A Hole in One's Heart [Kakashi Hatake]

Chapter 70: The Last Time

This chapter is like the Alan POV chapter near the beginning of the book along with the Kakashi POV chapter which were both really short. I feel kind of guilty that this is all that I'm posting especially since there was no post last Sunday (it was Easter), but, in a way, I kind of lucked out. I had a huge English paper to do (a comparison between methods of demonstrating insanity in 1984 and As I Lay Dying, super exciting) so I didn't have time to type too much. The lucky part is that my lack of time just so happened to correspond with a chapter that I had always planned on making super short. Also, next week is my Spring Break so I might have time for a double update then, no promises, but I'll try. Welp, I'm going to stop rambling away now. Enjoy!

---------------Itachi's POV---------------

     I was tracing the reanimation jutsu to its source. After I left Naruto in charge of finding Sasuke and bringing him back to the village, I had sworn that I'd take down Kabuto and end the reanimation jutsu that had enthralled countless deceased shinobi.

     Despite the unfortunate circumstances of my reanimation (namely the Fourth Shinobi World War), I was actually enjoying myself. This body's eyes were not going blind, and I could see all of the details of the world again. Also, I was finally fighting for something that I truly believed in as opposed to being a double agent stationed in the Akatsuki as the Third Hokage's spy. Once I had been freed from the control of the Reanimation Jutsu by Shisui's mangekyo sharingan implanted in a crow that I had left with Naruto, I was in control of my own body and free to help the Leaf once again.

     A large smile spread across my lips as I felt a familiar chakra source approaching from behind at my five o'clock at a very high speed. I could tell that she had sensed me as well because her trajectory changed so that she was running straight to me, and I was masking my chakra signature too. Impressive.

     I stopped in the middle of a clearing, and soon five coyotes burst out of the trees. Four of them were small, about the size and shape of your standard German shepherd, but the final one was quite large. Its powerful, grey body came up to about my waist. Ana sat atop the largest of the coyote summons, bent low across its back with large clumps of fur in held each fist like she had been compressed down for better aerodynamics.

     Ana hopped off onto the ground and walked over to me with a smirk, "Well, well, well, if it isn't my favorite Akatsuki."

     If I had any blood left in my body then I would have surely blushed. Instead, I lifted up a single corner of my mouth in a tiny smile, "Hello, Ana."

     "So, since I had a vision of your death, I'm guessing that you're a reanimation."

     "That would be an accurate guess."

     "You're not going to try and kill me now, are you?"

     I shook my head, "Nagato and I were sent out to capture the Eight and Nine-tails, but before my battle with Sasuke, I gave Naruto a bit of my power and that saved me from the confines of this jutsu. I had given him a crow with Shisui's mangekyo sharingan, and the genjutsu that I had created to make Sasuke protect the Leaf Village was instead cast on me."

     Ana nodded, "The Kotoamatsukami, the most powerful mind-control genjutsu that there is." My eyes widened in shock momentarily before I remembered that with the knowledge that she carried from her old world, Ana was bound to know random things like that without being told.

     "Yes, the Kotoamatsukami, and now I am tracing the source of the chakra that is controlling the Reanimation Jutsu."

     "Who's the caster?"

     "Kabuto Yakushi."

     Ana's eyes rolled back into her head a little bit as the seal on her forehead activated and spread down her face like trickles of black. Then just as quickly as it had started, Ana was back to normal again. I had to blink a couple of times to ensure that it wasn't a hallucination.

     She shot me a sheepish grin, "Sorry 'bout that... I just got the pleasure of seeing Kabuto in his creepy cave moving pieces representing reanimated shinobi around a board like it's some sort of game." She tapped her chin a couple of times in thought, "Itachi?"

     "Yes."

     "I've noticed that you're not even pretending to be evil right now."

     "Well, Naruto informed me that you, Kakashi, and Yamato are aware of the truth of my past so I didn't think that it was necessary to attempt to hide it. So, where are you headed off to in such a rush?"

     Ana started nervously wringing her hands together, "The Third Division is battling the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, and I'm going as medical back-up."

     "So the Kage have let both you and the jinchuriki enter the battlefield."

     "Yep. I just couldn't stand being stuck there watching people fight from the safety of headquarters any longer. I needed to be out here doing something."

     I allowed myself to actually smile, "You've become a great ninja."

     "Why thank you, Itachi." Then she had a devilish smirk on her face, "But you know, we really should stop meeting up like this, people might start to talk."

     Ana's eyebrows raised in shock as I laughed gently, "During this time of war, that should be the least of your worries."

     "Maybe, but being serious all of the time isn't any fun at all. I find that making jokes at inappropriate moments helps me keep things in perspective."

     "Hm, I had never thought about that."

     She stiffened, "I just sensed a Naruto shadow clone heading in the direction of the Third Division, and it seems that he really has mastered his tailed beast chakra. Impressive." She started to walk back to the large coyote behind her, "Well, I had better go and rendezvous with him. Last time I saw you, you told me that it would be the last time that we'd be able to talk, but, unfortunately, I think that that will really be the case this time. You're going to dispel the jutsu tying you to this plain of existence."

     "Yes, this time will be the last time that we get to meet."

     "Goodbye, Itachi, and good luck." She hopped back onto the back of her summon with a wave.

     I waved back a little, feeling very uncomfortable with the simple gesture after years of the cold, ruthless façade that I had while in the Akatsuki. "Goodbye, Ana. I wish you the best of luck in protecting the village."

     With a final wave, she and her summons disappeared, never looking back once. I stared after her for a few seconds, and then headed off towards Kabuto.

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Yeah, I know that it was supper short... But I still liked writing in Itachi's POV, it was a fun change of pace. Well, that's all that I've got to say! Have a nice rest of your week, and feel free to check out any of my other works. I'll see you Sunday with another update. ^_^

Edited 5/2/2016