Once More by ItsHardToFindAPenName

Chapter 28: Despair

"This is Naruto Uzumaki, as you asked me to capture."

Pain glared at the unconscious body of the blonde jinchuriki on the ground. "Are you sure it was really him? And was he secured?"

"Yes," Itachi nodded. "So now that he's here, are the terms of the Blood Oath expired?"

Pain raised an eyebrow.

"Going straight to the point, huh? Yes, indeed, your side of the contract is completed."

He pulled out a scroll with a bloody handwriting on the cover. Before the eyes of everyone in the room, it started burning away. The Uchiha's eyes followed it until there was nothing left but a pile of ash.

"So what are you going to do with him?" Kisame looked at the boy on the ground. "Are you going to keep him here until we manage to gather all the other jinchuriki?"

"Of course," Pain answered calmly. "But before that..."

He stretched out his arm, and Naruto's body rose from the ground slowly until they were face to face.

Then...

SQUELCH!

"There," Pain said; his face was still disgustingly calm. "That will ensure he cannot try to get out of here."

To the horror of a few people in the room, including Konan, both of the blonde jinchuriki's arms were cut off cleanly by the sharp, black rod in the Rinnegan wielder's hand. The others, however, howled with laughter and mocking lines.

Only Itachi's face didn't show any change in expression. He calmly walked up and picked up the two arms. "Can I keep them?"

"Why?" the Leader of Akatsuki said; his Rinnegan drilled into Itachi's eyes.

"Well, it's just a matter of pride to me," the Uchiha shrugged. "I can't even keep a trophy for my victory?"

"I didn't know you like to keep trophies for your victories, Itachi," Kisame raised an eyebrow. "I thought only Orochimaru liked those kinds of thing."

Itachi just shrugged again.

"Very well, I will let you," Pain's voice cut through the air. "But before that, you will need to do one thing. It is just something to prove your loyalty to the organization."

Itachi calmly met the Rinnegan with his own eyes. "And that thing is...?"

"Destroy the right arm. Completely. In front of me."

Itachi's eyes narrowed. "Why do you need to...?"

"Do it, right now." Pain's voice once again seemed to be like a knife piercing the suffocating air. "Or are you trying to defy my will?"

Itachi didn't say anything for a while. Then, he threw the right arm to the ground, and with just a glance, the arm was incinerated in a small Amaterasu flame.

"Good," Pain nodded. In his face, there was a hint of satisfaction. "You have done well, Itachi Uchiha. Take a nice, long rest; you deserve it."

Itachi just looked at the Leader with a face completely devoid of emotion. Then, with a curt nod, he retreated from the room.

When everyone else had disappeared from the door leading to the room, Konan, the only one left, asked tentatively.

"Is it really necessary?"

Pain turned his eyes toward her. "Are you trying to defy the will of God too, Konan?"

The blue-haired woman cringed a bit under the glare.

"No, but... isn't that too cruel? You didn't need to do that at all..."

"Sooner or later, that jinchuriki will wake up," the body of Yahiko cut her short. "And at that time, he will find out how helpless he is without being able to do anything. And that's when he understands true pain."