“Sasuke, are you sleeping?”

Sasuke, without opening his eyes, winced painfully.

“It’s already six in the morning, Sasuke.”

He seemed to be lying on something hard and cold. And he also felt as if he was covered with an impenetrable dome, through which someone’s annoying and relatively familiar voice was heard persistently.

“Get up, we dropped everything there. We dropped everything at all, Sasuke, honestly.”

Sasuke lifted his eyelids slightly. Three whiskered muzzles appeared before his eyes, blurring every now and then.

“What... did you drop there?..” he asked mechanically and, gritting his teeth from the pain, somehow sat down. His head was splitting as if it had been pounding for hours with a jackhammer.

A cat’s laughter unpleasantly rolled right over his ear.

“Ha-ha, I told you he wasn’t dead!” Denka rubbed his front paws together contentedly. “And you didn’t believe me, almost wanted to hold a funeral service…”

“You just don’t know how much it costs! All money from the single funeral service would be enough to rebuild the entire Western-nya Tower!

The pain seemed to be concentrated in his nape only. Sasuke morbidly put his palm on it.

“But for now, you owe me five pieces of u-meow-ugi, as agreed!” Denka was triumphant.

The cat-novice sulked resentfully, fluffing the fur on the back of his neck.

“That’s unfair, you charlatan-nya!”

The six-pawed Kannon, towering ahead, still affably smiled at him. Sasuke looked at her as if being absent. He apparently hit his head when he fell unconscious in front of the statue. How long had he been passing out? Had it been some more time, and - the novice of the temple would have already buried him…

Hina approached him from the side with caution and touched his elbow sympathetically.

“Sasuke, while you were sleeping, I... I saw a shimmer,” she meowed anxiously, pointing with her nose towards the shirt under the collar of his hood. Sasuke unconsciously moved his fingers on his chest. The skin in this place stung, as after a burn, and a disgusting sensation pulsed throughout the body. Sasuke unhooked his raincoat, opening the edges of his shirt - there was not a trace visible under it; just the pinkish stripes that swelled in a semicircle over the upper part of his ribs, resembling a magical tattoo in the form of a protective necklace.

“This... reminded me of a restraining seal…” Hina continued meanwhile and suddenly looked up at Sasuke. “Did you see anything?”

This question right away threw cold water over him.

Sasuke frowned. Thoughtfully, he wrapped up his cloak and looked at his palms. Once again, he rewound in his memory everything that was experienced by him during the vision.

There was a two-tailed beast in him. He had only six months left to take revenge. And the hatred inside was enough.

Instead of answering, Sasuke hurriedly got up and walked to the exit of the hall; the cats looked after him uncomprehendingly, but there was no time to worry about them now.

Right, he did see something. And now he knew for sure: what he did see would set the direction of his path for the near foreseeable future.

***

Dawn was inexorably approaching. They had already spent enough time negotiating, so now, every minute was precious. Itachi silently followed to the entrance of the main cave and, before reaching it, froze in the shadow of the overhanging wall.

The voices of Hidan and Kakuzu could be clearly heard from here.

“Kakuzu, damn you! Darn it carefully! I’m not a fucking carcass in a slaughterhouse.”

“Stop yelling. I’m almost done.”

Itachi pricked up his ears. Apparently, there was no one in the cave, except for these two. He also couldn’t sense the presence of Kisame. Not very good.

“Fuck! I said you to be careful!”

“You’d better enjoy the pain as long as you can.”

“Ouch! What a shit…”

“Done. You are free now.” A loud bang followed, after which the cave hall immediately resounded with an angry howl of Hidan.

“I just hate you, Kakuzu! Jashin will be so glad when I kill you!..”

“Only if I don’t kill you first.”

Itachi waited. When they grappled, it would only serve him.

The cave behind him was quiet.

“What’s up?” Hidan’s voice broke the short silence.

“Just imagination…” muttered Kakuzu in response, and Itachi involuntarily held his breath.

It seemed to him that he was listening.

However, the hoarse “treasurer”’s rumbling reached his ears again after a while.

“Weren’t you going to jinchuuriki’s? Hurry up then, it will be dawn soon.”

“Have you forgotten, you idiot?” Hidan screamed. “I don’t deal with those I sacrifice! It’s sacrilege, and Jashin doesn’t like that. I only said it to annoy Kisame. So he’d rather not fucking hanker for our booty!”

That is, Kisame really wasn’t in the cave. Hidan continued pontificating.

“Anyway, I’m going to the city now. In about one ri from here, on the outskirts - do you remember when we were passing by? - there was a disorderly house. Gonna have some fucking fun!”

“Are you crazy or something? It’s just a waste of money. Besides, Pain should call us up soon.”

“I don’t give a damn about Pain! Immortal life is too short for this shit.” There was a shuffling and the sounds of approaching footsteps behind the wall. “Kakuzu, tell this damn leader I will try my curse on him again soon!..”

“What a jerk…”

Itachi hid in the hope that Hidan would just pass by and there would be no need to explain anything to him. However, he apparently did not even feel an extraneous chakra: patched up by his partner, he now had a much fresher and more cheerful appearance and stomped along the corridor in the idle carelessness of a man who was anticipating an imminent carouse.

