Chapter 29
The wind howled through a dark and winding cave as water dripped from the stalactites on the ceiling. Three figures stood around a mutilated body in deep contemplation. "What do you think Reaper?" Silent Mist asked.
"Hmm...Same as the other four. The lacerations and depth of the strikes suggest it was done by the same perpetrator." Reaper replied indifferently.
"Are you two thinking what I'm thinking." I said to Reaper and Silent Mist. "Mn." They both nodded.
"Most likely, it was done by Sojobo." Reaper replied.
"So, the great ancient Tengu Sojobo decided to kill the other four ancient Tengus? Why would he?" Silent Mist inquired.
"Not sure. He has the greatest bounty on his head so he's definitely the most dangerous of the ancient Tengu. Well, I suppose he's the only ancient Tengu left alive now. Perhaps he was driven mad or perhaps these four offended him somehow? We don't know what the nature of the relationship between these five Tengus were. When we scoped out the area ruled by the Tengu Sojobo there wasn't any traces of him living there for the past five years. Judging from this body he probably died a year or two ago." I theorized.
"There's nothing else we can glean from the body, shall we destroy it like the others?" Reaper asked.
"Mn. I'll get rid of it. We'll head to the new meeting point that Lord Third designated for his agents." I replied.
"Okay, we'll be right outside the cave." Silent Mist and Reaper said. I nodded as they left the cave. I shifted my mask to expose my right Sharingan as it slowly transformed from the standard three tomoe pattern to a dark black swirl with six tomoe in the surroundings. "Mangekyou Sharingan! Amaterasu!" Scorching black flames completely incinerated the dead Tengu's body in a few seconds before disappearing into the void leaving no evidence of any sorts. The Mangekyou returned to that of the standard pattern as I covered my right eye with my mask once more. I took one final sweep making sure nothing was missed before walking out of the cave to join Silent Mist and Reaper.
"Ghost, seems like the situation has changed a bit." Silent Mist said as he handed me a note.
"Oh? Did Lord Third send a special messenger hawk?" I said as I took the note.
"Lord Third has asked us to head to Tenchi Bridge instead of the meeting point to observe. We are to return to the Village afterwards. Apparently when the Kazekage was kidnapped Sakura fought against a member known as Sasori. Sasori ended up telling them that he had a spy by Orochimaru's side and that they were supposed to meetup. Since this was the case Konoha managed to convince the Sand Village not to reveal the truth about Sasori's death until after the meet. Lord Fifth sent Yamato-sensei along with Sakura, Naruto, and a new member called Sai." Silent Mist said.
Eh? I exclaimed in my head. If I recall from my past the meet up was supposed to happen soon after they rescued Gaara. Why is it happening so late this time? Did Sasori change the date to meet Kabuto or was it because the capture of Gaara happened a bit earlier than it did in the past? It's already been a few months after Gaara's capture. So, it indeed seems like the events I know of are slightly changing. After reading the note I nodded my head in acknowledgement of the new order before destroying the message and said, "Alright, let's go. We have four days to get there. We can make it in three if we leave now."
"Mn." Silent Mist and Reaper said as we dashed off towards the Village Hidden in the Grass where the Tenchi Bridge was located.
Fwish Fwish Fwish! For the past couple days three figures dashed through the woods at high speeds when one of them immediately came to a halt.
Thud Thud.
Both Silent Mist and Reaper halted as well atop the trees. "What's wrong Ghost?" Reaper asked.
"You two go on ahead. There's someone I wish to speak to alone. Since I have the chance right now I have to take it. It won't take long." I said unwaveringly. Reaper and Silent Mist looked at each other knowing I wouldn't take no for an answer so they both nodded their heads and dashed off. Over all the years that we've been together and all the dangerous missions we've been through, both Silent Mist and Reaper have gotten much better and handling our separation choosing to believe in me instead of trying to stick to me. I dashed off in the direction where I sensed Itachi's chakra. I was incredibly surprised that I'd meet them randomly like this. It wasn't long before I arrived in front of both him and Kisame.
