Chapter 26
They were near Zabuza’s last known location, which made them all a little more weary, but Naruto was still the first one to pick up on the silence. “Hey, where did all the animals go?” Normally the sounds from far away got muffled when going through an area at shinobu speed, but they still spooked some birds when jumping on nearby branches.
“It’s been too quiet for a while now.” Shisui commented mildly. “Good catch, we might make it to Iron Country earlier than expected.”
“Hmm,” Sasuke assumed the sound was Itachi’s confirmation that something was off, though he didn’t notice anything wrong.
“Sasuke, see if you can sense it,” Shisui probably already knew what was up and wasn’t about to pass up a learning opportunity. Somehow, between the two jounin in the group he had been the one taking the teaching part of the mission to the extreme and Sasuke could hardly complain when he felt like he was improving so much faster than back home.
Sasuke resisted the urge to close his eyes as he spread his awareness around him. Still, there was nothing and he looked questioningly at his older brother after the failed attempt. Shisui grinned and Itachi sighed.
While he may have sighed, he gave Sasuke a hint. “Try looking for something missing instead of wrong.”
Sasuke scrunched his nose at the vague directions but tried again, spreading his awareness out but this time not focusing on any spot. It took a few minutes to find what he was looking for but when he did, it was obvious. “About 100 feet to our right.” He announced to the others as he saw Naruto almost trip because he closed his eyes in concentration.
“Good job.” Shisui praised and they allowed themselves to be stalked until Naruto felt it as well.
“Why does it feel like this?” Sasuke asked while he could. The chakra was off in the area their company was located in. He couldn't tell anything about the area. It was like a void disrupting the natural flow of chakra.
“Sometimes it's easier to hide this way. It has its own unique advantages. One, we don't know if it's the target or not since we can't make out their chakra type. Two, it could hide multiple people for an ambush.”
“Doubt it's the second if we're dealing with Zabuza. He usually works alone.” Shisui mused. “Then again, we are not exactly hiding ourselves.”
“Why don't we hide ourselves like he's doing?” Naruto asked.
“There's no point in trying to hide.” Itachi's response left some information to be desired so Sasuke looked to Shisui again.
“There are a few cons to this technique, it takes a bit of chakra to maintain privacy and requires a lot of focus to properly sneak up on someone trained. Some villages also take it as a sign of aggression and will attack first and ask questions later.” Shisui’s tone was cheerful but he spoke lower and lower as the group felt the void start to move closer to them. “I think we’ll have to save any other questions for later.” Itachi gave a signal for them to stop and took out a kunai.
Sasuke held his breath as he zeroed in on the abnormal movement. Maybe too focused, he yelped in surprise as Itachi roughly shoved him to the side. The void was suddenly gone and Sasuke could finally sense two distinct chakras. One was further away but a smaller one had snuck up behind the group and peppered them with senbon. There were several sticking up out of the ground where Sasuke was just standing.
“Sasuke!” Naruto’s words cut through the panic and Sasuke activated his sharingan, frantically scanning his surroundings. Enough seconds to check that there were no more follow up surprise attacks before his focus was drawn back to the other chakra signature.
There was a tall man wrapped in bandages with a sword that was larger than his body slung over his shoulder like it was nothing. He was glaring at Itachi, although Shisui’s was probably just as nasty even if he was covering their rear. The two teens had positioned themselves so Naruto and Sasuke were sandwiched between them.
The tense stare off only lasted a breath longer before Itachi broke it. “Sasuke, Naruto, are you two alright?” His sharingan never left the tall man.
Sasuke did a quick once over on the two of them and found his voice. “Yeah, we're fine.” He saw Itachi's shoulders relax a fraction before he spoke to the man.
“You're Zabuza.” Not a question, just a statement of fact.
“Plus one friend,” Shisui added as he stared intently at the treeline.
“Well, I didn’t know how popular I'd gotten as of late. That does beg the question,” Zabuza sounded like he was in complete control and shifted his sword into an attack position. “Why are the notorious Uchiha criminals tracking me?”
“We are not criminals!” Sasuke said hotly, looking around his brother to make eye contact. “You are!”
Itachi glared harder as the other man started to laugh. “I am a criminal but only because my village made me one.”
“Didn’t you kill your entire class to advance?” Shisui tensed and Sasuke could tell that this standstill was coming to an end.