“Ha, let the massacre begin!” he squealed as he walked along, not even noticing Itachi at the wall under the arch.

The latter exhaled with relief. The circumstances seemed to have been successful so far.

After waiting until Hidan disappeared around the corner, Itachi stepped out of the shadows into the semi-darkness of the main cave.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“Hey, Kakuzu.”

Kakuzu was folding surgical instruments, sitting on a bench at one of the tables. When Itachi came in, he expectedly reared up, as if one needed to borrow money from him.

“Ah, Uchiha. What do you want?”

“I did as you said,” Itachi stopped in front of him at a respectful distance. “Jinchuuriki is in chains.”

“You’ve been messing around with it too long,” Kakuzu squinted, and in his eyes, which caught the greenish reflections of fluorites, a faint suspicion flashed.

“I put a clone to watch her and then went to check if everything was ready for the ritual.”

The lie had an effect - Kakuzu’s stern face somewhat softened.

“Good. There is at least one in this rabble who hasn’t their brains beating out.” Itachi thought that now he would return to the instruments, but instead Kakuzu continued to scan him warily with his gaze.

“Why are you there? After all, not only to report.”

“Not really. You mentioned about the treatment today…”

Kakuzu shook his head.

“And you said you were fine. So, do you want to try it?”

“Maybe once.”

“And what’s your complaint?”

He looked down on Itachi and seemed to be silently grinning. He clearly had been having a malicious plan against Uchiha for a long time, but today, he decided to play it to his advantage.

“My eyes hurt.”

“Eyes?” Kakuzu took a deep breath. Due to the fact that he spoke as if under his breath, one had to strain their ears diligently to make out the words. “Sharingan user must make sacrifices. I don’t think I can do anything to help here.”

Itachi paused in concentration. It was too early to give up yet. He could still use what they called a treasured family sword.

“Before making conclusions, you’d better see for yourself first.”

Hearing this, Kakuzu even turned around on the bench.

“Don’t take me for a fool,” he advised sententiously. “There should be others who play genjutsu with you.”

Itachi felt a slight touch of annoyance. Kakuzu was older than him and was considered one of the most experienced in the organization; it was given as a rule that one should watch out while dealing with Kakuzu, but even someone like him could be tricked in the simplest way, if only his weak points were known.

Fortunately, Itachi had worked in Akatsuki enough for this.

“I don’t want to play genjutsu. I have money, I’m even willing to pay.”

Kakuzu’s eyes lit up right away with a genuine interest. Rising from the table, he took a step towards Itachi.

“Pay? How much?”

“A lot.”

“No, that won’t work. Show me first, and then we’ll talk.”

Itachi rummaged in his pockets, then pretended to have found something, and held out his fist to Kakuzu. He loomed over it, greedily devouring it with his eyes, as if he expected to see one of the Treasured Tools.

Itachi unclenched his fingers. There was a ring with the symbol of vermilion laying on his hand.

“This is…” Kakuzu only could draw back, but a single glance was enough for him to stop dead in the next moment. The trick worked perfectly.

When ninjas talked about genjutsu, they often thought only of sharingan. However, for some reason no one ever remembered the ring. It was a pity he didn’t come up with the idea of using it earlier.

Itachi put the ring on his finger and in the illusion ordered Kakuzu to follow him. It was necessary to act without delay. Unfortunately, he had been here too long already - and still managed to deal only in a minute-fifteen. But once upon a time, Itachi would have kept within thirty seconds, although even then conceded to Shisui's skill; it was the disease which forced him to lose ground.

However, he should start the conversation with money the next time. If the opportunity of this next time, of course, would be present. Itachi had rarely crossed paths with Kakuzu in the service before.

Together they reached the exit of the main cave. Here, Itachi again stayed for a while to read the lay of the land. But where, finally, was Kisame? Would he really have gone to sleep as Itachi told him? Very strange.

Anyways, everything turned out to be clear outside, and Itachi returned to the grotto where jinchuuriki was left.

While he was absent, the clone rekindled the flames in the fire. As soon as Itachi came out into the light, the jinchuuriki on the floor hissed wildly and tried to crawl away to the wall in panic.

Itachi hastily dispelled the clone and approached.

“Gently, gently, he’s in a trance,” he pointed at Kakuzu over his shoulder. “For now, he thinks he treats my eyes, so try not to give yourself up.”

Jinchuuriki, who had been taken by an animal fear a moment ago, nodded cautiously and slowly calmed down. Itachi noticed that as long as he wasn’t there, she had got herself into relative order, so far the situation allowed it. Her disheveled blond hair was now braided at the back of her head and tied with a training tape, dried blood had been washed off her face and hands. Even the wound tracks visible from under the clothes looked a little neater now.

Itachi brought Kakuzu closer to the girl and, putting him on his knees, commanded him to sew up the wounds in the same way as when he helped Hidan. Itachi didn’t know for sure if Kakuzu knew how to use medical techniques, but if that was the case, in genjutsu he was ordered to use them as well.

