Chapter 6 - Memory

It seems like you're still enjoying these private shows, Yoshizaku," Daisuke observed, as he approached a man who was sitting on a delicately crafted bamboo chair; his elbows resting on a round wooden table. At hearing the former's voice, the man looked at his counterpart, savoring the last drop of saké from his glass, tilting his head back.

The room was reasonably dark, only lit with pale yellow lanterns and at the corners lush purple curtains adorned the walls.

The man looked at Daisuke irritably.

"I didn't expect to see your serious face here, at this hour." Yoshizaku responded, before asking for a saké refill from the waitress who was moving in between the tables and crowd—which was cheering on a woman who was dancing on stage with a Kunai firmly held in her hand. The Kimono she was wearing was the pattern of Chrysanthemums-bright yellow on beige. Her face was painted stark white and lips shiny red—the cosmetic reminiscent of a Kabuki actress. She moved gracefully on the small stage, the audiences were evidently entranced by the panache in her movements.

Though he was annoyed at his counterpart's tone, Daisuke decided to let it slide,"I wouldn't have come at three in the morning if we didn't have a pressing matter at hand," his eyes, however, were fixed on the woman on stage.

The drinking man, who was wearing a gray Hakama and black pants, seemed as though he was disinterested. His eyes were a little bloodshot, adding to the harsh mien. His short brown hair caught a glimmer of the light from the yellow lanterns, and his face grew a little solemn, "What is it?"

" The Hyuuga heiress. Banshi failed to capture her," Daisuke explained again, "seems the girl isn't as weak as she seemed."

The man's interest was piqued, "suits Banshi then. She had the penchant of hating and underestimating ninjas with Kekkei Genkai," the man in the Hakama commented giggly, "ironic for her to lose to one."

"You don't have to be bitter; you have to understand her a little. If I remember correctly, her whole family was killed by ninjas with Kekkei Genkai when she was a child," Daisuke said sonorously.

"That doesn't mean she needs to hold it against anyone with a bloodline," the man answered unconcernedly. "And that also means the rules of the organization have to be enacted. Banshi doesn't have a family. Since she failed her mission, she needs to die. You killed her already?"

Daisuke exhaled, "I didn't have to," took a chair and sat down, "the heiress killed her with her Kekkei Genkai."

There was silence between them for half a minute—as Yoshizaku seemed to be taking in the news. Only the melodious sound of Tonkori's strings being plucked by a man beside the stage to accompany the Kabuki dance was prominent in the silenced space where the crowd was too preoccupied with watching the show.

"When was this?"

"Yesterday late noon."

"How do you know that the Hyuuga heiress killed her?"

"From her corpse, it was apparent that she suffered from grave internal injuries. I perceived that some of her vital blood vessels burst, which caused major hemorrhage that led to her death. From what I gathered, only a Hyuuga is capable of inflicting that type of injury, or in some isolated cases, medical ninjas with explicit knowledge on the human physiology and pressure points."

Yoshizaku mused for a few seconds and chuckled before commenting, "Banshi, lost to a little girl," each of his words meshed with a sense of sardonicism that tugged a mirthful smirk on his face.

"It shouldn't be surprising. Based on history—according to Shigai-sama—Hyuuga is among the oldest Shinobi clans, and their Taijutsu is among the most perfected and deleterious. Anyway, Banshi had always been good with assassinations; she never caught a target alive. She lived up to the name Banshi, after all." Daisuke explicated, "Still, knowing her, I don't think she would have regretted anything."

"So, you're telling me you're here because you want me to patch up for her failure?"

"With your ability, I would think you are able to capture the Hyuuga heiress and sidetrack her bodyguards."

"My Kekkei Genkai has never failed me. I'll do it, but I need information on her whereabouts in this town."

"She will be in the Tenka inn when she arrives. The problem is Kakashi of the Sharingan is her squad leader. And with them, two other Konoha-nin with tracking abilities—one is an Aburame and another is Inuzuka."

