Chapter 124

Sakura found herself compelled to say something more to father, to tell him not to be so judgmental towards Sasuke, to give him a chance. But of course, Sasuke was sitting right there next to her. So instead she merely remained silent, letting her father leave without another word; after the bathroom door was shut, Sakura put her hands together to form a specialized sign that would release the technique she had cast in the room. Genjutsu, she decided, was her best friend at the moment.

"Okay, the coast is clear," she said to Sasuke, who had been sitting completely still through the whole exchange, just like she had instructed him.

He gave a grunt, which she could not interpret, and got to his feet. Saying nothing to her, he left the room in an angry manner, an eerie silence following after him. She watched the open door for a long while afterwards, guilt creeping up inside of her and wrapping its thorny tendrils around her stomach. She curled up in a ball, hugging her knees despairingly, listening to the sound of the shower.

There was a light knock on the door to Itachi's chambers; slowly he looked up from sharpening his kunai, glancing at the door. There was a quick scuffling, and Nariko scrambled to her feet, running towards the door, an eager-to-please expression on her face. The girl was probably six or seven years younger than himself, but she acted like a child sometimes, appreciating things that he had stopped caring about long ago—it was a little…he didn't have a word to describe it. The door creaked open as the she pried it open, peering out into the hall; he noted that she quickly jumped aside, repressing a squeak as she recognized the person who had come to call.

Kisame walked into the room without waiting for a word and ignored Nariko, who was somewhat hiding behind the door at his entrance. The Akatsuki members rather terrified the Jinchuuriki, and she tried to avoid crossing their paths if possible. Hidan, Kakuzu, Zetsu and Deidara terrified her—their less than human specializations causing her to put great distance between them and herself. She had once been unfortunate enough to walk in when Hidan had been performing another one of his self-mutilating rituals, and hadn't been the same for days.

And while she saw a lot of Kisame, as he was Itachi's partner on the Akatsuki missions, she did not care for him much either—she had once confided to Itachi that Kisame's sharp and pointed teeth reminded her of fang-bearing animals she saw in her dreams. It did not take much thought for Itachi to figure out that it was the Weasel tormenting her in her sleep. The seal on her was weak then, he deduced, otherwise it would not have access to her mind.

"What is it?" he asked Kisame levelly as he entered the room.

"Mission briefing," Kisame grunted in return, holding out a set of scrolls towards him, "Found another one, and he wants you along on the trip, could be a handful this one."

With a cold look, Itachi snatched the scrolls away from the missing Mist ninja and set one aside, "I don't have time to be going about hunting down others; I have got my own to deal with. He should know that, seeing as he was the one who assigned me to the task in the first place."

"You, girl," Kisame stated, turning towards Nariko, who jumped nervously at being addressed, "Out."

Itachi nodded as she gave him a questioning look, and she quickly left the room, keeping her gaze on the ground. She was used to being given such orders and obeyed them as soon as he gave her a sign that she was to comply. Once the door was closed behind her, and Itachi felt her unguarded chakra signature leave the immediate area, he looked at Kisame.

"What?" he asked, unfurling the scroll he had in his hand.

"He wants you along on this capture—Shichibi this time," Kisame growled, "Supposed to be very clever, recon mission says that the host is clever too."

"As I said, I have my own brat to take care of," replied coolly, "If anything, send her, she is clever. Or send Deidara and Tobi—Tobi can confuse the Jinchuuriki with his stupidity."

Kisame gave a twisted smirk, all the sharp teeth showing. "Deidara doesn't want to go because he'll have to take Tobi. He wants to avoid that if possible. Anyways, I'm just the messenger—read the mission report, the mission'll be pretty quick."

Itachi scanned the first few lines before looking up again, "It is in the Land of Lightning—it will take months; if it was quick, he would send Deidara and Tobi, not you and me. She would also be better suited to this, she would know the land."

He paused to scan over the scroll to gain a little more scope on the mission, "Not only that but he wants us to make a side trip to the Land of Rain to deliver instructions the subordinates there. I do not want to go on this mission."

"Why are you so concerned about leaving the brat here?" Kisame asked, "She's not going to drop dead of malnourishment anymore."

"The seal placed on her, to hold the demon within her body, is very poorly made," he elaborated, staring resolutely at the floor, "Its consciousness seeps into hers while she sleeps—this should not happen if the seal is functioning properly. It may be able to gain some control over her."

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