Ikigai

Chapter 4: You Won't Believe This False Hope

They were nervous, perhaps even afraid at the men that stood before them. On alert, one wrong move and they could both be dead. One, in particular, had them worried.

"Y-you're..." Asuma Sarutobi stared wide-eyed at the red-eyed Akatsuki. "...Uchiha...Itachi."

A light wind rustled between them, covering the tense silence. 

"It's going to be okay," Kurenai whispered to Asuma, yet she couldn't deny that it was more so to herself than to Sarutobi.

----

Kintsugi could feel the vibrations coming from their bodies as they spoke. 

She had hurried through the tunnels, moving her arms and mind to propel her forward through the earth until she had arrived on the other side of where the party of four now stood. 

Now crouched and hidden in the underbrush, she spread her feet and hands towards the ground, listening.

"Asuma...Kurenai. Don't interfere with me. I don't intend to kill you." Itachi seemed to say.

It was a good thing she had already been headed in their direction, otherwise, she could have found them already fighting. The Earth Kingdom considered her fast, but here, that just wasn't enough. 

The group simply stared at each other, but from the tense figure of Kisame, she knew that wouldn't last.

"This guy is pretty annoying. Should we kill him?" Bringing down his sword, Kisame struck the ground causing Kintsugi to lift her hands slightly as the tremor brought small goosebumps from the now dented walkway. 

Again, more staring. 

What's with these people? 

She continued to observe until finally, they decided to move again. Genjutsu. She had seen this done before at the training grounds, but always found it strange to sense. 

She could tell where Kurenai was more or less and to her, it seemed as if the kunoichi was floating yet somehow still grounded by an invisible force. 

She didn't completely understand how this trick worked. If Kintsugi had been able to see, she would have noticed the tree that had tried to wrap itself around Itachi. 

Kintsugi knew she had chosen the right side when Itachi seemed to easily evade an attack. They eventually landed on the water. They weren't benders, but they were strong. Perhaps even stronger. 

Fool, she thought towards Kurenai's feeble attempt.

Tracking them on the water was a bit more difficult, but not impossible. 

Kintsugi pressed her head against the ground lifting her feet slightly. An observer would have thought she was praying. 

"That's what I expected from you, Kurenai. But...," the red-eyed rogue was cut off.

Get em', she thought before suddenly sensing another voice. 

"But this is as far as it goes for you," Kakashi said.

Great, another one. She would have to wait and see how this played out. 

The more people were involved, the more explaining she would have to do all around.

She wanted to intervene in the fight but she could play both sides. The small timeframe available to her was her goal and she would have to pick it just right. She was hopeful.

"Shadow clones," growled Kurenai as they dodged an attack.

"Kakashi, Hatake." Itachi's attention was now turned to the pineapple head. 

"Itachi Uchiha and the Mystery Man of Hidden Mist Village, Kisame Hoshigaki," Kakashi said.

"Well, well... You know my name. It's an honor." Kisame seemed to gleam from the recognition. 

That's adorable, Kintsugi thought.

"Just came to find something we're looking for, Kakashi," Itachi added.

"Something you're looking for?"

They didn't wait long. 

Fight first, talk later, she urged silently from her position. 

She sensed two people in the water and yet Kurenai's body was turned towards something above it.

It was when an explosion of water from the shinobi Kakashi brought drops to the ground that she decided it was enough. She hated the rain. The three Leaf Shinobi stood still again, all five of them now on the river.

"He's the guy who became division chief of Anbu Black Ops at 13 years old..." Kakashi commented to Kurenai and Asuma. 

They both winced recalling Kurenai's earlier attempt. What fool's they were. 

"Don't look at his eyes!"Kakashi hissed.

The Mangekyo Sharingan. Kakashi would know it well. Itachi had to make sure of it. 

----

She would find no better time than this to do something. 

She felt the rash that had grown on her arms for the last few months start to act up. 

Ignoring it, she lifted her head from the ground as she reached in her mind for the water and the blood. 

She didn't always need arms to bend, neither did she need eyes to see. 

It had been a previous avatar, one she had been close to, that had taught her this. 

Bending blood had been hard and frightening at first. But through an unfortunate series of events it had become something she started to develop the less valuable the Earth Kingdom found her. 

Of earth and water, she would prosper.

It had started with a  small eel hound she had gotten for her third birthday. It had been an accident the first time.

Reaching out, she felt their systems, Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and flung them as far as she could in her mind. They were ninjas, they could handle it. They would be gone for now, but she would have to hurry.

That left the Akatsuki. 

"I had to scratch and bite. You'll crawl and beg too," she said as she thought on those back in her own world.

And with that, she came out from the bushes. 

Picture Credit: https://yu-bo-bo.tumblr.com/post/155622980950

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[A/N]

To Brazilwolf:

I smiled when I read your comment for the previous chapter. And to that I say "skål".

A/N 10/01/2021: Don't mind me. Just passing through.