“Maybe, but that was just following orders. You know how it is.” The gleam in his eyes turned more predatory. “I didn’t get labeled a criminal for that anyway. I became a missing nin when I attacked the man that gave that order.”
“Wha….” Before Sasuke could ask, all three high level shinobi blurred. Even with Sasuke’s sharingan, he had no hope of keeping up.
“Sasuke, Naruto! Get to cover.” Itachi’s voice was barely audible through the clanking of blades. Shisui had disappeared in the trees fighting the unseen assailant. Naruto and Sasuke hid their chakra and hid near the base of a tree. The treetops were good for a quick getaway but the base was a better shield.
“What’s happening?” Naruto’s voice was shrill as he tugged on Sasuke’s sleeve. Sasuke didn’t realize until this point that while he could make out where the two collided, Naruto couldn’t. “Itachi’s fighting that guy with the big sword. I don’t see Shisui.” Sasuke couldn’t even sense their chakra with all the masking.
“Something’s wrong,” Sasuke frowned. Itachi was blocking every one of Zabuza’s blows but he wasn’t attacking. He also wasn’t using any jutsu.
“What?” Naruto squinted his eyes like he might see the fight if he willed it strongly enough.
“Itachi’s on the defensive. He’s not even trying to put Zabuza in a genjutsu.” Sasuke explained and the two had to vacate their current hiding spot when Zabuza’s sword sliced up their current tree. Sasuke barely had time to pull Naruto and himself out of danger.
“I guess the great Uchiha really aren’t that special without an entire village to back them up,” Sasuke heard Zabuza taunt Itachi. Sasuke wished he was strong enough to help his brother fight this lunatic instead of hiding like a child. Itachi didn’t rise to the bait at all and continued to accept every blow the mad man rained upon him.
Sasuke felt his fingers bleed from clenching his fist as he witnessed another close call. Suddenly he heard Shisui’s voice in the clearing. “NOW!” Apparently the signal was enough for Itachi because he struck out lightning fast and disarmed Zabuza. Before the man could curse, Itachi had trapped him in a genjutsu.
“Itachi!” “Zabuza!” Sasuke heard an equally shrill voice yell out at the same time as him. He turned around to see Shisui carrying a bound kid to the clearing. Itachi had not taken his eyes off Zabuza so Shisui started walking towards Itachi with a squirming bundle on his shoulder.
He gently set the child at Itachi’s feet with a warning glare and started tying up Zabuza to match. Sasuke figured it was as safe as it could get and started dragging Naruto towards them as well.
“Why did ya wait so long to kick his butt?” Naruto blurted out as soon as they were in range. The younger assailant's face turned red at the language and Sasuke almost wanted to laugh at him. The only reason he didn’t is because he was only half sure what was going to happen to the two of them.
“I was waiting for Shisui to capture the second assailant. It wouldn’t do for me to be attacked while I was spinning the illusion.” Sasuke almost face palmed at the obvious response. He thought he was doing well in his studies but forgot how much focus it takes to cast a genjutsu strong enough to affect a jounin. It was Itachi’s fault Sasuke got so worried in the first place. If he wasn’t so good at genjutsu, Sasuke wouldn’t have forgotten.
It was at this point Itachi released his hold on Zabuza. The man looked frantic until his eyes found the other boy. His face flashed with some emotion Sasuke couldn’t name before he went back to the controlled tone he used at the beginning of the fight.
“Guess you boys can fight, after all.” He sounded almost amused about his situation. “So what’s the plan? Interrogate and then assassinate? Isn’t that the routine? I’ll tell you now you won’t get much out of me. I didn’t get close enough to kill the kage so you can’t use my plan and expect to succeed.”
He sure does like the sound of his own voice. Sasuke thought to himself. Itachi’s facial expression didn’t change throughout the encounter. “Who’s the kid?” He asked Zabuza, interrupting whatever the man was saying about his own death.
The boy in question opened his mouth before Zabuza silenced him with a sharp glare. “He’s nobody. Just a brat I kidnapped and threatened into helping me stay hidden. With how great I am, I could never hold the concealment jutsu by myself.”
“Itachi,” Shisui sounded confused when he said the other boy’s name. “The boy used a kekkei genkai to fight me.”
“As if!” Zabuzu snarled. “Just kill me and collect your precious bounty. Take Haku to whatever village is looking for him.” Sasuke noticed the inclusion of a name this time.
“Please, stop.” Haku pleaded. “I went with Zabuza of my own free will. He didn’t do anything wrong.” He looked close to tears.
