Susurrus [Itachi x OC]

15: Rain

Shisui's eyes shift between Itachi and me. As his eyes settle on mine, I can almost see what he's thinking, even if—especially if—he's not saying it.

Please don't kill each other.

"We're fighting him together."

Itachi and I share a glance.

My eyes widen. "Wait what?!"

Itachi nods in agreement. "I don't agree, Shisui."

My short-haired best friend lets out a loud laugh.

"Respectfully," he begins, still laughing, "I don't care if either of you agree or not." Shisui shoots us a playful smile. "It would be a shame to not give the Akatsuki a taste of what I can do." He pauses. "Before we do anything, the two of you need to hash out your shit."

Itachi's gaze penetrates down to the marrow of my bones.

"I've nothing to say." I shrug, not looking at him. I can feel my body lightly shivering under the scorching heat of his eyes.

"Akatani—" Itachi tries to speak but I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

"We have bigger problems right now than whatever the hell is going on between us," I say through gritted teeth. "My students hate me, my Tailed Beast probably hates me too, and Kisame is still trying to hunt down Naruto."

"Tani," Shisui says calmly. "Would you still be able to get Matatabi to fight with us?"

She'd probably eat me alive at this point and absorb my power...

I bite my lip. "Honestly?" I let out a deep, stressed sigh. "I don't know, Shisui."

"It's worth a shot," Itachi murmurs. "More people to fight Kisame wouldn't hurt. They don't call him the Tail-Less Tailed Beast for nothing, after all."

"Is it just him looking for Naruto? I mean three-on-one isn't too bad for odds, but if it's any more, we'll have more problems on our hands."

Itachi nods at me. "As far as my intel goes, Tani, I don't think they're sending anyone else with Kisame."

The three of us fighting again... I wonder if we can still pull off the shit we used to back then... Can I still pull off those levels of power since Tabi's no longer in my body?

"Tani, you okay?"

Shisui and Itachi are both staring at me with an alarming level of concern.

"Yeah, yeah," I say with a slight shake of my head, clearing the thoughts. "So what's the plan, boys?"

"Shisui and I will encircle Kisame," Itachi begins. "Then you'll do what you do best: show up out of nowhere and drop into the center."

Shisui smirks at me and I laugh quietly. "Which direction do you want me to—"

Leaves rustle in the trees above my head. I ready a kunai in both hands, dropping down into an attack stance. From the trees falls a very familiar white-haired Jonin.

Kakashi-sensei?!

My eyes narrow fiercely at him as he plants himself firmly on the ground. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

I look over at my boys to see that Itachi and Shisui are, oddly, at ease.

Did they know? Itachi's wanting me to be pissed at him, I suppose. More secrets and lies, dear Itachi...?

"I came to help."

"Mmm." I put one of the kunai away, keeping the other in my death-like grip. "How's the Team?"