"Eh? Hoh, aren't you that Anbu that came before us that day in the Leaf? Where's your partner?" Kisame asked curiously. Itachi was also surprised at my arrival. He furrowed his brow as he studied me for a bit and commented, "I'm impressed that you discovered us. Are you going to say that you're surveying the area again."
"No. This time was pure coincidence, however I did happen to want to have a chat with you." I replied.
"Oh?" Itachi responded with surprise. "It just so happens that I wanted to have a chat with you as well. You've peaked my curiosity from our last meeting."
"Then it'd be best if we have this chat in private." I said. Kisame just turned to look at Itachi wondering what he'd decide. After a few moments Itachi said, "Kisame, I'll be back shortly." He then turned into a flock of crows and disappeared. At that moment I also disappeared following the direction Itachi went with my senses.
"Hmpf. Seriously. What the hell." Kisame just said to himself as he sat down by a tree.
In a forest clearing a little ways away a bunch of crows came together before Itachi appeared in their place. I arrived not a moment later. "What did you wish to talk about?" Itachi inquired.
"Sasuke." I replied.
Itachi furrowed his brow once more before saying, "Why are you so interested in talking to me about Sasuke?" He asked.
"I know the truth." I said without beating around the bush. Itachi gave a shocked expression before recomposing himself and responded, "People live their lives bound by what they accept as correct and true… that is how they define reality. But what does it mean to be correct or true? Merely vague concepts… their reality may all be an illusion. The truth you think you know of may only be a mere illusion in reality."
I shook my head as I said, "The truth I know of is the one that actually happened. Do not blame Lord Third for what I know, he's not to blame for how I discovered the truth about you. No one else aside from me and one other person outside the Leaf knows the truth about you Itachi." I replied. He squinted his eyes trying to understand my motives and said, "Then tell me, what do you actually know."
"You can blame Danzo for what I know. I investigated him and discovered many things. He plotted against me and attempted to use me by casting Shisui's Genjutsu on my mind. He failed and I removed Shisui's eye from Danzo." I replied.
"What?!" This time Itachi was greatly shocked at hearing this. He couldn't help but feel his emotions stir, after all, that was the eye of his best friend and it was being abused by Danzo. But did he actually find out the truth about me just because he investigated Danzo? Itachi mentally questioned suspiciously. He probably won't give me a real answer so there's no need to ask about how he truly knows about me. "You mentioned that one other person outside the Leaf knows the truth about me. Who is it?" Itachi probed.
"The one you call Uchiha Madara." I replied. Itachi couldn't help but feel shocked again. How did he even know about Uchiha Madara? This put a rock in his plans. As he was contemplating I continued on, "I understand what you are trying to do. It won't work. I know the truth about you and I told you that you once reminded me of a painful memory I had. You wish for Sasuke to be the one to kill you and return to the Leaf after he has fulfilled his purpose, however, what happens when he finds out the truth about you? It will most likely be Madara who tells him the truth. You loved your brother dearly. Did you not think he loved you just as much? Once he knows the truth he may not return to the Leaf, but instead turn against it. He may resent it for what it commanded you to do. What will you do?"
This time Itachi was seriously in a bind. As he was currently he didn't have the strength to kill Madara. His illness has been getting worse and if he fought Madara he'd probably die before seeing Sasuke again. Seeming to understand the mental battle Itachi was having I said, "Tell him the truth. Show him. Pass on your will to him. Transfer your emotions of what you feel for the Village and how you lived as a shinobi. Show him your ninja way. Give him all the memories and details of your plans for him. Tell him it was Danzo who gave you this order. Show him that crushing the Leaf would only be a dishonor to you and destroy everything that you stood for. If he truly loves you as a brother still, then after seeing all of this and feeling what you felt, he may decide to finally come to terms with his hatred. The only things you can leave him is your will, your love, your acceptance of who he is, your memories, and your power."
Itachi was momentarily stunned. He fought an internal battle with his thoughts before closing his eyes and let out a soft sigh. "This was unexpected. Sasuke is still young. Can he handle such a cruel reality." Itachi whispered.
