"Damn it... just... damn it all!"
Kakashi Hatake was having the absolute worst day. It was a masterclass in shinobi misfortune. First, he'd been publicly humiliated and used as a soccer ball by his so-called 'friend,' Might Guy. Now, in the span of a few real-world seconds, he had just endured seventy-two hours of uninterrupted, genjutsu-enhanced kidney stabbing at the hands of Uchiha Itachi. The psychic trauma was a unique and exquisite form of torture.
"I'm done... I'm just so tired. Let it all end," Kakashi mumbled, completely giving up the struggle. The genjutsu world had broken him. His body, which had been standing rigidly, suddenly went limp, and he collapsed to his knees on the riverbank, sweat pouring down his face as he gasped for air.
"This... this kind of technique... it's unbearable for any human!" he wheezed, looking up with a dazed, utterly defeated expression at the two Akatsuki members.
"Kisame. Secure Kakashi. Let's move," Uchiha Itachi ordered, his voice as calm and monotonous as ever. Now was not the time for a protracted battle; drawing more of Konoha's attention would complicate his true objective.
"Yare yare daze," (Good grief) Kisame Hoshigaki grumbled, a cruel smirk playing on his shark-like features as he swaggered towards the helpless Kakashi. "Makes my job easier."
Just as his hand was about to grab Kakashi's vest, a green blur shot from the treeline with a thunderous battle cry.
"Konoha's Great Whirlwind!!"
It was Might Guy, launching into a powerful spinning kick aimed directly at Kisame's head. The Mist-nin reacted with impressive speed, forming a single hand sign and erecting a wall of water to block the brunt of the attack. The force still sent him skidding backward.
"Tch. Annoying," Kisame spat, readjusting his grip on Samehada.
After forcing the enemy back, Guy landed protectively in front of his rival.
"Sorry I'm late, my eternal rival!" he declared, striking a pose. He then glanced down at the utterly spent Kakashi. "But you're looking a little... wilted today!"
Seeing his backup arrive, Kakashi's last ounce of strength vanished. He slumped forward, completely unconscious. Guy effortlessly hoisted the silver-haired Jonin over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
"Hmph. What a weakling!" Guy chuckled, though his tone was more fond than critical.
Hearing that final jab before fully blacking out, Kakashi's unconscious mind screamed back, 'You try it! You try being spiritually stabbed for three days straight and see how you feel!'
Guy's playful expression vanished as he focused on the two S-rank rogues.
"Uchiha Itachi. Konoha's S-class missing-nin," he identified, his gaze carefully locked on their feet and legs. He'd seen what happened to Kakashi; making eye contact with that Sharingan was a death sentence. Fortunately, his mastery of taijutsu allowed him to read an opponent's movements from their stance alone.
The moment Itachi saw the Green Beast of Konoha, his desire to fight evaporated. This man was a different kind of problem than Kakashi. Without resorting to his most draining techniques, a quick victory was impossible.
"Kisame. We're leaving," Itachi stated, turning to go. He calculated that Guy, burdened with an unconscious comrade, was unlikely to pursue aggressively.
"Go? Where do you think you're going?!" yelled Tenten, brandishing a scroll. Neji fell into the Gentle Fist stance, his Byakugan active. But the most volatile reaction came from Sasuke.
The moment he laid eyes on his brother, Sasuke's world turned crimson. His Sharingan activated instantly, the three tomoe spinning wildly with pure, unadulterated hatred.
"UCHIHA ITACHI!" he screamed, his voice cracking with raw fury. "YOU MOTHERF*CKER!"
Driven by a rage that overrode all sense of self-preservation, Sasuke lunged forward, a kunai gripped tightly in his hand.
Might Guy's eyes widened in alarm.
"Baka! Don't be so reckless!" Even he, the king of head-on assaults, knew better than to charge a genius who had become an Anbu captain at thirteen.
"I'll kill you! I'll f—!" Sasuke's furious scream was cut short as he realized his own folly, but the momentum carried him forward. "I'LL KILL YOU!"
His kunai streaked towards Itachi's throat. To Sasuke, it felt blindingly fast. To Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan, it was slower than a drifting leaf.
