Chapter 6: Crow

There was something to be said about ANBU operating procedure. They were to protect the negotiators, but it was at a distance. Itachi had the distinct feeling that not even they knew that they were being followed. It was an unexpected difficulty, and yet Itachi felt relieved to have something that was more of a challenge for him. He looked down upon their charges.

Konoha Nin

LVL 20

Konoha Nin

LVL 23

Konoha Nin

LVL 21

It felt odd that such a high risk mission was starting during the day. Itachi remembered his vision for ANBU, always in the shadows, never seen, yet always effective and ever present. But now was not the time. Their charges were on the move. He gave a glance at Kakashi, who signalled to him. They began following at a distance.

Following a person was easy. They didn't pay too much attention and instead focused on normal problems like, "what will I eat for dinner" or "What a nice day out." Following a shinobi was much different. Even on a mission like this, they were still on edge, all senses tuned to try and tip them off on potential enemies.

But none of this mattered to Itachi. Among his skills was Stealth, and despite being low leveled compared to his other skills, it was still enough to get him by. He hadn't bothered learning the specifics of it, just that he had a small display for how aware a person was, and if he'd been noticed or not.

Stealth's level has increased by one.

A happy ding accompanied the message. It was almost as if his power were in tune with his thoughts. There was something that bothered Itachi, besides the betrayal looming, and that was the mission itself. Itachi thought himself patient, but as the time slowly ticked away as they followed their charges, he found himself less and less able to focus.

Kakashi had remained silent the entire time. Itachi would've liked it if he had said even a word or two, but there was the risk of giving themselves away. He glanced over at him for a brief moment. The mask betrayed nothing. Itachi got the feeling that even if he could see Kakashi's face, he might as well have been staring at the mask.

Suddenly, an unnatural noise. The Konoha nin halted. Kakashi and Itachi froze. The rustling of the leaves in the wind grated upon the silence. Another sharp noise and a kunai flew at the nin. Itachi reached for one of his out of instinct. Kakashi stopped him. They waited.

A pair of ninja leaped at the trio they'd been following.

Criminal

LVL 12

Criminal

LVL 14

Itachi saw their levels and relaxed. They were no threat. Their savage faces turned to fear as they realized their mistake. It was over in a flurry of kunai from a coordinated attack. They paused for a moment to reclaim some of the weaponry and check on everyone.

"Something doesn't feel right." Kakashi said, finally breaking the silence.

"Missing nin generally know not to mess with other shinobi." Itachi remarked.

"Exactly, so someone probably sent this attack. Or these missing nin were incredibly stupid. Either way, we should be on guard in case anything else should happen." Kakashi finished.

"Or maybe it was just complete chance. A couple of inexperienced shinobi trying to score some goods-" Itachi added.

"They're on the move." Kakashi cut him off. Itachi had hoped they'd stayed there for just a minute longer. He'd wanted to plant the idea of a possible betrayal from their side. Hearing his voice had also been a welcome break from the silence between them.

They moved on without incident as the day burned up. The sun set and the three konoha nin set up camp. Kakashi and Itachi followed suit, except theirs was far less comfortable. Itachi offered to take the first watch since he didn't actually need to sleep anymore. There was even less to do when they weren't moving.

Itachi took a little bit to fit in some meditation. There wasn't any real reason to try raising his skills, as he had guessed that it'd take too much time to raise it even once. He just did it to keep his mind focused on something until it was his turn to "sleep."

And so the night passed, and they returned to their journey. It was about midday when they finally made it to the meeting point. They'd long since left the Land of Fire and were now in the Land of Woods. Visually it wasn't different from the woods around Konoha. But the mood was completely different. This was farther than Itachi had been from the village in a while. That and this mission was among the more crucial ones he'd been one.

Kakashi motioned to Itachi to move into position across the meeting spot. Then they waited. It wasn't long before the other party showed up to the clearing. They were dressed almost like ANBU, except their masks were more uniform and demonic based rather than animal based.

Prajñā Member

LVL 20

Prajñā Member

LVL 24

Prajñā Member

LVL 23

This was slightly more concerning than the random shinobi that had attacked them the day before. He was sure that with their presence, there wasn't a real threat, but he couldn't relax. There was still that betrayal. He wasn't sure when it'd come, or how it'd play out, just that it was coming.

"We are grateful for this opportunity to discuss peace." The leader of the Konoha group said. It was just generic political motions as were required for such a situation. The others added in their parts before the other party responded.