"Well, it's been a while, since I did something challenging," Yoshizaku admitted, beginning to enjoy his hot sake again. "The Aburame may be a little hard to deal with, speaking from experience."

"I have confidence that you can handle him. I'll distract Kakashi while you go for the heiress and get rid of the boys."

"I don't like being interrupted, but maybe that's for the better. Though Kakashi is powerful, especially with Sharingan in his possession, I like to think we can surprise Shigai sama with both Byakugan and Sharingan by the time this mission is over—if we work together."

"I suppose." Daisuke answered. "I have to remind you still, to not go near that Hyuuga while she's strong enough to stand on both feet."

"Tell me everything you know about the Hyuuga again."

"Not much. Only that according to Shigai-sama, their bloodline has something to do with the Sharingan, and the name of the style is gentle fist, but it is anything but gentle. Don't be deceived by its finesse," he said, pausing a while to look at the Kabuki actress on stage, "and from what I could examine from Banshi's corpse, it is safe to assume that each hit by their Taijutsu is laced with Chakra needle. Banshi died because of internal injuries, so no matter what, don't get yourself hit by her," he elucidated, and turned to look at the woman on stage again.

"I think I can do that," Yoshizaku answered, an acute smirk visible in his face.

"Remember, we have to have her eyes before we get the stone. You have plenty of time until then to figure out how to handle the boys," Daisuke explained again, "Good luck, Yoshizaku,"

"Save it. You'll need luck the most. It's Kakashi you're going to face," he reminded, before drinking the remaining Sake in his cup.

Daisuke's lips arched a little, "I guess you're right," as he turned his eyes to look at the Kabuki actress again, "looks like it's time to get serious."

Members of Team Kakashi were rushing on their way to Iwa the next morning, with the first break of daylight in the sky. The trees were looming contours that greeted them further into the forests' depth as they darted toward their destination. Almost like automatons, the four-man-cell moved in the dawn—specters in the shadows— shooting and propelling their feet with the control of chakra onto and from shaky branches.

It was a cold morning; the dews dropped onto the land as they moved about like dancers in the dark—but the Ninjas were silent, only the slow susurrus of Shino's bugs was audible inside the hazy atmosphere like a mystical hymn of the forest.

The event yesterday seemed to have changed everyone's mood: they all seemed like they were miles away—except for Kakashi—who was now even more heedful than before—of the petite girl whom he hardly paid attention to before she became a part of his team.

Unintentionally, his eye caught a glimpse of her.

The copy-nin watched and contemplated the lavender-jacketed girl in silence as she was leaping in front of him with her teammates—unaware of his scrutiny.

Images of the small girl who could not contain her blood from smearing her mouth in the third preliminary stage of the Chuunin exam as she fought her genius cousin—who Kakashi himself would consider the strongest in Taijutsu in the Chuunin exams—manifested itself. The Chuunin exam stadium was a place in a deep corner of his mind he revisited: he remembered the visible and quiet kind of strength that fluoresced in her waxen eyes when she trembled as she looked up at her contestant in her fallen state.

'I have seen many things with the Byakugan. You're just acting strong, deep inside you just want to run away from here.'

That instant he reckoned she must have felt small and insignificant as her fear was recited by Neji before her and the crowd, but all Kakashi knew was—right at that moment—he wanted her finally to achieve her strength from that resolve: to cross her limit in order to acquire something worth dying for—even though she did not have the upper hand, even when life was the biggest stake.

'I...just wanted to change myself….do it myself…'

He looked again at the way her midnight hair trailed silk-like behind her, remembering how it felt against the cloth of his mask last night—remembering her voice and the words that pierced slickly into his defenses.

After what she told him, he noticed and felt the air about her more distinctly now.

'That is not true, Neji nii-san. Because I can see it, it's not me at all. I can see...that the person lost and suffering within the destiny of main and branch houses… is you.'

