Caretaker Of Jinchuriki's [Naruto]

{43} Tell Me Why

While Sasuke rests, Suigetsu gathered Jugo and Karin, and brought them here. First thing when we all settle into the hotel room, Karin starts to complain. "He' so reckless! At this point, he can't even stand or walk!" 

"Calm down, Karin. We've been moving all day. We need to rest." Suigetsu tells her. 

"You wanna piece of me!?" 

"Both of you, enough. Do you want to activate Jugo's impulses? Once he starts rampaging, there will be no stopping him because Sasuke will be asleep. This whole building will be wrecked all because of you two. So, unless you want that, I suggest you stop being at each other's throats for a while." 

"Fine." Suigetsu sighs. 

"Whatever." Karina scoffs and crosses her arms, then looking away. One of her eyes open and glances at me while I am stroking Sasuke's hair. 

"Is there something you wish to ask me, Karin? Feel free to do so. Do not hold back." I tell her in a soothing voice. 

"Just what are you to Sasuke? Are you his caretaker? Close relative? O-Or Girlfriend?" The last part of her sentence speaks with concern. She also has a crush on Sasuke, same as Sakura. 

"I am merely a mother substitute for this boy. Sasuke and I made this agreement years ago. I keep my relationships professional. But, if something bad were to happen, say he got hurt severely in front of my very own eyes, that is when all bets are off. Meaning, I will have no choice to be hostile." 

"Beautiful, caring, and protective. That's a kind of girl that I want in the future." Suigetsu smirks, making Karin scoff some more. "Anyway, what's the plan now? Jugo informed me that he found a few Akatsuki hideouts nearby. That was Sasuke's order for all of us. I found out where this Kakazu guy collects his money from after bringing dead bodies that are on the bounty list." 

"The plan is that we rest. I will go ahead and see what I can do. When Sasuke wakes up, tell him I went to the east side where one of the Akatsuki locations are." I stand up and summon my scythe while saying this. 

"What?! You're leaving now!?" 

"I have to. There is someone I need to look for before I can continue on with my duty. Farewell for now, all of you." I gently smile and exit through the window. My real reason for leaving so soon is because I want answers, and the person I am looking for is Itachi Uchiha. . . I have to find him before Sasuke does. 

Only question is: How and where am I going to find Itachi? 

That's right, Jugo said that there is a hideout on the east coast from here. So, I will start from there. Hopefully, I won't run into the leader, Pein, again. 

After heading to the east hideout, I see Kisame and Itachi about to enter inside. "Looks like we have company~" Kisame smirks, with his back still faced to me. However, Itachi turns around with his Sharingan activated, making me avoid eye contact. 

"What are you doing here, Akari?" Itachi asks. From the tone of his voice, he is surprise to see me again and a bit worried, since, I am assuming, he helped me escape from the other hideout. 

"I am not here to fight with either of you. I only want to talk with Itachi." I answer while making my scythe disappear and putting my hands up in defense. "I will not attack you, if you do not attack me. Sound fair enough?" 

"Unfortunate for you, it's a no deal. Our leader is really upset when he found out you had somehow escaped from him. Looks like we have to go through the trouble in capturing you again~" Kisame smirks and hosts his sword off his shoulder, then pointing it to me. So, Itachi didn't tell anybody. 

"No, Kisame. . . Let her talk." Itachi tells Kisame to stand down. "Come inside. We'll talk in private. Kisame, keep watch in case of Sasuke." 

"Very well." Kisame puts his sword on his shoulder, still smirking. "That was the plan, wasn't it? Just waiting for your little brother to show up." Itachi is waiting for Sasuke? 

Odd. 

Itachi and I walk inside the hideout while Kisame stands outside and keep watch for Sasuke. Once we enter in the hideout, Itachi sits in a chair and closes his eyes while I stand in front of him. 

"Go ahead. What did you want to talk about?" He sounds tired when he says this. 

"I want to know. . . Why did you get me out of the hideout and away from Pein? I was suppose to be held prisoner but you took me away and saved me. Why?" I question. 

"Because. . . I had a reason. . ." He sighs tiredly. 

"What reason? Tell me." I demand. Itachi stays silent and still has his eyes closed. Suddenly, my eyes glow a bit, which makes my eyes widen a bit. "Itachi. . . Your heart. . . You are. . .dying?" 

It goes silent for a long while until Itachi closes his eyes and looks at me with a frown as his sharingan is no longer activated. What I saw was his heart turning black, weakening to the point where it beats slowly. 

"It is because of the sharingan, isn't it? . . . The more you use it, the more it weakens you. You have been carrying a disease all this time without telling anybody." My ears lay a bit flat on my head after knowing the truth of why Itachi has been acting so strangely since our second encounter. 

"The reason why I saved you was because I needed you to do me a favor. . . I need you. . .to look after Sasuke once I'm gone. . . Because of this disease, I won't be around for much longer. My time is running out faster than I expected. . .

I see the way he always looks up to you. How he always depends on you, because you have been caring for him for him all these years when I wasn't around. . . I've been watching with my crows. . . Once I am gone, I need you to still look after my little brother. . ." Itachi's voice turns into a whisper as he inhales deeply. 

"Itachi. . . This is not the real you, is it not? I have a strong feeling this is not what you wanted." I say back. 

"How can you tell? . . ." 

"I do not know exactly how human emotions work, but for you, I can see it clearly. You have been enduring something painful in your heart for years. Even when you are in the Akatsuki, I assume you still think about whatever it is that you have done. I have heard the rumors about you, and also read about your file. 

You became an ANBU at a young age, then became the Leaf Village strongest Shinobi. But then, you slaughtered your clan, but let Sasuke live. You even killed your parents. . . Something tells me you did not want to do such a thing. I am guessing somebody told you to do this." 

"They did. . . My real mission was to be a spy for the leaf village so that I can gain information about the Akatsuki, but things went too far. . ." Itachi closes his eyes, yet continues. "It was a mission from Danzo." 

'So this person, Danzo, was using him. Who is Danzo?' I think to myself. "But things are out of hand now. You want Sasuke to keep his anger inside so that one day he can kill you. You want Sasuke to kill you, do you not? Why? Why not tell him the truth of all of this?" 

"He wouldn't understand. . . This is something that had to be kept from Sasuke. Therefore, I deserve his wrath. . ." Itachi frowns once more. 

I get it now. . . Even though I am not human, this is truly upsetting. I cannot let this happen. I must not let this happen. No way. "Itachi. . ." I walk over to him and cup his face in my hands, and lean close to his face. "Listen to me closely," I look at him straight in the eyes as he does the same, "I will not let you die." 

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