Never Forget

A New Skill

Chapter 24

'Kira, although I have full confidence in your abilities, I'm requesting backup.'

'What? To be honest, Lady Tsunade, this is a bit of a personal mission. I'd feel bad if we dragged too many people into it.'

'Just one. I'm just sending one person.'

I frowned. One person? I already had quite the assortment of ninja: Kakashi, Sakura, Naruto, Neji, and Hinata. Who else could I possibly be missing? The rest of the original Eleven were staying in the village to help rebuild it after Pein's attack, so it wasn't any of them. Could it be another Jonin?

We were traveling at a moderate pace toward the location Sasuke was last seen at, according to scouts from Iwagakure. Itachi had hypothesized that Sasuke would roam around for a while until finding a clue as to where his brother was; Itachi had this all planned out too, but would wait a while longer to account for our traveling time.

'By the way, Itachi, what are you going to do when he finds you? What will you tell him?'

'I'm going to pretend to be a really scary person who wants his eyes for myself. Isn't that great?'

'Well, not really. Why would you want his eyes? Don't you have your own?'

'According to ancient folklore – and by ancient, I mean records that still exist – '

'So not ancient at all.'

' – okay, yeah, not really ancient. But the Mangekyou Sharingan eventually causes blindness, which can only be cured by taking the eyes of a brother. Well, of a sibling, but in my case, that's Sasuke.'

'So you're going to tell him that you're hungry for his eyes and then he'll kill you? That's what you want? What if he takes your eyes?'

'That'd be good, as long as he kills me. Isn't that obvious?'

I went silent for a moment, thinking about it. Itachi, who could somewhat read my thoughts since he was a constant presence inside my head, sighed.

'Look, Kira, I know we've bonded or whatever over the years, but you knew this day was going to come. Don't be sad that I'll die – instead, protect Sasuke and fight the real enemy.'

'Madara?'

'Yes. And, more importantly, Sasuke's dark thoughts. The healthiest and best outcome would be for him to realize his mistakes himself, and to return to Konoha as a happier man. If all goes to hell, I hereby give you permission to kidnap him.'

'Dude, we've been somewhat chasing him for years. You think we can just kidnap him and call it good?'

'Aren't you supposed to be strong or something?'

'Aren't you supposed to be smart?'

'Shut up,' Itachi said, adopting a childish tone. 'I'm going to die soon, and you decide to insult me?'

'Stop treating your death like such an unimportant thing! It's incredibly important!'

'Yes, because Sasuke – '