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"Hello, Itachi."
"Hello. You're early, for a change."
"You're mad at me, aren't you?"
"You could say that. This place has a lot of history between us, doesn't it, Kakashi-sensei? Well, the last history this place is going to have between us is your dying here at my hand!"
Itachi lunged forward, mangekyou sharingan activated and ready to kill his once-beloved sensei. His rage was consuming him, and within minutes he had Kakashi firmly trapped in tsukuyomi's grasp.
Kakashi was panicking. Not that he would ever tell it to anyone, but he was exceedingly afraid of what Itachi might do to him. Sure enough, within seconds, he was trapped inside a hell of memories, all of them dear to him, each a memory of his failure that cut deep to the core…
A young boy, barely twelve years old, looks up at him with a smile on his face…
A life snuffed out in an instant, with no looking back…
The rooftops of the Uchiha mansion, bathed in imaginary fire as the sun sets behind its walls…
Blood on Itachi's hands as he spies Kakashi from the corner of his eyes…
"This scroll explains everything. When I'm gone, I want you to have it…"
"Take care of her."
"Keep him alive, for my sake."
A ten-year-old Sasuke in the Uchiha mansion, burning a scroll bathed in his parents' blood…
Secret passages through which he came to see Itachi every week…
A happy face, a gentle smile, a forgiving glance…
"I won't leave you, I promise."
"Good…b..."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!" Kakashi heard a scream that seemed to echo throughout his entire soul, so it took a moment to realize that the sound was not coming from his throat. Further examining told him it was coming from a distraught Itachi, who was on his knees crying while his fists pounded the earth.
"Ne, Ne, Sakura-chan, where is Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.
"I don't know Naruto. Probably late as always. Now stop…"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"
"What was that?" wondered Sakura.
"That sounded like Itachi! It's coming from that direction! And where Itachi is, Sasuke is bound not to be far behind! Let's go investigate." shouted Naruto enthusiastically.
"Hmm, I wonder what that noise was, don't you Kabuto?" asked Oorichimaru of his sinister friend. "Maybe you should take Sasuke and go check it out. You might find something interesting…"
"Hai, Oorichimaru-sama."
"HOW COULD YOU! YOU PROMISED ME!! YOU PROMISED ME!!" Itachi promptly had a fit of hiccups. All his teammates were snickering behind their hiding spot in the trees. Of course they were also afraid for their lives if Itachi should find them there.
"I'm sorry. I tried my hardest. If it makes you feel better, she is not completely dead yet. And I've checked up on her at least once a month."
"She's…alive?" Itachi asked, a glimmer of hope shining in his eyes.
"Yes. Do you want me to take you to her?"
Itachi nodded, and silently Kakashi began to walk toward the area that the Akatsuki members were hiding.
"Oh crap-un" cried Deidara. "What are we going to do-un, what are we going to DO-UN ??"
"Relax, or we'll be found out," said Kakuzu, "just teleport to the other side of the forest." This strategy was promptly put into effect by the Akatsuki members, all except Zetzu, because Zetsu was daring and wanted to see things close up. And had the advantage of being able to blend in with the forest, being half plant himself.
As Naruto and Sakura sped to the scene of the noise, they saw a bunch of Akatsuki members hiding in the bushes. They weren't hiding very well, what with all the noise about stepping on people's toes and faces. One would think that being S rank missing nin the Akatsuki would have more brains, but evidentially not.
Sasuke didn't understand why he had agreed to do this. He could be training, or plotting ways to kill Itachi, or training, but noo he had to go along with Kabuto to investigate some stupid noise that was coming from Konoha's vast forest. Go figure.
As Sasuke and Kabuto got to the clearing, they immediately saw Naruto and Sakura, and the rest of Akatsukiwho still hadn't noticed them as they were too busy squabbling. As they got into fighting stances, they overheard an interesting conversation.
"She's…alive?"
"That's Itachi!" shouted Sasuke. "I must avenge…"
"Shut up will you." whispered an annoyed Deidara (Kisame refused to move his giant sword, which was placed a little too close to his pants for comfort), "you're talking too loud."
It was then that both parties realized that Kakashi and Itachi were talking together. Attention riveted by the spectacle before them, everyone called a truce until they understood what was going on. Akatsuki briefed the rest on the situation at their base and the events that had happened before, and everyone turned to the odd pair with curious and in Sasuke's case, murderous eyes.
Kakashi walked to the tree, the one he had gone to a thousand times before. He gently caressed the bark for a moment, and then gently pressed his hand onto a withered knot of leaves in the second branch. With a series of groans, the tree trunk opened to reveal that it was hollow, except for a staircase spiraling downward.
"Follow me."said Kakashi, as he placed one hand on the side of the trunk and started going downward.
All the people hiding behind the trees stared in shock as the tree gave way to a secrect passage. They watched spellbound as Kakashi and Itachi descended the staircase. After a few seconds, Zetzu crawled through the grass to check if they were still around.
"Come on guys. The coast is clear. Are we following them or not?"queried Zetzu. With much trepidation for fear of being caught by Itachi and excitement that they might finally understand the past of the Uchiha the unlikely group made its way downward into the trunk.
No one noticed the weasel that followed them after they went down, nor the fact that the door slammed shut once the weasel was inside, making them prisoners of whatever fate was to come…
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