Enigma - An Uchiha Itachi Fanfic

6 - Puzzled

Itachi pov:

My eyes were fixated on Asumi san who walked ahead of me but next to Kisame. The two of them were engrossed in lighthearted chatting, something about a mission Kisame had had to take up and how he had been successful in it despite all the odds. Asumi san was enthusiastic as she listened, expressing awe at something unexpected that Kisame mentioned, which had him showing pride for impressing Asumi san.

From the very first moment I had laid my eyes on her, I knew that she was not a criminal. She was not one who belonged to or fit into the Akatsuki. She was a little like me, pretending to be something she was not while protecting the people she cared for. No, it was wrong to compare her to me even in the slightest. There was an aura of gentleness and purity around her that was the striking opposite of me who was tainted in blood and darkness. Surely she had not killed even half the number of people I had slaughtered, and surely she hadn't hurt anyone of her family. It was unbelievable that she would use a horrendous forbidden jutsu to kill the ANBU of Konoha when she had pretended to desert her home, though there had been witnesses to prove the rumors true. 

She had been in the Akatsuki for more than three months now, and had gone on various missions with different teams. She had gone on more bounty hunts than anything else, but was just as efficient on any other mission she had been assigned to see through. From how the other members spoke of her, including Kisame, it was obvious that she was friendly and got along well with them, well enough to make even someone like Hidan look forward to having her company.

But what made it almost obvious that she was not a criminal and did not like to harm or kill anyone was her silly reason of being lazy to deal with opponents. I had heard that she often left the fighting to the other members, though did participate only when absolutely necessary.

I speculated that she was either trying to protect Konoha from the outside like me or she was here to gather information on the Akatsuki that she could pass on to Konoha so they could prepare as required to deal with all the members. She was doing a good job of hiding her true intentions, and her cause was both noble and admirable, but there was no saying how long she would be successful in keeping up her disguise.

On the first mission she had joined us, I had warned her, telling her to leave the Akatsuki before she made a slip up and lost her life. She had been rather fierce when she had responded, challenging me to deal with her if I thought that she was suspicious in any way. It was courage to admire, and her confidence and show of mental and physical strength was impressive. They were traits that anyone of the Akatsuki necessarily had to have to survive amongst rogues and danger of all forms. Asumi san was powerful, surely, for she possessed the same monstrous strength Senju Tsunade had, with just as unmatched skill in healing. Her Cellular Disintegration jutsu only made her more formidable, dangerous even.

Yet, she did not carry the aura of someone threatening. She only seemed gentle and kind.

This inference of mine only seemed truer because of how she had offered to heal me on our first mission together, when I had woken from one of the many nightmares that haunted me and ensured no respite from the guilt of all the sins I had committed and continued to commit in the name of protecting Konoha to whatever extent I could. A cold hearted criminal who thought of nothing but themselves would not have bothered with me or even noticed that I was unwell. Surely she did not know of my deteriorating lungs but she could tell that something was wrong with me from the feel of my chakra and the paleness of my skin that was only accentuated because of the nightmares I often woke up from.

My brooding was interrupted by her laughter. She was laughing at something Kisame had said, the latter too grinning about it, and it had my eyes narrowing and my jaw and fists clenching tightly. Asumi san looked radiant – it was an expression I had long forgotten that existed in anyone of the world, for I had only seen anger, malice or hatred in those around me besides sadistic joy when any of the Akatsuki members spoke about killing others. For a moment, I wondered how it would feel if I was the one she was giving such an expression to.