"The Land of Woods is pleased to meet with you. Did you bring the scroll?" The other leader asked.

"Of course, we'd hate to ruin this alliance before it began." He responded, producing a scroll from an unseen seal. Itachi was put on edge before taking a deep breath. There was something wrong with this. It was as if it was a planned interaction, like they knew they were being watched.

He caught Kakashi's eye and motioned towards the group below. He nodded in understanding and they got ready to make a move upon the group below.

"Thank you for the information. Now all you have to do is hand over your scroll and we'll call this a successful step towards peace." the Prajñā member said. He held out his hand for the scroll.

"Of course. Here's the information." There was a small grin that creeped onto the Konoha nin's face. Itachi prepared for combat.

"Thank you. We'll just check this and be on our way." Kakashi moved around to catch a glimpse at what was on the scroll. Within moments, Kakashi leapt down to attack. Itachi followed suit.

Battle!

Preemptive Strike!

You take the initiative!

It was a 3 on 1 battle at minimum, so Itachi immediately went for a debilitating move. He scrolled through the menus,

Genjutsu

Crow Storm,

and quickly subdued the Konoha nin. They all were afflicted with the Paralyzed attribute for 2 turns. Itachi couldn't risk putting any more chakra into the attack in case others showed up.

He scrolled through again and selected Kunai as his attack. Itachi felt a bit of panic. Even with his stat boosts and advantage going in, his attack still left the first enemy with a third of his health. He could only take care of one of them before his genjutsu wore off.

There was another disadvantage he was at. He had no idea how Kakashi was doing. He paused for a moment. There was nothing he could do until he took out the threat before him. So he finished off the injured enemy and prepared for the retaliation.

A number of kunai were sent Itachi's way. He took the hits as he learned long ago there was nothing he could do about it. Already it felt like he'd be cutting it a bit close with his HP meter. His turn came around again. He could just use more kunai attacks and conserve stamina just in case, or he could use another skill to finish it quicker.

He thought about it for a moment, and went through his menus.

Skills

Dual Slash.

Itachi got a small amount of satisfaction from watching the enemy go down in a single turn. The last enemy hesitated a moment before attempting to Flee.

A timer started counting down at the top of Itachi's vision. He had 10 seconds to deal enough damage to cancel the Flee attempt. Even with just the basic Kunai, it was enough. Then Itachi simply waited for his turn again, and finished off the enemy.

Battle Victory! You gain 1160 (+348) XP!

The world returned to normal, and Itachi caught the last of Kakashi's battle. It'd taken them both about the same amount of time to kill of the members of the Prajñā group. He retrieved the scroll and tossed it to Itachi.

Information Scroll (Quest Item):

This scroll was supposed to only have some low level secrets as a sign of trust. Instead, it has vital information that could compromise Konoha missions.

So this is what the betrayal had been. He stowed away the scroll to turn in later with the paperwork. Kakashi had started on cleanup but stopped and walked up to Itachi.

"Looks like 'Crow' would be a fitting codename for you." He remarked. "Although I have to say, you're efficiency is a bit concerning."

"What's the problem?" Itachi asked. "They were posing a threat to the village. I took care of the threat, as expected of me." Kakashi removed his mask.

"Devotion to the village and the Shinobi code is a dangerous route." His tone was off putting to Itachi. It was clear that Kakashi was telling him not to follow this path. "It will cause problems if you neglect your friends."

"I see…" Itachi said. The Gamer's Mind came to his thoughts. He'd just killed some Konoha ninja without hesitation. He hadn't even thought about capturing them for more information, or even about showing the slightest bit of mercy. They'd been traitors, but they'd also been fellow shinobi of the Leaf, even if he hadn't known them. "I'll keep your words in mind." He bowed.

"Alright then," Kakashi's face immediately lightened up. "Let's return to the village." They packed up the last of the corpses and headed out. Itachi put the prospect of paperwork out of his mind.

The journey back was a lot less strict and formal for the duo. Itachi and Kakashi talked to take up the time as they travelled. It was nothing of importance, just small talk. It made the trip back a lot more bearable without the silence or the mission hanging above them.

Kakashi had been kind enough to take up the paperwork for this mission, though Itachi got the feeling it wasn't out of kindness, and so he was free to return home. But he stopped himself. Kakashi's words about friends echoed in his mind and he remembered that he'd wanted to spar with Shisui. He'd been meaning to for a while.

He reversed his direction, and headed towards Shisui's favorite training grounds.