He had always thought he had a keen sense in perceiving everything around him: it had helped him in his journeys in ways untellable: it would take thousands of nights, and he was afraid he would not survive long enough to tell these tales (not that he had anyone to tell these tales to). There were so many instances in his life that such ability had saved him and assisted him in accomplishing his Shinobi missions, thus; it became the first thing he told her the first time he approached the Chuunin—that she needed to be more aware of her surroundings.

Never lose notice of everything around you.

But perhaps he was merely wrong? Someone who was not aware of her surroundings would not have been able to break free from Tsukiyomi, and it sure took some kind strength, a different kind of strength that enabled her to perceive something someone with a keen sense of perception like Kakashi himself could not notice.

'Shouldn't you forgive yourself too?'

Perhaps there was more to this girl than meets the eye.

Perhaps she was more than just Hinata.

A new episode in his life had just begun.

Uchiha Sasuke made his calm strides through the open road as he walked out of the underground tunnel into the striking light. Today, three years had passed and it had seemed like it had been just a vague dream. Memories were coruscating in his head. They seemed as though they were telling him to stop and think. But each time he stopped and thought; he could only feel restlessness soaring in his heart, and a hideous inclination fumbling in his stomach.

So he walked on.

The look on Yakushi Kabuto's face was priceless as Sasuke strode away impassively, but he knew better than to think that the medical-nin had the audacity to try anything against him—not after he had been successful in doing what anyone at one juncture deemed impracticable. He had trapped one of the famed Sannin, one of the most dangerous Shinobi alive to his own body before he could be transferred to become a receptacle of the latter.

There were sacrifices he had to make to arrive at this extent: the memories, the bonds, the love, everything he once considered precious; then again, he would go to any lengths to kill that certain man. That man came to Konoha three years ago to remind him of his purpose in living, of the purpose he was let living, when he was about to forget.

'Why are you still so weak?'

The eagle screeched when he looked up at the sky. Heat waved in the sandy road in front of him and rippled in the air. A lone lizard settled itself on a dry rock, eyeing him as he passed by, and images of that man slaughtering mother and father in his illusionary underworld was afire—searing as the sun-bleached sand of the desert around him.

'Why are you still so weak?'

His eyes narrowed at the hideous tightness he began to feel in his chest, but he advanced on.

Back then he was weakening, he would admit it and a way to weaken him was through his heart. What he had in Konoha was enfeebling him and was ingenuously making him forget, so naturally—he had to leave to become stronger. Nobody understood anything: not Naruto, not Kakashi and not Sakura. If to achieve this certain ambition meant he had to abandon them then there was no mistaking that he would, if he should die for it then that man would have to die with him.

He would honor the Uchiha by killing the man who annihilated them on that cursed night, and he had no qualm to throw away anything that would hinder him.

Fucking traitor.

Sasuke lost his home way longer than the time he started to understand what home was, and when the thought drifted into his mind, the grief started to become unbearable and his feeble walls of sanity would threaten to crumble.

'Well, I've seen a lot of people like you, and the fate of those who seek revenge is grim. It's tragic. You will end up suffering and hurting yourself even more.'

But how does it get more torturous than this?

'Even if you do succeed in getting revenge, the only thing that remains is emptiness.'

But Kakashi never understood. Nobody ever did. Even emptiness was preferable to this hideous pain—his precious people were not taken away by someone he trusted, someone he idolized. He did not know the pain of being betrayed by someone he looked up to the most.

What does he know?

Back then, Sasuke was powerless. He was too weak to defend his parents, his clan, to defend himself. Now there was only one thing he had to do to quell this grief—this… anger—he had had years to prepare himself, so he could face the man who robbed away his home. He had enough hatred; enough power to do it now and he had no intention of looking back.

Gripping the Tsuka of his katana firmly, grim tenaciousness solidified in his tunnel-black eyes as he established in his mind, that Uchiha Itachi would die by his hands, and Sasuke would not have it any other way.

