it was no surprise to me that he would know of places where one could simply disappear. Oddly enough though, that was not what bothered me the most about what had just occurred.
“What did he mean by that?” I inquired as we watched him disappear into the forest, referring to the last comment that Itachi made.
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it,” Sasuke replied, pausing a moment before following after him into the night, “Come on, let‘s go before we lose him.”
I watched silently as Sasuke disappeared into the darkness of the forest as well, managing to catch a glimpse of the symbol so etched in the back of his shirt. A white fan tipped with a blazing hue of red that even the shadows could not dim or hide. The symbol of the Uchiha clan; the last remnants of a once prominent family in Konoha before their mass genocide by the hands of the very same person we were allying with now. Up until recently, that had been all Sasuke had left to hold on to since the day his world fell apart. He had every right to hate Itachi until death finally took one of them from this world…but he didn’t, at least not now. And with such a revelation standing alongside current circumstances that had lead us all here, I could not help but wonder as I rushed after the two, what would be in store for the three of us in the coming months?
