A Little More Than This (Discontinued)

Chapter 35

Shikamaru had nestled at the base of a tree, the scrolls Kakashi had giving him clutched in his hands. He had already started a campfire a few hours beforehand and was relaxing in the warmth. The sun had set behind him a while back and he had enjoyed the moments of silence he had been granted on his solo-mission. A small one, just a information drop-off to potential allies.

He sighed heavily as he flipped open one of the scrolls. It was an information set-out, pretty standard writing, it contained information about the Akatsuki and the ninja's growing concern and obsessive nature about a young child that seemed to be associated with the said group. Shikamaru lazily read through it, his breath and heart stopping as he read the last paragraph.

Child has been identified.
Name: Mei Hoshigaki
Parents: Kisame Hoshigaki and Kakudo Kurisuna (Cloud Village).

Shikamaru almost couldn't believe the Beatle black ink that sat in front of him. 'Mei is the daughter of Missing Water-nin Kisame Hoshigaki?' He asked himself, he quickly chucked the scroll into the fire, his breathing returning in heavy pants as he clutched the fabric over his heart.

Shikamaru stared at the burning paper with shock. His heart pounding against his ribcage, his fingers shaking as he fumbled with the other scroll, silently praying for some form of a practical joke to jump out at him. He untied the other scroll and flipped it open, finding little paragraphs of different handwriting dotted over the scroll.

Shikamaru scanned the paragraphs slowly, taking in all the information that was pressed onto the scroll's papery surface. It was a long time before Shikamaru realised he was in tears, it was even longer before he realised he had read and reread it several times in a row. Shikamaru's mind slowly processed the information, these men simply adored the tangerine he had developed such a binding friendship with.

These men who had killed and maimed hundreds of people had fallen head over heels, much like many of the others in Konoha. Shikamaru rolled up the scroll and tucked it into his pants pocket, putting the fire out and climbing into his make-shift hammock.

For the first time he felt a pang of hatred fly through his veins, he hated what his village had done to Mei's family.

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Mei was grumpily balancing on another stick, this one was randomly jabbed into a riverbed. She was maturing her Chakra, again. Itachi watched her from a rock on next to the river.

"Do you know your Chakra type Mei?" Itachi asked, looking up from his book. "Water, Lightning and Earth, I've mostly invested in Water Chakra though" Mei replied, not looking up from the bubbly water below her. "So water Jutsu?" Itachi asked, his interest perking again.

"Yeah and this" Mei replied, sticking her hand out over the water and concentrating harshly. Within seconds an unstable stream of water wobbled up to her hand and wrapped around her arm. Itachi stood up and walked over to her, completely fascinated by the tangerine.

Mei dropped her concentration and fell into the water, standing up and brushing her soggy locks out of her hair. "That's, different" Itachi replied, placing his fingers on his chin and closing his eyes in thought.

"What's was your mother's name again Mei?" Itachi asked, pulling her and the stick out of the water and pulling her towards the desert that bordered the forest. "Kakudo Kurisuna, why?" Mei answered, looking up at her Nii-San with confusion. "No reason, go to Zetsu and tell them I'll be gone for a while, do not leave the hut unless Zetsu is with you or you are training. Understood?" Itachi instructed. "Yes sir!" Mei cried, powering into the desert, heading towards the hut.

Itachi turned and started walking through the forest, passing the river and stumbling onto a worn track. Itachi smirked to himself and started down the track, looking out for his turnoff.

It came as two cheery blossom trees, orange instead of the regular pink ones that surrounded the two. He turned to the moss-covered track and followed it to an opening of a cave. It was the Akatsuki base's back entrance, and it seemed as though the rest of the Akatsuki hadn't entered the base in at least a month.

Itachi let a little smile creep into his face as he entered the base then started to wonder down the hallways, looking for a certain locked room Orochimaru had left behind and left indestructible.

He found the door and picked up the pencil that could supposedly unlock it. Kakuzu had been the one to figure out what type of lock it was but no one had guessed the password. The lock was called a Kami no Tango (紙の単語), but it was more commonly known as a Word Lock. It was simple to work, write a word or two onto the door or thing the lock was attacked to and place a page filled with Chakra over it and then it was locked, rewrite the word/s and the lock would be freed.

Itachi thought for a second before writing Mei Hoshigaki neatly into the door and watched as a bright red Wrong appeared in the near scrawl he recognised as Orochimaru's handwriting. Itachi 'Hmm'ed for a second before writing Mei's mother's name onto the door, only earning another Wrong. Itachi stated at the taunting red writing before humming slightly to himself.

This charade continued for another several minutes, Itachi getting more and more annoyed with the taunting writing and his inability to guess the right password. Itachi had sunk to a sitting position above the door, tried of standing and lazy side kicking in. Then, as guessed another answer wrong (The Kurisuna Clan), he wrote in a fit of arrogance and anger show me your damn secrets!

The door gave a defiant click and Itachi huffed in annoyance, vowing to give the snake sanin a good punch next time he saw him. Itachi stood, pushed the door open and found it wasn't much bigger then a closet, just big enough for Itachi to stand in with the door closed if he sucked his stomach in.

There were three scrolls and five books. The far left scroll and book were labeled 'Imortality', the middle scroll and next two books were labeled 'Discovered Information' and the far right scroll and last two books were labeled 'Hoshigaki Mei (Kurisuna background)'. Itachi smiled and picked up thoses books and scroll, tucking them into his bag that he had the right mind to bring with him when Mei and he left earlier that day.

Itachi was about to leave when he saw seven little notes. Each were addressed to each member of the Akatsuki, excluding Deidara. "Must've left them before he left" Itachi muttered out loud, grabbing the notes and stuffing them into his bag also.

Itachi turned to leave, slamming the door and shoving the pencil back into the grove Itachi had taken it out of, he left the door and went looking for his usual room. He had decided he was going to crash at the base before going back to the little hut.

He found the room and placed the bag in the corner of the room before collapsing onto the bed and instantly falling asleep.