Team Kakashi stopped at an open space that was surrounded by huge trees—having their break for lunch. There were a few logs settled on the ground: a perfect resting place for them to take their break because they had spent the entire morning moving toward Iwa.

Boxes of bento that they packed and brought from Taki were carefully opened, and the two boys ate voraciously. Kakashi—always the man of self-control— took the time to eat slowly while raising his other hand to read the passages of Icha Icha Tactics. Hinata ate with them, but it was apparent that she was absent—the boys wondered if she even realized there was food being chewed in her mouth.

The first attempt to converse came from Kiba who cleared his throat, "Ah… we need to talk with Hinata about something… in private."

Understanding, the skin under Kakashi's eye furrowed as he took a bite of his Onigiri, "No worries, I'll eat on one of the logs. Do have your private conversation."

He stood up, walked to the side of the open space and sat on the log, having his lunch and reading Icha Icha still—seemingly unmindful of his three new students.

Kiba was a little hesitant as he looked at Hinata, and then he gathered enough courage to bring himself to talk to her.

"There's something we need to tell you, about why I and Shino left you to spar with Shino's Kage Bunshin alone last week."

Hinata looked a little interested, but—her voice was meek as she spoke, "Yes?"

"We…" Kiba said, turning his head to look at Shino for a moment, before looking back at her, "… weren't chasing butterflies. I wasn't answering the call of nature."

Hinata's expression changed, "it's okay. Just tell me…"

"I hope Hinata won't be mad at us once Hinata learns the truth…" Shino interjected, as he put his Bento box to rest on the mat, and fixed the position of his goggles.

Uchiha Itachi was deep in solitariness as he stood on a stem, concealing himself behind a tree trunk—watching. The location he had chosen to keep himself hidden was ideal because it was against the direction of the blowing wind, it would prevent his scent from permeating the Inuzuka's olfactory and from himself to be discovered. His little trick had proven to be fruitful because the boy had not picked up his scent heretofore.

He was aware that following a cell of trackers in this mission was not an easy task, but there was a challenge in dealing with hardship, his goal to overcome it— that kept himself going—something he had grown used to since he left Konoha behind.

Within these seconds, memories of these missions: the espionages, the assassinations, the interceptions, the dangerous escapades and the destructions began to surface, and an uninvited sense of dull pain began to throb in the core of his head.

Perspiration beaded on his forehead, and his expression tightened as he squeezed his eyes shut: the illness started to assault again, bringing with it all sorts of voices from the past.

'Our clan protected the order of this village from a long time ago. Our insignia is also a mark of our honorable clan. That's why they put the house symbol as the emblem of this place.'

The evocation scorched in his skull: his breaths quickened, and blood seemed to rush to his head at once. His whole body began to feel like it was being stabbed with pieces of sharp blades. His fingers shuddered, as he gripped them painfully on the tree trunk to maintain balance.

'You're the backbone that connects this family to the village. You have to be a useful connection.'

His knees weakened and memory of moonlit blood rivulets—shiny red silk trailing on the ground of the Uchiha district started to distort in his mind.

'Shinobi usually live as hated people, because they're said to be a problem.'

He made every effort there was to not hiss, lest his locality be revealed to the Konoha-nin, but at that moment his feet could no longer sustain the weight of his body—the weight of his memory. Quickly he took out something from under his sleeve, and put it into his mouth before gulping it. His knees fell on the stem and tightly clutching his katana, he pressed the tip of the sheath onto the stem to regain balance, trying to focus.

'To have strength, means you become isolated, become arrogant. Although at first, you only sought what you dreamed of...'

Sasuke.

'Dad's always going on about you all the time.'

He exhaled silently, his breaths ragged and difficult.

'When I grow up, I'll join the police force too!'

Sasuke.

'I have lived for this! I have lived to kill you!'

A bland smile unaccountably formed itself on his lips.

