Chapter 3: Infuriation

"Our official duty as ANBU operatives will start from tomorrow," Itachi stated slowly as he paced in front of them. "But for today, I would like to grasp the level of each of your abilities," he smoothly pulled out a kunai from his pouch. "Come at me," he ordered.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Itachi really had a natural talent in pissing others off. Three against one? Sure, the fight two years back had been painfully one-sided, but Sasuke could confidently claim that he was no pushover at his current level. Add Naruto and Sakura to the boot and he may even enjoy kicking Itachi around like a helpless puppy. Smirking, he slid his sharingan on. Itachi may be his captain now but that didn't mean that he couldn't give him a taste of his hatred.

"Let's go," he called to the other two, bending and touching the ground with his left hand.

Itachi watched calmly as Naruto and Sasuke both charged to either side of him, while the girl Sakura had vanished from sight. Clearly they were pretty adept and comfortable with attacking in their group.

Naruto formed a shadow clone and immediately charged at him with a glowing Rasengan ball, while Itachi smoothly ducked sideways. Sasuke then aimed a barrage of shuriken at his feet, forcing him to leap high up in the air. Sensing accumulation of excessive chakra from the air up above, Itachi gazed upwards to see Sakura charging down upon him with chakra fists.

Commendable teamwork indeed, he thought.

Focusing chakra at his feet, Itachi kicked hard in the air, propelling himself backwards. Sakura's fists missed his retreating body and crashed headfirst into the ground, forming a massive hole.

Strong, but slow, he glanced at the girl.

"Getting careless, aren't we? Tai-chou," Sasuke's low voice sounded from behind. Itachi turned his head in surprise. Sasuke had jumped after Itachi's falling back in a trajectory and now shadowed him in mid-air from below.

"Shadow of the Dancing Leaf," Sasuke sneered. "You're going down," he smirked.

(FYI – This was the technique Lee used against Sasuke during the Chunnin exams.)

Itachi sighed softly. "Confident, aren't you?" he asked his younger brother. "Well, I guess they're more than just big words this time."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Don't underestimate me!" he hissed angrily. "Lion's Barrage!"

Sasuke thrust his right hand at Itachi in an uppercut, pushing him to the ground. Diving after him, he landed kicks and punches with increasing intensity, giving Itachi a final blow to the chest.

Panting heavily, he landed and glanced upon Itachi's unmoving body.

"Is that all?" Itachi asked with a hint of control in his voice. Sasuke watched in shock as the body before him disappeared with a cloud of smoke.

Shadow clone jutsu.

Before he knew it, a hand had clasped firmly at the back of his neck, pulling him into a half-lying position on the ground. The cold metal of a kunai was pressed gently against his throat. Itachi stood to the side of him, observing him intently.

"I'm assuming you haven't forgotten all about my abilities," Itachi told him with a hint of amusement, his crimson eyes slowly shifting into the shape of Mangekyou.

Shit

Sasuke struggled desperately against the strong grip to no avail. Sensing the new look of horror in his younger brother's face, Itachi smiled. He really hasn't changed all that much.

Withdrawing the kunai, he aimed a kick at Sasuke's stomach, sending him flying a few feet into the air.

"Worry not," Itachi told him, amused. "I'm not going to use it on you." Keeping his kunai, he walked to the entrance of the training grounds without a backward glance.

"Though there is room for improvement, I can see that all three of you are indeed competent shinobi. Assemble at the Eastern gate at five in the morning tomorrow."

Sasuke tossed about angrily in his sleep. The events of earlier that day were repeating itself like clockwork in his mind. After all these years, their difference apart had not so much as changed. Itachi's face appeared mockingly in his mind and he growled in frustration, pushing himself from the bed.

Damn that Itachi, he snarled.

As always, he was far and untouchable. Even now, even with Itachi right before his eyes, he could not hurt him. Konoha would never allow that again. And the most painful thing was that Sasuke had no way to say that what his brother had done was wrong. Itachi didn't murder the innocent – he merely killed the traitors.

He simply protected the village.

Shaking his head, Sasuke dressed and proceeded to the training grounds. He knew that sleep would never come to him in his current state.

He didn't know what to think anymore.

The shuriken missed its mark for the third time. Sasuke cursed, frustrated.

"Is that all?" Itachi asked with a hint of restrain.

Sasuke growled at the memory and flashed more shuriken. Both hit the target this time. As always, Itachi's words did have a great impact on him. His pride never did allow him to be mocked and taunted, and not for the first time, he realized again that Itachi had been his main driving force all along.

Though he never liked to admit it, he knew that he would not have improved as greatly as he were today without the catalyst, his older brother.

"Your technique has become quite sloppy, hasn't it?" Itachi commented casually from his left, studying the thrown shuriken intently.

Sasuke silently congratulated himself for not jumping in surprise. After the initial shock had passed, he narrowed his eyes at the other man.

"What the heck are you doing here?" he growled in irritation.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "You should be more surprised that the patrol squads weren't alerted with the racket that you were making," he calmly replied.

Sasuke practically rolled his eyes. What. The. Hell?

Leaning against a wooden structure, Itachi smiled gently. "Then again, this may be one of your usual habits, seeing as you're often late for duty," he stated softy.

Sasuke crossed his arms. "Well, I apologize for my lateness, tai-chou," he added sarcastically. Walking to retrieve his shuriken, he gritted his teeth angrily. He was leaving this instant. What was Itachi thinking chiding him like he did years ago? Acting like he was still the caring older brother he once was. Sasuke couldn't take any of these any longer.

