"Captain? Captain?!"
"Huh?" I turned to the three figures behind me.
"Should we head back captain?" The man in the weasel mask asked.
"Stop calling me captain." I huffed, my arms crossing over my chest as I turned my attention back to the large estate.
"But--."
I swiftly waved off the comment before he could finish. "But you're right, our mission is done here. Let's get going before they notice we are still here." I murmured, turning back towards the forest.
"Yes, captain." The other three ANBU members answered in unison.
My eyes twitched in irritation, 'These guys don't take a hint.' I sighed jumping up to the nearest branch. The sound of pitter-patter followed closely behind. This mission was a total waste of my time, why Tsunade felt the need to put me in charge of an ANBU mission at a time when the village needed the most protection was beyond me. The journey back to the village was going to take us 2 days.
The wind shifted, an ominous feeling clung to the surrounding atmosphere.
"I don't like this," I whispered, my eyes darting to the surrounding areas as we rush through the tree tops.
"Did you say, something captain?"
"Nothing. I told you to stop calling me captain." I murmured turning back to the man with the weasel mask. His head immediately dropped in shame, his face no doubt held an expression of dismay. A frustrated sigh escaped me.
"I didn't mean to sound harsh... Being a captain is something... It's just a sore spot for me." I spoke, memories of my time as captain in the police force rushed my consciousness, a sudden pang hit my heart as I thought of all people I killed.
"I loved being a captain... But I failed the people I was meant to lead and it cost them their lives."
"What do you mean?"
'Shit! Did I say that out loud?!' I screamed at myself.
"Ignore what I said. If you want to call me captain, you can." I replied, shaking my head and quickly pushing ahead of the group.
∞
The looming feeling still clung to me. 'Something is going to happen.' My teeth sunk into my bottom lip, my right hand propping beneath my chin.
"We have been wasting too much time. We need to get back." I yelled down to the three men who sat comfortably at the base of the tree.
"But we just stopped." One of the men protested.
"We need to go now!" I yelled taking off in the direction of the village.
I didn't look back to make sure the others were following, my priority was getting back to the village as soon as I could. We were still hours away from the village but I was betting I could make it back in half the time.
My feet hit each branch with such a severe force that they almost broke under my weight. The vague sounds of people calling out to me muffled in the background of my racing thoughts. Suddenly something caught my attention. My body came to a staggering halt.
'He is here.'
My body pivoted to the left, my head cocking over my shoulder, the three ANBU members had finally caught up to me. They were all out of breath, one doubled over in exhaustion as he clutched his knees.
My eyes fluttered shut as I honed in on his chakra. 'Northeast.'
"You finally stopped." The man in a fox mask huffed.
"You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up," I spoke turning in the direction of where I sensed his chakra.
"But--." One began to protest.
"Get back to the village... I have a feeling something bad is going to happen."
"What do you mean?!"
"It's just a feeling at the moment... But I sense something ominous moving in the air."
"A feeling... That's not much to go on captain."
"Listen to your captain and get going!" I barked, pointing them towards the village in the same manner a mother would point a disobedient child to their room. The three reluctantly accepted and continued on without me.
I swung down my feet silently landing on the hard forest floor.
The sudden overwhelming feeling of a dominating figure materialized behind me. An uneasy feeling settled over me. 'Why show up now?'
"What do you want?" I asked, my body turned, eyes locking onto the masked man.
"Thought I'd let you know that the village is about to be attacked, and since both you and 9 tails jinchuriki are away, the village's defenses are severely lacking. Making it all the easier to destroy." His words coated in his thick voice caused a shiver to rack through my body.
Rage filled me, "I should kill you!" I growled taking a step in his direction.
His hands came up in a laughable effort to defend himself. "Better hurry back or you won't have a village waiting for you."
His voice suddenly regressed into a playful childish tone. My head cocked in confusion. I had never heard this side of him before. It was like his entire character had changed, like I was talking to a different person altogether, a child even.
"Oh and don't worry I am keeping a special eye on your beloved as well."
Just as quickly as is playful tone settled in, his dark and raspy voice replaced it. My eyes widened, "Don't you dare hurt him understand! I'll hunt you down and kill you!" I snarled lunging forward.
"Tick Tock, the village is waiting Shiori." His body suddenly began to warp. It was as if the space around his body was slowly collapsing onto itself and spiraling into the point of where his sharingan was exposed.
I stopped dead in my tracks, I was inundated with confusion.
"Kamui?"
My voice was barely above a whisper, my eyes fixated to the point where the masked man disappeared. 'I am sure that was Kamui... That was Kakashi's mangekyo sharingan... But it can't be Kakashi... So the masked man isn't Madara, then who is it?' My mind was racing a mile a minute, another Uchiha was still alive. 'Was he the one responsible for the 9 tails attack? Madara was dead all this time.'
It was a moment before I realized that my body was trembling. 'Who was that man?' The words repeated over and over in my head, the words echoed in every sulcus in my brain. It felt like the world was spinning.
"Get it together Shiori!" I yelled, my hands clutching my head, my fingers digging painfully into my scalp. "Get it together you have to save the village!"
My body quickly straightened, my eyes clenching shut.
"Bodyflicker."
Opening my eyes I was met with utter devastation.
"I am too late!"
YOU ARE READING
Truth: Itachi Uchiha Love Story
Fanfiction∞ Indicates a time skip Some chapters may include spoilers to the anime/manga. "Can you help me with some training?" His question didn't even register in my mind, I was lost in my own thoughts of Itachi. Since that night it had been hard to look S...