I will live… to be killed by you…

He finally sat on the stem, pressing his back hard against the trunk, as the pain began to wane. Strength returned to him; the memory ebbed away. Leaning close to the trunk, he tried to repossess the foundation of his existence, as he inclined his head, and watched the Hyuuga from the corner of his eye as he hid behind the trunk.

The sight of her mixed up: he could not see her clearly at first—only tripled vague shapes could be made out before they united to form her figure—as she sat between her teammates. Itachi was not sure what brought her to him in this course of intertwining fates—but as he continued to watch it was becoming clear that she resembled her so much that he wanted to laugh at the irony.

He veered his sight and watched Kakashi read his book while eating on the log. He then turned to look at the Hyuuga again.

With blood-dripping katana in hand, he stood the stillest and stared at the exanimate black eyes of the girl whose throat was sliced open. The forest was breezy and dead calm, the leaves were clattering and the birds were humming as water flowed and caressed his feet.

She lay in death on the surface of the river, the crystal waters were the coffin that washed over her pale, clean face as her long hair danced to the tune of sloshing water—black ribbon fluttering over the neck that continued to shed the dark red tears.

He took a step forward, toward the crimson pool and listened to the sound of water as it sprinkled lightly, his movements heavy and slow. It seemed like it took an eternity when he neared her body: the fresh ichor was already seeping into the fabric of his pants like paint when he knelt beside her.

He moved his hand to her. With fingers tremblingly wrapped around her head-he lifted her withered body and clasped her into his embrace—water dripped and squeezed onto his tightened arms.

He realized it did nothing to fill the sense of hollowness that began to lodge in his heart.

She intrigued him so; his mind was filled with thoughts of her. Itachi was about to proceed with his plan when his ring received a signal.

Hinata was silent, but calm when the whole story was told by her teammates. Both of them were waiting for her to say something—as if biding their time for their punishment—but Hinata remained Hinata: she was willing to let go.

"Shino-kun and Kiba-kun should have told me from the beginning, because we are friends. I understand that you want to protect me, but if we can't trust each other... Shino-kun and Kiba-kun are no better than strangers to me..."

Kiba gulped, as if to swallow the pang of guilt that emerged in his chest from Hinata's words.

"Yeah, Hinata...We're really sorry. We promise such will never happen again..." Kiba said, rubbing his hair with his hands guiltily as his words were uttered.

"We thought it was what was best for you. Apparently we were wrong. We protect each other, while being honest to one another. After all, that is what teamwork means..." Shino added in the sleek voice of his, "Though I am not going to deny, still, that I was impressed with what Hinata did to that woman. Hinata must promise not to do such to us in training."

"Well, yeah, just... Don't kill us, 'Kay?"

Hinata felt her eyes water, "O-Of course not! Shino-kun and Kiba-kun are my best friends in the world," she said, before nearing them both and curling her hands around both their necks—holding them in an embrace. "I wouldn't do such a thing...I wouldn't even be able to..."

"We wouldn't have been able to forgive ourselves if you died because of our selfish decision," Kiba added, a little sheepish as he was not used to being hugged by anyone, "err...Hinata, now that we've reached an understanding, you might as well not hug us too tightly 'because we can't breathe..."

Akamaru barked excitedly, and the three of them fell onto the mat like a domino block when the white dog decided to join the group-hug to show its approval by jumping at them.

Kakashi only looked at Shino, Kiba and Hinata with his arms crossed and a smile formed beneath his mask as he sat on the log—the noon wind stroked the five of them in the middle of the verdant forest, before the expression beneath his mask changed.

My own team… I couldn't keep them together.

"My dream is to surpass the Hokage, and then have the village acknowledge my existence!"

His focus was to keep Sasuke in the village, and in doing so he neglected Sensei's son, neglected Sakura who probably needed the most instruction.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, and there are lots of things I dislike and I don't really like anything, and I can't really call it a dream, but I have an ambition: the resurrection of my clan… and to kill a certain man."

