The night sky over the Hidden Sand Village was quiet. Most of the villagers were asleep, unaware of the danger approaching. In the distance, two figures walked slowly toward the village. One wore a black cloak with red clouds and a mask with a swirl pattern over his face. The other had long black hair and cold, red eyes. It was Tobi and Itachi Uchiha.
It took them some time to reach the Land of Wind after Pain gave them the orders to act. Itachi especially didn't like this particular company much. Kisame was better. For some reason, the masked man was acting like an idiot.
Tobi looked toward the village. "Let's keep this quick," he said.
Itachi glanced at his new partner. After annoying him throughout the journey, now he showed a little bit of serious attitude. Itachi didn't say anything though; he just nodded without a word.
But just as they were about to move in, three shinobi landed in front of them. It was Kakashi, Sasuke, and Jugo.
Itachi's eyes locked onto Sasuke. He wasn't expecting him to be here of all places, but as he thought about it, it started to make sense. If whatever organization Sasuke was working for was after Akatsuki, it did make sense that Sasuke would be guarding one of the Jinchuriki as well. Tobi stopped walking.
"Been a while." Sasuke was the first one to speak, and he said this while looking at Itachi. Itachi, on the other hand, wasn't even expecting this kind of response from his brother. More like immediately going for his head or something. Not this calm or collected.
"So," Tobi said, "you were expecting us."
"More or less," Kakashi answered, his eyes focused on the masked man. "We knew Gaara might be next. And we knew you, thanks to a certain lazy Nara, that you might be the ones coming." Kakashi said that last part while looking at Itachi.
Yes, it was Shika who told this to Sasuke. Since the brat wasn't moving from his place, he could at least warn him. After all, there were not many Jinchuriki left to capture at this point. Not until the point they completely invade a Hidden Village like Pain did to Konoha.
"So it was Konoha after all."
Sasuke stepped forward. His Sharingan glowed. "Itachi… I've waited a long time for this."
Itachi stared at him. "Sasuke… so, you've grown."
"I'm not here to talk about the past," Sasuke said coldly. "But I will ask you one thing… why?"
Itachi didn't answer.
Meanwhile, Kakashi looked at Tobi. "Let the siblings have their moment. Let's talk among ourselves, shall we." Kakashi still didn't know about Tobi's real identity, but Sasuke gave him enough hints to know that this shinobi was someone he would like to take on by himself.
Tobi tilted his head. "Me? What does the famous Copy Ninja of the Leaf wish to talk with poor little Tobi about?"
Sasuke quickly gave orders. "Jugo, go with Kakashi. This guy is more dangerous than he looks. You remember what Shika told us, right?"
Jugo nodded. "I know."
Tobi raised an eyebrow. He didn't say anything, but he had a bad feeling.
Sasuke didn't respond. He just turned toward Itachi. Kakashi, at this point, was a little concerned since Itachi was a dangerous man to fight alone. However, he believed that Sasuke could handle him.
For some reason, he felt that this Sasuke was different. Calm and much more mature.
Jugo and Kakashi rushed at Tobi. Kakashi activated his Sharingan and aimed a lightning-fast strike, while Jugo grew sharp blades from his arms. Tobi smiled behind his mask and vanished for a second—completely intangible.
"Just like Shika said," Jugo muttered. "You can't hit him when he does that."
"We just need to keep him busy, keep switching attacks. Don't let him rest." Jugo pointed out to Kakashi, to which Kakashi for the umpteenth time wondered where they were getting this info. Obito was the same.
His spatial powers were not that secret; he flaunted them around enough to spread them. But the time limit on that power—that had him concerned. What else did they know about him?
Tobi danced between their strikes, vanishing and reappearing, but Jugo and Kakashi kept the pressure up.
Meanwhile, Sasuke and Itachi stood still.
"Are you still so weak that you can't even fight back, just looking at me from...," Itachi was saying, but Sasuke cut him off midway.
"Enough..." Sasuke replied. "I want the truth. Why did you do it? Why kill our clan?"
"For power, Sasuke. By now you should have known that our bloodline has a long connection to hatred," Itachi's voice was calm.
"That ain't true, and we both know it," Sasuke snapped. "I know why Dango and the upper management forced you. But that can't be the only reason. Tell me, why did you do it?"
Itachi's expression didn't change. But there was a little hint of stiffness on his face.
"WHY?" shouted Sasuke, not planning on fighting, just asking difficult questions. Just like his older self told him.
"For the Village." Itachi, after a long silence, finally spoke.
Sasuke's hands clenched. "Was the village worth our entire clan?"
Itachi didn't say anything at that.
"Come back."
"What?!" Itachi thought he heard wrong there.
"Come back to the village. We'll find a way to reinstate you as a Shinobi of the Leaf."
"That's not possible." Itachi shook his head. He felt like all his plans were falling apart. Sasuke wasn't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to be angry and try to kill him. Not this...
So he could only do one thing—start the fight first.
Chakra spiked. In a flash, he moved, and so did Sasuke as they clashed. Kunai met kunai. Fire jutsu lit up the night. Sasuke moved fast, his Sharingan tracking every movement. But Itachi was still faster, more precise.
"You've improved," Itachi admitted.
Sasuke growled. "I'm not here to fight you," Sasuke said while going for a kick.
Itachi dodged with ease. "You must."
"Shika was right, you're a self-entitled bastard who needs his ass kicked," Sasuke grumbled.
Behind Itachi, an explosive tag hidden in the flames went off. Itachi disappeared in smoke—a clone.
Sasuke turned just in time to block a real kunai strike. Itachi appeared from the shadows.
"That Nara, he's the reason you're like this," Itachi said. "Stop listening to him. He's no Uchiha. Hatred is what makes you stronger."
"I don't need your lessons," Sasuke hissed. "I already got one from myself, of all people."
They continued their fast, deadly exchange. Sparks flew with every clash. Sasuke knew he wasn't winning, but he also wasn't losing.
Back near the village, Kakashi and Jugo kept fighting Tobi. Jugo fired a beam of chakra, while Kakashi used lightning clone tricks. Tobi phased through, but it was harder now—he was being forced to use his ability constantly.
"This guy's annoying," Tobi muttered. "We're wasting time."
He looked toward Itachi and Sasuke. The fight was going nowhere fast.
Tobi frowned. "The target is the One-Tail. We're wasting time."
Kakashi heard him. "Giving up already?"
xxx
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