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

44 | Sage

"I guess it's because your death will be all the more fitting if you die in front of the other one you so dearly tried to protect." Madara shrugged indifferently as he placed his hands together in the tiger hand seal.

"Hagami, get back!" Itachi called from where he was standing. He raced to her left and she ran in the same direction as a cloud of smoke enveloped the two of them. "We can't strike now, he's absorbing the Jūbi and becoming the Jinchūriki. Despite being vulnerable, we can't risk letting the Jūbi roaming free again." He explained. "We'll have a better chance if he's in his true form."

Hagami nodded but Itachi sensed something off about her.

"What happened?" Itachi asked noticing that tears were beginning to form in her eyes. "Hagami? What happened?" He asked with a little more force.

"I want you to leave Madara to me. Shisui is tending to Naruto and..." she trailed off, a lump forming in her throat before she could continue. "...Sasuke's...on the verge of...dying..." she choked out and Itachi snapped his head around in the general direction of where Hagami had come from.

The smoke began to clear and Itachi placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm not leaving you." Itachi declared defiantly. But his voice betrayed that he wanted to go see Sasuke. Hagami said he was dying so there was a chance that Itachi may be able to prevent that in the time it'll take to get from here to there.

"No, I'm not standing losing you too." Hagami snapped. Itachi's breath hitched, he hadn't heard this tone in a while. "Go. If I die, then things will be as they should. After all, like Madara, I shouldn't be alive right now either."

"Hagami, don't be--"

"I said go!" Hagami ordered him.

Itachi fell silent when he saw the grave look in Hagami's eyes. Instead of their normal cool gaze, they were filled with anguish, hatred, and pain, and it wasn't limited to just this event. Itachi knew that she was funneling all the negative emotions she possessed into chakra and life force.

"You know as well as I do...that we both care for Sasuke dearly. He's our little brother. So if you know what's good, you'll go to him instead of worrying about me. I was adopted into your family, so we're only related by distant blood." Hagami murmured. "So, go. Whatever way this turns out, either I'll be a guard to you still or be watching over you, in the way it should've been about a year ago."

"Promise me that you'll...just come home." Itachi's voice was strained but he backed away from Hagami.

"I'll either be home in your heart or the Village. But either or, promise me that you'll never forget me." Hagami responded and didn't spare Itachi a second glance as the smoke receded completely.

Madara emerged, his hair white and cloaked in pure stabilized chakra that briefly reminded Hagami of the color of her Susanoo. Like Obito, there were ten Truth-Seeking balls floating behind him and the staff too.

"You're brave to tell Itachi to leave, or perhaps just foolish." Madara muttered and rose into the air. "But you'll have to wait, I don't want to fight anyone yet, without my true glory. I still am missing an eye after all."

He's heading to Obito then... Hagami thought as he rose into the air.

"No, wait--" Hagami tried to stop him, but he had already vanished into the sky. Letting out a grunt, she didn't waste any time to sprint to where their chakra mingled together, or rather tracked them using Minato's chakra, as well as the other half of Kurama.

By the time she got there, she knew she had beat Madara to the place. He was still getting used to his abilities, therefore needed time whilst Hagami honed in on their chakra. She leapt over the side, surprised to see that Naruto, Sakura, Gaara, and Shisui were all present. As she landed, Gaara stood in front of the platforms of sand beside Kakashi.

Hagami's eyes searched for traces of anyone else in the area and she was shocked to see Obito on his feet. She originally thought he wouldn't be able to move for a month but then she remembered that he was the Jūbi's Jinchūriki and that he still possessed a large amount of life force. He was also an Uchiha, and they were adept at dying easily.

But there was something else assisting him too. Something black was attacked to his left side, fully enclosing his body but leaving the Rinnegan exposed.

Black Zetsu. Hagami thought. With Black Zetsu attached to Obito, his life would be prolonged as well as manipulated to move without so much as a problem concerning physical limitations.

Hagami's eye still had the Mangekyō Sharingan in it, so she saw something black beginning to sink into the ground. Her first thought was that she needed to get to Naruto as soon as possible.

"Watch out!" Hagami shouted as she drew a shuriken. Minato's head snapped up and Gaara abided. She threw it straight at the ground as Black Zetsu rose up. She narrowly missed it, but Minato had reabsorbed the portion of Kurama's chakra that he was going to give Naruto.

However, just as she was able to run up to the group, Madara landed not far away. He scolded, "You're late, Black Zetsu! Since it was taking too long, I've decided to come to you!" He announced and Hagami took her place next to Shisui.

---

Sorry, it's a lot shorter than the rest, but we are approaching the end.

Enjoy!

-silent