Somehow he knew Sasuke would abandon the village in his pursuit of power to avenge his parents and clan, so he tried to provide that power to keep the boy in the village as long as he could. He had hoped with the drift of time: the bond they had together as a team, and the care Sasuke had shown towards Naruto and Sakura—would make the young Uchiha forget his revenge. Kakashi did not particularly know if he could have done any better, but at the time, he thought it was what was best. In his mind, Sasuke staying in Konoha was what would have made both Naruto and Sakura happy.

Maybe… maybe I wish I'd done things differently, he acknowledged. His mind kept wandering off to places he would rather forget. But Hinata was right—guilt was stealing away his life. He could escape into Icha Icha any time he wanted to, but at the end of the day, after everything was said and done, there was only himself and the merciless nights: it was he himself that he could not escape from.

Now he had to make amends. Kakashi decided that if he survived this mission with Shino, Kiba and Hinata, he would meet both Naruto and Sakura the first hour he was back in Konoha: there was something important he needed to do.

Deva Pain sat on the granite tongue of a large head statue and mused; the noon breeze was nuzzling his vermillion hair and flapping his black robe in the air. The larks were making their rounds as usual, he observed, flying around the city of piled steel pipes before passing by just above his head.

Here, he was always listening to the sound of the breeze: the sensation of peace had been always transient but for now he would have to be contented with what he had—for a long period of peace was coming, he was working on it.

After a few moments, his thought shifted back to Uchiha Itachi.

Leaving his assigned task is not something he does often; he realized and wondered, as Itachi was one of his most valued underlings, 'in fact, he has never done it before.'

He rubbed his knuckles against his chin gently, looked far down below, and noticed a tiny brown dog was searching for food in the heaps of trash and piles of rusted metal grates accumulated at the edge of an asphalt space, before making a hand seal, "Shu."

His consciousness brought him to a darkened cave, and Itachi's glowing, auroral shape appeared standing on the right ring finger of the right hand statue in their common Akatsuki meeting place.

Deva barely wasted his time, "Do you have any explanations as to why you left your task to watch the border with Tobi?"

Expression could hardly be made out from the face of the colorful shape of Itachi, the glow from their bodies irradiated the blackened cave. He was silenced awhile, before informing, "I've found something that might cure the illness I've told you about."

"The one that has been affecting you in the past years?"

"Yes."

"Hmm…" Deva seemed to ponder again, "You've never done anything like this—and finding a cure for your illness would be good for the Akatsuki in the long run."

Itachi's eyes were sharp, though the quick mind behind them seemed to have dulled through the years with the Akatsuki—unlike how Deva once remembered it, "However, I must remind you to exercise caution. After what happened to Hidan and Kakuzu, the countries are doing everything in their power to curb our activities. You will be needed for the capture of the Yonbi sometime soon, and when the time comes, that will take priority. You will have to postpone the pursuit of the cure until we are finished with the Yonbi and its sealing process."

"I understand."

"Dismiss."

His consciousness was back to the body on the breezy platform again. At such height: he felt like he could take on the world and conquer it—it would be restored of the irenic freedom it had long deserved. He then stood up, watched the building of steel pipes that stood majestically in the midst of the wet air in front of him, before jumping and descending steeply onto the asphalt space far down below. The tiny puppy he had been observing was startled at his appearance, but it did not run away. A tiny smile emerged on Deva's lips, liking the fact that the dog knew its ally by instinct. He neared the puppy and placed a piece of bread on the ground in front of it. The puppy barked in joy, and began munching the bread ravenously: it seemed like it had been deprived of food for days.

'One day, my friend, you will have all the food you need and you won't have to suffer anymore.'

He then leaped highly and stepped onto his platform again; standing and letting the flurry of air brush his body. In the distance, ragged mountain apexes soared above the noon cloud like tombstones in a hazy necropolis with the sun shining brightly beyond: it held the promise of an eventful day before the dawn of a new era.