"Don't be so formal when we're alone, Sasuke," Itachi said softly.

Sasuke snorted. "Of course, Itachi-taichou," he sneered.

Itachi glanced at his younger brother's bent form as he retrieved the shuriken. "Ah, leaving already? I had expected that you would have more to say," he murmured.

"Don't flatter yourself," Sasuke spat. "I've got nothing to say to the likes of you." He walked past Itachi to the entrance.

"Sasuke," Itachi called.

Sasuke clenched his teeth but ignored him otherwise. He hastened his walk to the entrance.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." Itachi's words were barely more than a whisper.

Biting hard on his lip, Sasuke ran.

The taste of blood was never more bitter.

The sound of conversation down the dark corridor alerted him to yet another change of shift. The guards weren't particularly loud, yet such did not escape the keen ears of Kisame. He scowled at the ceiling as he lay manacled to the prison bed. He was getting impatient.

Whether they had wanted to gut him for information or simply execute him, he wished they could hurry. He had never liked staying still. Ever.

Thinking back, he snarled as he remembered why he had even landed in such an accursed place.

"There is a sudden change of plans," Pain had informed them. "We are invading Konoha for the nine-tails host at dawn tomorrow."

Kisame raised his eyebrows at the news, a grin slowly forming on his face. "Well, well, I'm certainly going to enjoy this," he snickered.

Beside him, Kisame noticed that Itachi had stiffened ever so slightly. While the others were oblivious, as Kisame once was, he knew from the long years of working together that his partner was surprised. Or rather, shocked.

"Sasori, Hidan, Kazuku, and most recently, Deidara," Pain continued. "We've lost too many members to Konoha in capturing the nine-tails host. Hence, I have decided that we will attack at our full strength and obtain our target once and for all."

"What! Really?" Tobi had asked stupidly, bouncing around the meeting table and pointing a finger to himself. "But since Deidara-senpai is gone, is Tobi going to act alone?" "Well, Tobi doesn't really mind, 'cause he's a good boy!" he added cheerfully.

Kisame had to stop himself from smacking his own face. "Why didn't this idiot perish with Deidara too?" he grunted.

"Enough," Pain ordered. "Tobi will be partnering with Konan tomorrow to attack from the east." "I myself will be creating a diversion at the North gate while Itachi and Kisame will enter from the west to capture the target. Zetsu will be acting as the coordinator for our attacks," he briefed.

"What's the matter, Itachi-san?" Kisame had asked as they were travelling to their allocated hideout. "Though I don't know what a heartless person like you may be thinking, but from looks, you seem to be worried," he smirked.

"Is that what you think?" Itachi had replied, turning to look at him.

The shift in his sharingan was what Kisame had last remembered.

"Kisame-san?" a voice came through from the barred window.

Kisame tilted his head to see the face of a bespectacled man. A headband of the Sound rested on his forehead. This man had a most unpleasant smile.

"Do I know you?" Kisame growled, unimpressed.

Bowing his head slightly, the man lifted a hand to him, his smile never leaving his face.

"Kisame-san, I have a proposal from Oorochimaru-sama for you."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called out brightly to him. A little too brightly, Sasuke thought.

"Yo, idiot," Naruto grinned.

Sasuke sighed. They had both gathered in front of his house early that morning, banging and yelling at his doorstep as if he were deaf. He knew what they were thinking, and what they had done really wasn't necessary at all. Though he had much wanted to, he knew better than to be late again.

"Tch," Naruto complained as they walked down to the Eastern gate together. "If he weren't the captain, I would feed him one of my giant Rasengan balls at once!" he growled.

As if a thought had suddenly struck him, Naruto stopped walking and stared at Sasuke, frowning. Irritated, Sasuke stopped walking too and stared back.

Sakura had to control the urge to bang both their heads together. "What is wrong with the both of you?" she grumbled, grabbing both their shoulders and shaking them.

Naruto blinked. "Um, it's nothing," he mumbled and continued walking. "I-I was just wondering why Sasuke didn't use that against Itachi yesterday." He mumbled uncertainly.

Sasuke stilled. Kirin?

(The lightning jutsu Sasuke last used against Itachi in the show ^^)

Sakura was appalled. "Naruto! You can't be serious," she chided. "That jutsu kills," she warned.

"I know that!" Naruto exclaimed impatiently. "But I thought that Sasuke would still have done it…" he trailed off slowly.

Conversation abruptly ended then as they neared the gate. Pulling on their masks, all were silent as none knew what to say.

But Naruto's words had struck a chord deep in Sasuke. Why? He repeated curiously to himself. It wasn't like he had forgotten all about that jutsu.

Itachi arrived moments after they did. Like them, a porcelain mask was settled across his face. A white cloak covered his shoulders.

Reaching out, he wordlessly handed them a scroll. Sakura accepted it and untied the string.

Mission classification: A-rank

Mission type: Espionage

Location: Oorochimaru's Lair

Squad dispatched: ANBU rookie squad 3

Sakura's fingers shook ever so slightly.

(end)

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter too! Thank you so much for all the reviews, you guys really motivate me a lot, and hence I was able to upload this chapter much faster than expected :DD And since there's some confusion about the timeline, Sasuke is 16 and Itachi is 21 like in the Shippudden series, except that the fight between both Uchihas never occurred. I will be explaining why Sasuke didn't go to Oorochimaru in the later chapters so please stay tuned ^^ Thank you for reading and drop me a review please :D

BlueGlance