An ANBU operative landed on the fence just as Kenji pulled his marked kunai from the splintered training post.
"Hokage-sama's order," the masked shinobi said. "Kakashi Hatake is heading for the southern perimeter. You are to join him."
Kenji brushed a thin layer of wood dust from the ink seal with his thumb and slid the weapon into his pouch.
Kakashi was waiting near the southern checkpoint. A small squad of ANBU followed at a distance as they crossed the tree line, disappearing among the branches once Kakashi and Kenji picked up speed.
Kenji fell into step beside Kakashi. They moved quickly through the branches, the dense afternoon humidity clinging to the leaves.
"Don't let the sword stay on you," Kenji said.
Kakashi glanced sideways without breaking his stride. "Because?"
"It eats chakra."
Kakashi looked at him a second longer than necessary. "How did you figure that out?"
"Research."
"You don't research."
Kenji looked offended. "I research important things."
"Women don't count."
"That's a very narrow definition of knowledge."
Kakashi dropped the joke. "Orochimaru tried to take Sasuke. A few days later, Itachi crosses the border."
Kenji said nothing.
Kakashi glanced at him once, then returned his attention to the trees ahead.
They found the Akatsuki members a short distance off the main forest road. Kisame sat comfortably on a broad, flat rock with Samehada propped against his shoulder, while Itachi stood a few paces away beneath a massive oak.
Both of them were already watching the tree line when Kakashi and Kenji stepped into the clearing.
Kisame caught sight of Kenji and broke into a wide, jagged grin. "There he is."
Kenji slowed to a halt beside Kakashi. "That's a surprisingly warm welcome."
Kisame looked pointedly at Kenji's right hand. "You caught Samehada with it. Hard to forget."
Kenji raised both hands briefly, palms out. "I've got two now."
Kisame laughed, a deep, rumbling sound that echoed across the stone. Kakashi gave Kenji the exhausted, sidelong look he was becoming exceptionally good at producing.
Itachi didn't participate in the joke. His dark eyes settled on Kenji, the gaze steady and unblinking. Kenji felt the weight of the assessment and decided he honestly preferred the giant, chakra-eating sword.
Kakashi took the official lead. "You've crossed Fire Country and stopped three miles from Konoha. What do you want?"
"Information," Itachi answered simply.
Kakashi waited for the rest of the explanation. None came.
Kisame looked up at the sky, then over toward the distant village walls. "Your patrols have been shadowing us for hours. The scenery improved when you arrived."
"Careful," Kenji warned him. "People will talk."
Kisame chuckled again. Even Itachi gave Kisame a brief sideways glance before returning his attention to Kenji.
Kakashi steered the conversation back to the problem at hand. "Is this about Sasuke?"
"The rumors out of the Rice Fields say Orochimaru's extraction failed," Kisame noted, resting a hand on his knee.
Kakashi offered nothing.
Kenji stepped into the silence. "Sasuke refused Orochimaru."
Itachi's eyes shifted directly from Kakashi to Kenji.
Kakashi turned his head toward Kenji.
Kenji ignored the look.
"Refused?" Itachi asked.
Kenji shrugged. "Orochimaru wanted him. Sasuke didn't volunteer."
Itachi held his gaze. "His condition?"
"Alive. Angry. Currently losing a fight with his own ribs."
"He's not supposed to be fighting anything," Kakashi muttered.
"Tell him that," Kenji replied.
Itachi held Kenji's gaze for another moment. "You avoided my eyes during our first meeting," he said.
"Your bingo-book entry isn't exactly flattering," Kenji deflected smoothly.
Itachi didn't challenge the excuse. He looked toward Kisame's shoulder. "And Samehada?"
"Large sword covered in bandages carried by a shark man," Kenji said. "I made an educated guess."
Kisame let out a loud bark of laughter. "Shark man?"
Kenji looked at him. "Was that the inaccurate part?"
Kakashi looked away for half a second, suspiciously interested in the tree line.
Itachi's expression didn't change.
His eyes stayed on Kenji.
Kenji let it go on for another few seconds before raising an eyebrow. "You got what you came for?"
Kisame looked at Itachi.
Itachi paused before giving a slight nod. "Enough."
"Excellent." Kenji nodded toward the road leading south. "Nobody has to destroy several acres of Fire Country today."
Kisame rose from the rock and pulled Samehada off his shoulder, settling both hands on the handle. "I wouldn't say that."
Kenji looked at the weapon. "Of course you wouldn't."
"I've been wondering about something since the last time," Kisame said, stepping off the rock.
"Whether sharks need moisturizer?"
Kisame ignored the joke. "Whether you'd catch it again."
He swung.
Kenji didn't wait for the heavy blade to complete its arc. He felt the shift in Kisame's muscles a fraction of a second before the strike launched and moved before Samehada had fully gathered speed.
He didn't catch the sword. He vanished.
Kenji reappeared beside Kisame instead of retreating into the trees. He drove an Armament-coated fist upward toward the taller man's ribs. Kisame shifted his grip, catching the punch against the thick wooden hilt of his sword.
The impact cracked the stone beneath Kisame's sandals.
As Kisame pushed back to swing again, Kenji's fingers grazed the heavy bandages wrapping the blade. He didn't try to tear them. He left a thin, invisible strand of elastic chakra attached to the fabric.
Kisame pulled Samehada back to begin another sweeping strike, and the elastic strand snapped tight. Instead of fighting the pull, Kenji let it drag him forward.
He shot across the gap with the returning blade, slipped inside Kisame's reach, and drove an Armament-coated elbow into his chest.
The blow moved the giant man back two full steps. Kisame dug his heels into the dirt, coughing once before his grin returned wider than before. He looked down at the bandages, feeling the strange, taut pull of the elastic chakra.
"You stuck something to my sword."
"You're very observant," Kenji said, dropping into a lighter stance.
Kisame tugged the weapon experimentally. "Annoying."
"That's usually the review."
Kakashi held his ground near the edge of the clearing, positioned between Itachi and the road back toward Konoha. His visible eye followed Kenji and Kisame, but his body remained angled toward Itachi.
Itachi hadn't moved from beneath the oak.
His eyes followed the exchange in silence.
Kenji could feel Itachi tracking every movement from the edge of his vision. When he threw another marked kunai, Itachi's gaze followed the blade all the way to the ground.
Kenji's next marker disappeared behind a cluster of rocks instead.
Kisame shifted his footing and slowly rolled Samehada through his hands. The elastic strand stretched, slackened, then tightened again as he tested how it responded.
Kisame rested Samehada against his shoulder. "Much better."
Kenji flexed his right hand, working the numbness from his fingers. "You haven't seen the annoying stuff yet."
Kisame's grin widened.
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