He smiled again.

'One fateful day…'

The moment Itachi's cognizance returned to the body in the forest, Kakashi and his team were nowhere to be seen, but it was inconsequential. They could not have traveled too far from him, judging by the position of the sun in the sky before and after his meeting with the Leader. Unbroken jungle stared back at him, giving no indications as to the path she and the rest of the group had taken.

He looked up and saw crows drift in the air. He closed his eyes and paid attention to them, they were all pointing him to one direction. He would have to trust them: his old friends—they had led him to many people and places in his life—and they would continue to track for him as long as he needed them to. His sight might have deteriorated because of the illness he was suffering from, but the benefit of it was—his other senses had pleasantly heightened—the messages sent by the crows seemed to be less convoluted these days. It used to be harder to tell what one crow was saying from the other each time they gathered above him.

If there was anything important the time he served in ANBU had taught him was how vital sufficient information was to pull off missions and Shinobi must use any tools necessary to gain it.

He felt the wind whistle around him, and after making sure that he was traveling against the blowing wind, he restarted his expedition—leaping from trees to trees. The light was growing faint, crafting new silhouettes and dark blotches around the forest. Sunshine glistered from tree hollows. The wind howled between indistinct trunks, carrying the sweetish smell of sandalwood to his nostrils. He looked at the forest floor; vines slithered across the ground like snakes, in the hunt of the pool of lukewarm water about a hundred feet to his right—all this information was noted and processed by the raven-haired Akatsuki agent carefully.

It would take some time to finally unravel the potential of the Byakugan and to understand what relation it had with the Sharingan, but he had managed to buy some time to see to this personal mission of his.

His only enemy this time was his revenant illness.

"He was acting rather strange, wasn't he?"

"I've always thought he was a strange person."

"I wonder what he was up to too. Tobi is going to be very interested if we tell him what we saw. Itachi was once a Konoha ANBU, and I've been understood that Kakashi was once too."

"You're suspecting that he is forming an alliance with Konoha now? You're jumping to conclusion. He kept his distance from them stealthily. This is more likely an interception mission than anything—and Itachi looked like he was about to attack them at one moment, but something stopped him."

"Ah, but I took some time to get close and listened to those Konoha brats when they were conversing—there being nothing noteworthy of interception about the topic of their conversation. And if I am not mistaken, the girl with them is a Hyuuga."

"There is no doubt that the girl possessed the white eyes. Whatever this mission is, Itachi is constantly exposing himself to danger of being discovered by her. You still think that Itachi is trying to inform the Konoha ninja about the Akatsuki?"

"I would like to think so, dramatic, wouldn't it be?"

"Except that it makes no sense. This is the guy who massacred his entire clan in Konoha, including his parents before joining us."

"Yep, everyone—excluding his little brother. I heard that his brat of a brother is training with Orochimaru now. Do you have everything recorded?"

"Yes. I think for now we retreat, inform Tobi and wait for new instruction."

"Good. We can leave this place now. The mosquitoes here are killing me."

"May as well wait another fifteen minutes."

"Why?"

"There's a gazelle nearing this spot."

"Ah, we shall wait then. I haven't tasted gazelle in five years."

Tbc.

AN: This was a short chapter; I'll try to make the next chapter longer. Anyhow, thanks to those who waited patiently for the update. I'm not abandoning this story, though this chapter felt lackluster to me—hopefully next chapter things will pick up again, and I'll try to take at most two months for the next update. Thanks to ChocoLatte, Siyrean, Jaggarte, Wolf, and everyone at the KakaHina FC in Narutofan forums for their support to the pairing and story, and everyone who reviewed and put this story on alert. I love reading everything you say about this story, I really appreciate it and I'm glad you're not giving up on me. I must say that the support right now is the reason I'm continuing, so keep supporting. Thanks.