Clang.
With a movement too quick to see, Itachi's own kunai, drawn from beneath his robe, effortlessly parried the attack, the sound cold and final.
"Not bad," Itachi commented, his expression a perfect, unreadable mask. Internally, however, he felt a flicker of relief. He's grown. He hasn't succumbed to despair. And the three-tomoe... he's closer than I thought.
Seeing his attack easily blocked, Sasuke leaped back, his hands already flying through the familiar seals. Blue-white electricity crackled to life in his palm, the chirping of a thousand birds shattering the tense silence.
"Raiton: Chidori!" (Lightning Release: Chidori!)
Infusing his body with lightning chakra, Sasuke vanished in a burst of speed, reappearing behind his brother. But instead of aiming for the heart or spine, his Chidori-laden hand was angled upwards, aimed squarely at Itachi's backside!
Itachi's eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly. 'This move... who the hell has been teaching him?!' The attack pattern was disgustingly familiar, reminding him of old Anbu files on a certain eccentric.
"DIE!" Sasuke roared, convinced he was about to achieve a most undignified victory.
"Naive."
The Itachi in front of him dissolved into a murder of crows. The real Itachi was already behind him.
"I told you," Itachi said, his voice cold as ice. "Come back to me when you have these eyes."
With a casual, almost dismissive motion, he delivered a powerful kick to Sasuke's rear, sending the boy flying headfirst into the river with a massive splash.
Gasping and sputtering, Sasuke clawed his way out of the water, his chakra nearly depleted from the Chidori. But his hatred was an endless fuel.
"Don't... underestimate me!" he snarled, preparing to charge again with pure taijutsu. "Taijutsu Ōgi:–"
"It's time to end this," Itachi interrupted, his voice dropping. He could sense multiple chakra signatures converging on their location. Konoha's reinforcements were arriving.
He turned, and his Mangekyō Sharingan swirled with malevolent intent. "Genjutsu: Tsukuyomi."
Sasuke's world dissolved into a monochrome nightmare. For an entire day and night within a single second, he was forced to watch, helpless, as a phantom Itachi repeatedly ran his parents through with a long sword. The image of his brother's emotionless face during the massacre was seared into his mind with fresh, agonizing clarity. Had Itachi not been holding back, his little brother's psyche would have shattered then and there.
With a choked gasp, Sasuke's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed. Sakura Haruno, who had been watching with terrified eyes, rushed forward and caught him before he hit the ground, cradling his head in her lap.
"Sasuke-kun!" she cried.
"Sasuke!" Naruto yelled, his hands clenching into fists, ready to charge.
"Don't be impulsive!" Might Guy commanded, holding an arm out to block the furious Naruto and the others. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. He was already weakened from his earlier use of the Eight Gates. Protecting so many youngsters against two S-class opponents was a nearly impossible task. He could only pray the disturbance had attracted someone powerful.
His prayers were answered. Someone had, in fact, been watching for a while. Namikaze Raimon had arrived just as Kakashi had succumbed to the genjutsu. He'd chosen to observe, partly because he believed a little suffering was good for the Copy Ninja.
'Serves him right for blindly following Hiruzen's idiotic rules and neglecting Naruto all these years,' Raimon thought, his opinion of Kakashi permanently stained by the man's inaction.
But seeing his beloved nephew Naruto gearing up for a suicidal charge, Raimon decided the show was over. He stepped out from behind a large tree with a casual air.
"Uncle!" Naruto's face lit up with immediate relief and excitement. "Hurry! Make that guy's butt explode!"
The moment Raimon appeared, the atmosphere shifted. Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki immediately tensed, their expressions darkening. They hadn't sensed his presence at all. To get so close undetected meant this man was either a master of stealth or his power simply dwarfed their own perceptual abilities.
Itachi's face grew grim as he recognized the man from old Anbu intelligence files.
"Namikaze... Raimon?" he murmured, a deep sense of foreboding washing over him.
Raimon offered a lazy, almost mocking wave. "Yo~ Uchiha's little paragon of filial piety? Done tormenting children for the day?"