A tryst with destiny (Tales of a Gutsy Ninja - 2)

Chapter 16 : The Gedo Mazo

Aira P.O.V

Aira: Um...what are doing?

Obito: Aira-tan doesn't know? Tobi is surprised!

Aira: Um...I do know some things but...even I don't know what goes on in the heads of-

Obito: No, no, no...Aira~tan definitely knows Tobi. Aira-tan recognized Tobi back in Konoha...

He was still speaking in that squeaky, childish voice but I could feel the sarcasm behind his words. Obito is...scary.

Aira: No...what I meant is, why aren't we fighting? Why are you happily guiding us to the Akatsuki's hideout?

Obito: See? Aira-tan already knows that we are going towards the Akatsuki hideout!

I bit my lip to keep my angry retorts back. Obito was REALLY testing my patience. Not only was he making us WALK all the way to the hideout instead of teleporting us there, he also kept evading all of my questions.

Saaya was with us, but...her eyes had such a blank look that it screamed of genjutsu.

Aira: How long do you intend to keep Saaya trapped in a genjutsu? The one you have business with, is me right? Just because she is a hostage doesn't mean you need to-

Obito: Don't worry! Tobi is a good boy so he let Saaya-chan sleep in a genjutsu! Aira-tan also uses genjutsu to make people relax, doesn't she?

So...Saaya was kept in a genjutsu to prevent her from struggling? Apart from that, Obito is subtly telling me that he knows exactly how I use my jutsus. That I use my genjutsus to relax people and not to hurt their minds like most genjutsus do.

Aira: You really have no intentions of revealing your intentions, do you?

Obito: Tobi-kun just wants it to be a surprise for Aira-tan!

I sighed quietly and walked alongside Saaya and Obito. Unlike when I was watching Naruto as an anime, I couldn't find Tobi cute. He was irritating and...lethal. Far from cute.

At the Akatsuki hideout

No one was there except us. In fact, the location was different from the one Itachi was at. Great...but why were we here?

Obito: We are not usually at the main base. We work from the many other bases. Tobi is a good boy so he wanted to show Aira-tan the-

Aira: So basically you don't trust your own teammates to leave them in this place. No...they never were your teammates. You are simply using Pain and the Akatsuki...

Obito: Oh? You know how things work at the Akatsuki?

He was no longer using that childish 'Tobi' persona of his. I preferred it this way. I was getting tired of that 'Aira-tan' of his. It made him sound like he was mocking me. Besides when he was showing his true nature, it was easier to predict his course of action.

Aira: Rinnegan doesn't belong to the Uzumaki clan and yet, 'Pain' has it. 'Someone' used a genjutsu on the fourth Mizukage Yagura and. Someone was strong enough to make the nine-tails rampage in Konoha. Someone was strong enough to help Itachi massacre the entire Uchiha clan... They seem unrelated but it's funny how all of these incidents work wonderfully to the New Akatsuki's goals. Pain might be the leader of Akatsuki but...I get a feeling that someone is controlling Pain...

Obito: And why would any of the incidents you mentioned be connected.

Aira: The Rinnegan part of it is simply a assumption on my part. But...the other three all use genjutsu...extremely strong genjutsu. The kind that UCHIHA specialize in.

I could feel him smirking behind that mask of his. But this incident proved something. As long as I can explain(i.e make excuses) for how I know things, I could use my anime memories without worrying about the symbol bleeding.

Obito lead me into the deeper part of the hideout. There were so many twists, turns and secret passages that memorizing the path was extremely hard. He left Saaya at the entrance of the hideout. I...couldn't leave her stuck defenceless in a genjutsu at the Akatsuki hideout. Ignoring how this was going to ruin my plan completely, I used my final teleportation tag to transport Saaya back to Kuroko's hideout. Hopefully Itachi would be able to break the genjutsu on her.

Obito: That tag...did you research Nidaime Hokage, Senju Tobirama's Flying thunder god technique?

Aira: But it is the Yondaime Hokage, Namikaze Minato's use of specially marked kunais that made this easier. Though...I really couldn't make too many of them. Tobirama's version required a high level of natural talent. It needed stamina, speed and a high amount of chakra. Minato's research had considerable simplified it.

Obito: I see

I kept blabbering on about it and Obito seemed genuinely interested in what I knew. But...I wonder what Obito really wanted. From the very beginning, he could have simply held Saaya at kunai-point and forced me to surrender. He could have knocked me out and simply extracted Isobu out of me.

But the place that Obito showed me...it surprised me so much that I couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

Aira: This...is...unbelievable...

Obito: So even someone like you can be surprised, eh?

I couldn't believe my eyes. I had seen the Gedo Mazo statue in the anime...but watching it in person like this...it was so creepy and eerie...

Aira: Why would you lead me to the Gedo Mazo statue?

I had to pretend I didn't know what Madara's plan with this statue is. Other than Madara, Obito and Zetsu, no one knew it's true purpose...not even the Akatsuki...so it would be improbable for an outsider to know what they wanted to use the statue for.

Obito: To think you'd identify the statue the first time you gaze on it...

Aira: I had my suspicions when I heard that you were collecting the tailed beasts. But...I thought the likeliness of this train of thought being true was less than 1%...

Obito: I see. So you consider every situation before you make a move..no matter how small the probability of it happening is. That is quite an admirable trait to have. I think you deserve the gift I have in store for you.

I really had a bad feeling about this 'gift' in store for me...

And that was the last thing I remembered because...at that point, Obito knocked me out. It happened so fast, that I didn't even know how he knocked me out...

Itachi P.O.V

The fact that I could no longer contact Saaya or Aira was a cause of concern.

I was worried about them. I truly did feel that Aira might be what would finally help us match up to Madara but...if Madara realizes that Aira has the chakras of the tailed beasts sealed in her then...it would be too late to protect the world. Not to mention...she did promise to save Sasuke. I wonder if she has realized something that I haven't.

When I went to the Kuroko hideout to check if they were back by any chance, I was shocked to find an unconscious Saaya on the floor. Given the disturbances in her chakra, she must be under a genjutsu...not the harmless type that Aira uses.

The fact that Madara was nowhere around and...Saaya wasn't suppressing Aira's chakra anymore...there was a high chance that Aira did get captured by Madara.

But...Aira seemed like she had a back up plan...I hope it works...

Whatever it is...