Chapter 1 - Konoha Trail

"Oi."

Kisame waited for an answer which did not come. For a while, he followed his partner quietly through the canopy, leaping from branch to branch close behind Itachi. The latter showed no interest in stopping, even when Kisame called him a second time.

"Oi, Itachi-san!"

But the Uchiha was clearly in no mood to explain why they were heading at full speed towards Konoha. Itachi had been ignoring his questions regarding this ever since they had left the hideout. It was unlike like him to drag Kisame along without an explanation.

"Itachi-san, we've been at it for three days now… What are we going to Konoha for?"

Itachi stopped on a branch. Kisame halted beside him, looking in the same direction. He could see the outline of Konoha's walls through the foliage. He looked at his partner, quietly demanding the answer to his question.

"I'm looking for someone," Itachi said after a few moments of deliberation, not taking his eyes off the wall in the distance. "One of my former ANBU teammates."

Kisame made a long face. Itachi had never talked about his ANBU days. Come to think of it, Itachi rarely talked about his past. Why would he go looking for one of his old teammates now, all of the sudden? His tongue itched to ask more questions, but he refrained himself. It seemed he would find out soon enough anyway.

"Let's wait for the dark."

"Mm," Kisame approved.

The sound of cicadas surrounded them in the light of the fiery sunset filtering through the foliage. Itachi closed his eyes, allowing himself a moment of peace in the familiar sound.

"Itachi-san... does this have anything to do with your little brother?"

Itachi opened his eyes.

"No."

"Hmmm," Kisame cooed. "It's strange that we haven't run into any patrols this close to the village. You'd think that after what happened years ago with Orochimaru..."

He chuckled as he finished his sentence and looked up at the patches of sky. Clouds brimmed with pink floated against the golden canvas. The light made the trees seem on fire.

"It's quiet."

Kisame's voice sounded like low thunder. Itachi did not flinch. His eyes were closed and the muscles on his face relaxed, as if he were meditating. The sounds of the forest around them was like a lullaby to him - one he had not heard in a very long time. No, it was not quiet. The forest was never quiet.

Sometime after dusk settled over the forest, crickets engaged in their usual background humming, rivaling the cicadas. An owl hooted nearby, calling for another. Itachi stood up from where he had been sitting, on the branch of an oak tree. His sharingan shone in the dark, staring at Konoha's wall, although Kisame could no longer see it in the dark. He looked at Itachi, rearing to go and finish this odd business. Finally, his partner leapt forward. Kisame followed, casing a faint rustle among the leaves.

Moving through the dark, with a sweet summer breeze blowing against his face, Kisame felt free and at ease. He grinned as he pressed against a branch for another jump, moving with renewed strength and enthusiasm at the thought of this trip being almost over. He was hoping for his efforts to be well worth it. What could be so important about someone for Itachi to go through all the trouble to find them?

"We're taking the rooftops," Itachi said after they got past the wall unseen.

Kisame smirked. It was not often that he saw his partner so fired up about something, especially given how that something was actually someone. He found it intriguing, even more so since it involved his past. Itachi always seemed reluctant to pursue shadows from his past.

The sounds coming from the streets below barely reached them as they passed. They were two shadows moving soundlessly in the darkness of a moonless night. Kisame noticed they were leaving behind the hustle, heading toward the quieter outskirts of Konoha. He found himself questioning Itachi's motives once more. From what little knowledge of Konoha he had, it seemed they were going straight toward the Uchiha grounds.

"Itachi-san..."

"We're here."

Itachi jumped off the edge of a roof and landed in a narrow street, in front of a large house. By the looks of it, no one was at home. Neither of them could sense any chakra signature on the grounds, but Itachi thought he could feel something. Residual chakra, but nonetheless something. The house was not deserted - someone still lived there.

As the two Akatsuki gazed at the building, voices echoed further down the road. A woman and a man were coming their way at a leisurely pace, but Itachi did not recognize their voices, so he and Kisame stepped into the shadows to avoid detection. The voices grew louder as the strangers approached. Itachi's eyes narrowed when the man and woman stepped into the light of a nearby street lamp. The man seemed to be slightly inebriated. The woman, Itachi did not recognize. However, the man's face was as familiar to him as one seen in an old dream. He stepped out of the shadows, into the light.

"Nara Enki-san," he said, causing the man to stop. It took no more than a few moments for Enki to recognize a wanted S-rank criminal, even in his state. He pushed the woman behind him, but she appeared to be a Yamanaka kunoichi and she stepped right back beside him. As Kisame joined his partner, Enki pulled out a kunai, though his hand was shaking – a detail too minute for the eye, but not for the sharingan.

"Uchiha. What are you doing here?" Enki asked.

"I'm looking for Akane-san."

Enki seemed surprised. He nudged his companion and she seemed to get the message, because she glared at them and jumped on the roof of a nearby house. Running to get help, no doubt, Kisame thought. He made a move to go after her, but Itachi held out a hand to stop him. This would not take long enough for help to arrive.

"What business does scum like you have with my sister?" Enki said, trying to look defiant.

Itachi blinked once to clear the fog from his eyes and made a few steps forward, while the man made an equal number of steps backward. Kisame watched, feeling slightly amused, and though his palms were itching to grab Samehada, he decided to leave matters to Itachi, out of respect.

"I don't wish to hurt you," Itachi told the Konoha shinobi, "but either you talk, or I will hurt you and you will talk."

Enki's entire body was tense now and shaking. His eyes were watching, alert for Itachi's each and every move. He remained silent for a while. Kisame wanted to think he was considering Itachi's offer, but he may have just been stalling. After moments of deliberation, the shinobi spoke in an uncertain tone, as if fearing his words would displease Itachi.

"Nara Akane is a traitor to this village. She left Konoha the day after you massacred your clan. The last time I heard anything about her, she had been spotted in the Land of Snow, but that was over a year ago. She could be anywhere."

Itachi vacillated. Kisame watched Adam's apple bobbing in Enki's throat and grabbed the handle of his sword. His partner would at least allow him a brawl. Itachi, however, seemed to finally decide the Konoha shinobi was telling the truth, because he turned around, ready to go.

"Kisame."

Kisame snorted, but swung Samehada and let it rest on his shoulder. "Hai," he said.

"We're going."

Enki's hands moved to form a seal, but hardly had they come together when Itachi turned around and knocked him out cold with the Tsukuyomi. Kisame grinned and followed his partner away from the scene and across Konoha. It occurred to him that they were headed north.

"I take it we're going to Yukigakure now, Itachi-san?"

Itachi did not reply.