The Story of Hagami III [Naruto Fanfic | Uchiha] [Completed]

29 | Knockout

Hagami took a few seconds to clear her eyes of the tears. Itachi, Shisui, and Sasuke waited patiently for her too, silently at that.

"Alright." Hagami breathed out and turned around. Her voice was still slightly raspy but the red in her eyes was fading. "Let's get going, they'll need us on the battlefield." She was about to start running when's Shisui caught her wrist swiftly.

"Wait...just wait Hagami-san," Shisui ordered her sternly. She didn't immediately oblige to his order but the look in his eyes softened her muscles, "can you even fight? Answer us honestly. You didn't get the time to recover, not even a fraction of what you needed, you didn't even get an entire day.

"Don't lie to us again, not again. Konohagakure will need you in the future and we don't know if you can use the Izanagi again, subconsciously or not, if you end up dying." Hagami felt Shisui's hand begin to lose its hold around her wrist. His body seemed to begin to shake as well. "I don't think the Uchiha Clan and Konohagakure can take the news of your death again. We can't take the news of your death. I can't take the news of your death.

"When we were younger, you promised to watch over Itachi as his guardian angel. He promised to watch over Sasuke. And I promised to be your's. Compared to you and Itachi, I've failed since I couldn't stop you from leaving the Village and fighting Sasuke.

"But now that you're back, I get another chance. I can't lose you again, I can't lose a friend like you that I consider a sister to me." Shisui breathed out shakily and lowered his head. He feared the worse that Hagami would break from his grasp.

However, Hagami's arm slackened. She pulled her wrist away but only to grab Shisui's wrist and pull him in. Her arms wrapped around his torso gently.

"Thank you...for never losing...losing hope and...and faith...in me." Hagami's voice broke as she took in the forgotten warmth of the first friend that befriended her after her parents' death. She pulled away reluctantly but she did so so she could speak, "you're right that I can't fight anymore, with Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, at least right now. My chakra levels are extremely low, I feel like I might keel over at any second.

"But the war...so long as it's going on, I'll be able to fight some-" Hagami wasn't able to finish her sentence when a blunt strike was delivered to the back of her neck. Seconds later, her eyesight faded and she was faced with the darkness of sleep.

---

"Itachi! Why would you knock her out?!" Sasuke roared at his brother when he realized that Hagami had fallen limply into Shisui's arms. He hand made a move to grab Itachi's collar only for his wrist to be caught by his elder brother. Sasuke struggled against Itachi until he managed to recognize the burning glare that told him to listen.

"Hagami's persistent. This is the only way that I could think of in order to keep her from tearing her own chakra network apart. She also needs to rest. We'll find a Medical Nin on the battlefield when we get there too. She be able to be healed faster that way." Itachi reasoned and turned his head to Shisui. He had dropped Sasuke's wrist in the process. "Carry her on our way there on your back. If she gets too heavy and you need a break, I'll carry her too. We need to preserve as much chakra as we can."

"Understood." Shisui nodded as he shifted Hagami around. He linked an arm around her waist for a moment until Itachi helped him position her on his back. After hooking his arms underneath the backs of her legs, they're ready to depart from he cave. "Sasuke, you should head to the battlefield ahead of the two of us. Chances are, Naruto is there already, and he'll need your help if you're going to have a chance at prevailing against Madara."

"Ah." Sasuke nodded. "Take care of Hagami." He shot both of them a harsh glare though it was somewhat a faux since he knew Itachi and Shisui would do so.

"Will do." Shisui flashed Sasuke a reassuring smile before the latter turned and ran toward the mouth of the cave. Once he was out of earshot, Shisui turned to Itachi. "How long until Hagami's going to be awake?" He asked with all seriousness.

"Not until she's healed by a Medic. I made sure to hit a nerve that knocks her out cold for a day at the most. I didn't want her to wake up in the midst of us traveling because she could injure herself." Itachi answered in a more serious tone than Shisui expected. It seemed that Itachi was taking to the militaristic atmosphere, speaking as his he was devoid of emotion right now.

"That was awfully risky of you Itachi." Shisui chided and sighed.

"If I still had the Tsukuyomi instead of the Amaterasu, I would've used that. And since neither you or Sasuke thought to use the Tsukuyomi, or any Genjutsu since in her state she'd probably be too weak to break out, I knocked her out using a more traditional method." Itachi supported his reasoning that Shisui decided not to try to rival.

"Well, if she's going to be knocked for a day, and only being healed will snap her back into it, even the bare minimum, we should get moving." Shisui declared and Itachi nodded.

However, before they could even make a meter's progress, an ominous chakra halted their movements. Itachi turned around, his Sharingan appearing in his eyes whilst Shisui took moved so he'd be able to leave faster in order to protect Hagami during a diversion, if need be.

Itachi's right eye tracked the movements of a large snake appearing from the neck of the woman they had seen when they first entered the cave. When the snake slithered out along the ground, its jaw gaped and slowly, a body emerged.

---

It's short, oops. But I finally updated so woohoo!

Enjoy! Next chapter will (probably not) be out promptly but I hope I'll be able to work on it soon.

-silent