Jinchuuriki, who was being stitched up alive, humbly waited for Kakuzu to finish, and, unlike Hidan, did not even make a sound when he passed the needle too roughly.

Leaving Kakuzu to work, Itachi prudently looked out into the corridor.

The silence was diluted only by the sounds of water dripping from the arches. There were no traces of Zetsu yet, but Itachi was most worried that he still did not feel Kisame nearby. He couldn’t just disappear like dew in the morning.

It was important to stay on guard.

Kakuzu in his subconsciousness informed him that he was done. Itachi dived into the cave again. Jinchuuriki was already on her feet and was flexing her muscles that were stiff from immobility. If there weren’t any bloodstains on her clothes, one would think that it wasn’t her at all who was dragged half-dead by zombie-brothers a day ago.

Kakuzu himself stood right there and, swaying limply like a living corpse, stared at one point with detachment. Itachi came closer to him and clamped off the carotid artery on his neck with two fingers. Kakuzu sagged with a bang and stretched out on the floor as the scale of the grotto made it possible.

The illusion was easier to control when the victim was unconscious.

“Genjutsu doesn’t last long,” Itachi warned. “We have to leave the cave as soon as possible so that we won’t be noticed.”

But first…

Itachi squatted down next to Kakuzu. Under conditions of working in Akatsuki, it was always difficult to predict what would be exactly needed in the near future. Equipment, ammunition, rations - all this was constantly lacking, any single thing could be necessary, and therefore it made sense to catch every moment to replenish supplies.

Fortunately, Kakuzu had a lot of useful stuff in his pockets.

Carrying the military rations pills to his bag, Itachi heard a mocking voice above his ear.

“A model ninja Uchiha Itachi from the Village of Leaf,” jinchuuriki stretched out, standing next to him with her arms folded under her chest. “Or should I say, rather a model criminal? He hasn’t even managed to escape yet, but he’s already picking the pockets of yesterday’s comrades.”

Itachi calmly continued the search. It seemed to him that the speech of this girl began to sound a little more melodious and no longer resembled the roar of a wounded animal.

“What does it matter whether he is my comrade or not? In this world, every day is like the last for us, and we need to use every chance to survive and to see the next one,” he glanced at jinchuuriki, but she was silent, apparently not daring to blame him for his lack of honour anymore. “Later, you gonna regret that you got a criminal.”

Perhaps he wouldn’t have had to do this if anyone except for Kakuzu had been in his place.

Having finished with the pockets, Itachi turned out the lining of the cloak. He knew about its existence only because he himself wore the same one, and assumed that it was the place in which Kakuzu would keep his most precious possessions.

And his thought was not wrong: there was a treasure waiting for them inside the lining. Money, a lot of money. Or more correctly, a lot according to the standards of ordinary missing-nins. For Kakuzu, it was probably nothing. When Itachi shook all money out of his cloak, he realized to his surprise that they wouldn’t even fit in his pockets.

Therefore, he had to give something to jinchuuriki as well. She didn’t seem to mind; she also got a few makibishi and chilli pepper bombs.

Itachi looked over his acquisitions. Kunais, a shank, two packs of pills, a poisonous smoke bomb, fifteen shurikens and a pair of explosive tags. This should be enough for the beginning. It was unknown how long the road waiting for them ahead was, and whether they would get off it before reaching their final goal.

Itachi got to his feet and dusted his cloak down. Time of genjutsu was running out. They had to move in.

Raising his head, he wanted to tell jinchuuriki about it, but stopped - she was standing right in front of him and openly stretched out her hand with a deep scar under a torn glove.

“Yugito Nii. Jonin of the Cloud Village and jinchuuriki of the Two-Tailed One,” the girl introduced herself and even smiled with the corner of her thin lips. “I hope for fruitful cooperation.”

Right. Nii Yugito, that was her name.

Itachi shifted his gaze to her hand, and a short hesitation surged up at the bottom of his soul. He remembered how he worked with shinobi - ordinary shinobi, one of whom he himself had once been - and they greeted him with exactly the same gesture before new joint duty missions.

Itachi shook his head, pushing the unwanted memories away. Then, he took Yugito’s hand aside, accidentally catching his eye on the bluish beads wrapped around her forearm.

“It’s not much time left. We’ll be nice later.”

He still couldn’t trust her.

She looked a little perplexed, but her face did not show a single bit of confusion. Itachi noticed how the girl’s hands quickly formed the seals, after which the jinchuuriki split in two. Her clone, who had grown up from a regiment of squeaking mice, obediently moved to the wall where the original had been chained before, and prepared to wait.

A classic deceptive tactic of setback. Anyone in Akatsuki was able to notice the loss quickly, but the clone’s false chakra could delay the time of detection, so critically needed now for both of them. Itachi respectfully thought that one might do jinchuuriki justice; remembering the necessity of decoy, she vindicated her high rank. Although he would say from his point of view her way of distracting the enemy’s attention was too primitive.

“Then let's go,” jumping over the lying Kakuzu, Yugito headed for the exit of the grotto. “Try to keep up, boy.”