"That isn't for you to decide. In your last moments you need to show and pass onto him everything. If he learns of this from a third party he'll hate everyone who caused you to suffer because he'll think that the brother he loved so much didn't have a choice. But if you are the one to tell him, he may just come to understand your ninja way and return to Konoha. You shouldn't try to do everything yourself. There is only so much one person can do. Shisui tried to handle the Uchiha's coup d'etat himself but Danzo foiled it. He then decided that it was best to entrust his will onto you, his one and only worthy comrade." I said as I stared on at Itachi.
Itachi gave it some thought before opening his eyes once more as he stared at me. "Perhaps you may be right. Perhaps as his older brother I should no longer try and treat him as a child. May I at least know who you truly are?" Itachi asked as he stared at me intently. I placed my hand on my Anbu mask and as I slowly took it off I said,"I am Karasuma Izaya. One of Sasuke's classmates."
Itachi stared at me for a long while. For once the situation was completely out of his control. He, who was probably the current greatest Genjutsu user in the world alive, who always believed he had things under control was finally defeated. This was no Genjutsu. This was not a world that he could perfectly control. There were too many anomalies and variables that even he could not foresee. He looked straight at my Sharingan for more than a minute before saying, "Are you a member of the Uchiha Clan?"
"No." I replied as I shook my head and put my mask back on.
"I didn't think so." Itachi replied.
"I didn't steal these eyes nor did I kill anyone for them if that's what you're wondering. In essence, when I first became conscious of the world these eyes were already a part of me." I replied without giving a straight answer.
"Orochimaru huh?" Itachi ventured a guess, however I didn't reply. "You said your name was Izaya correct?" He asked rhetorically while I simply nodded. "Mn.
"Why do you involve yourself with my brother?" Itachi asked curiously.
"Because I consider him a friend. A friend who has walked down the path of an avenger. Not of his own choosing, but because he was forced to walk down this path by you. You tried to show him a path to walk. You thought what you were doing was being a loving brother. You tried to do everything and control everything on your own. You can only do so much. Why should Sasuke continue to suffer from walking down this path? I'm involving myself because I know the truth. You suffered on your own. I told you I can understand some of your pain. When I know the truth and feel your pain and suffering, how do you think Sasuke will feel when he learns of the truth from someone else other than you? He'll only continue to walk down the path of an avenger because that is the only path he would know how to walk. Before he travels further down this road of darkness to the point of no return, you should be the one to shed some light on his path." I replied.
Itachi let out a soft sigh. Soon a flock of crows appeared in the space between us as one of the crows perched on my shoulders. "You remind of Shisui. The mark of a true shinobi is that they do not seek in glory. They protect from the shadows. Shisui taught me that. You remind me of him a bit. Take his Sharingan from that crows eye. I won't have need for it anymore. I've witnessed Naruto's strong will to save Sasuke. And I've now seen that you are also a splendid shinobi. After I have my battle with Sasuke, I will reveal to him the truth. Whatever happens after that, I can rest easy knowing shinobi like you and Naruto are around Sasuke. Since you've successfully freed Shisui's power from being abused by Danzo, I shall entrust his remaining eye to you as well...Thank you. For freeing Shisui from Danzo's control."
"Take this." I said as I threw a special kunai to Itachi.
"Hm?" He looked down at the kunai as he waited for my explanation.
"That is a special kunai of mine that is marked with my Flying Thunder God Seal. I'll keep your body safe after your fight with Sasuke. This will prevent that Madara person from using your body to hold leverage over Sasuke."
Itachi smirked before a bunch of crows obscured my vision. When they disappeared Itachi was also gone. The only thing left was the crow perched on my shoulders with Shisui's Sharingan. I stood silently for a moment before using my Anbu medical ninjutsu and removed Shisui's eye from the crow, placing it in a special liquid container and storing it away. That went better than expected I thought silently. He even decided to give me Shisui's eye. I raised my hand in the seal of confrontation activating the Flying Thunder God and appeared next to Silent Mist and Reaper in the next moment.