Itachi and Shisui had a silent conversation. Sasuke knew enough about both of them to know Shisui wanted to do something stupid. Itachi fought hard before giving in with a sigh. “What exactly did he not do,” he directed this question to Haku.
“He has killed a lot of people but he never goes after people that don’t deserve it. Sometimes he says he forgot the reward but I know he doesn’t. We’re only trying to survive. Can’t you let him go?” Haku was begging. “I have a strong kekkei genkai. You can…” He took a breath. “You can take me and let Zabuza go. I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Don’t beg, it’s pathetic and won’t change anything.” Zabuzu sounded cold.
“Do you think yourself as innocent of your crimes as this boy does?” Itachi was starting to look more resigned.
“Not one bit. I killed my classmates because I was told to by the kage and they were weaklings anyway,” He justified. “I tried to kill him since even the best tools become dull under a bad master and failed. Now, all I can do is survive in this world I couldn’t change.” Zabuza’s words lost their sharp edges and he looked away. “Just kill me. I don’t deserve to ask this of you, but could you take him to the land of fire after I’m gone. He would have a better chance there.”
“Fine,” Itachi said and drew his sword.
“Wai….” Sasuke tried to stop the execution. He had never seen his brother kill someone outside the heat of battle and the very thought of it was revolting. He knew Zabuza had probably done worse but nobody deserved to be slaughtered without being able to tell their full story. His words were wasted though because the blade came down faster than Sasuke’s voice could be heard.
Instead of blades on skin. Sasuke, Naruto, and Zabuza stared dumbly at the ropes that Shisui had just tied and Itachi sliced in half. Haku had practically teleported himself across the space between them and slotted himself in Zabuza’s lap. Zabuza recovered from the shock first. “I didn’t know all it took was a few sappy words to make you back down. Should I have started with the speech?”
He said that but cautiously wrapped his arms around his charge. “Nah, nothing so heartwarming.” Shisui commented. “I just remembered that we could use some more shinobi to run missions back home and it seems to me like you need a place to crash. Although, I don’t think anyone would take too kindly to you trying to kill anyone outside of missions.”
“I won’t follow orders I don’t want to.” A warning.
“We wouldn’t ask you to do anything you don’t want to. Haven’t you heard, you're allowed to say no without being branded a traitor. It’s pretty nice.”There it was, Shisui had his sales pitch down to perfection and was writing down a note as he spoke. “I’ll send a notice ahead and you guys can check it out, see if it fits.”
Zabuza was looking at the scroll held out in front of him like it was a snake. “How do I know you're not lying?”
“You don’t” Itachi entered the conversation again. “But why would I free you when I could have easily killed you and claimed the bounty.”
“It’s the best option we've had in a while.” Haku looked at Zabuza and waited. He hadn’t looked at the rest of the group once he realized they wouldn’t kill him.
“Alright.” He swiped the scroll and tucked it into his pocket. “Where is this mighty village you speak of?”
“Just down that way, ask about Uzushio. You’ll find it in no time.” Shisui instructed. “Guess we gotta head out now.” He pulled Itachi’s shoulder and the other boy allowed himself to be manhandled back to the original route. It took Sasuke and Naruto a moment to realize they were leaving them behind.
“Hey, wait for us.” Naruto yelled and grabbed Sasuke in a similar fashion as his brother. “I hope they decide to stay,” Naruto started the conversation when they could no longer sense the other two. “They both looked so hopeful.”
“Zabuza looked mean and sarcastic to me.” Sasuke commented and Naruto clicked his tongue in a way their teacher did when giving riddles.
“Just because he was acting that way doesn’t mean that’s how he really felt,” Naruto explained.
“The only reason we let him go was because he was willing to die to protect that boy. It takes a lot to inspire that kind of loyalty. A true monster couldn’t have pulled that off. That and the comment he made.” Shisui added in his own opinion.
“Yeah, that’s messed up.” Naruto agreed and Sasuke nodded along. “Who would order a kid to kill someone? Whoever did that deserves to be punished. What kind of person even gives that kind of rotten order anyway?” Itachi flinched slightly at the unintended jab and Shisui put his hand on his cousin’s shoulder in comfort.
“Anyway, now that we aren’t hunting. I guess we have to head into the next city.” Shisui’s casual tone was back to normal. Naruto just groaned at the reminder of how much further they would have to run today.