Kakashi pushed the pace, running hard enough that his heartbeat was actually picking up from exertion.
The Mizukage was doubtlessly panicking by now. She'd expected them back the day after she sent them out, two days later at most. He could have ordered the small group to return for reinforcements once it became clear that the Mizukage's paramour had been forcibly taken. But he'd thought they could handle it, and might as well return with something to show for their trip.
'It would have been intelligent of her to share the fact that she was talking about her older jinchuuriki,' he thought darkly. If he'd known that the missing man was the same Utakata that had wandered about as a missing nin for years after the death of the fourth Mizukage, he would have sent for reinforcements. If Pakkun hadn't recognized the old Akatsuki's faint scent, they might have barreled into a confrontation with Akatsuki without warning.
"Just a while longer," he raised his voice in encouragement to the younger members of the team. Even Naruto was panting, despite his inhuman endurance. The Sand shinobi were struggling as well, and had been for the last few hours.
"We'd have caught them, if we didn't have to do the stupid borderchecks," Naruto groused for the tenth time.
He tried not to sigh. 'Naruto, that's not the kind of thing one says in front of foreign officials. We can't have our allies thinking that we don't respect our treaties. It's just not good policy.'
Temari grunted, landing hard and skidding in the sand when she leapt over an abandoned trap from some old altercation. "That only works if you're certain you won't get caught," she reminded. "We would have lost a lot more time if we'd ended up in a pointless fight with your or my border guard."
'How fortunate that Temari is as shameless as Naruto. They'd make a cute…'
He cut himself off before he could make a joke about the two of them as a couple, even in the privacy of his own head. That was just begging fate.
Privately, Kakashi suspected that he and Temari could have stealthily passed both borders without issue if they hadn't been accompanied by the younger two shinobi. Both young men were skilled, of course. But Naruto's strengths did not lie in stealth and Kankuro was a near unknown to him. The risk wasn't worth the potential gained time: However it galled Naruto and Temari, she was correct about the consequences of attempting to illegally pass borders when they were so lucky as to have shinobi from both nations in their party with legal papers.
'I'd feel much better if I had a full team that I knew here. Akatsuki is nothing to mess with. If the Mizukage suspected Akatsuki (and she must have, why else would she have chosen to speak with Naruto and Temari of all the people) then she should have sent more than one team.'
Not that there was anything wrong with the sand siblings, of course, but he worked well with Yamato, and he could trust Karin and Sasuke to watch Naruto's back. Having any two of them instead would have been vastly preferable.
'It shouldn't matter. There's just two Akatsuki, and the one is clearly injured.'
That both was and wasn't reassuring. Judging from the signs, the injured Akatsuki nuke-nin wasn't the one that he was concerned about. That left Kakuzu of Waterfall dangerous and perfectly capable. …No, the odds weren't as good as he'd like. This was still reckless. Kakashi moved from assuming all would go well to hoping that Pakkun hadn't been delayed in reporting. Once he'd realized that their chase was taking them through Fire Country, he'd sent the ninken off to report. Hopefully they had reinforcements coming in hot.
"Where do you think they're going?" Naruto puffed out, frustrated as his sandals skidded on sand dunes- certainly not the environs Konoha equipment was best suited for.
Temari's lips were pressed together into a thin line, and her eyes hard. "Far too close to Suna."
True. "I think they're almost to their destination," Kakashi said instead, because he wasn't going to lie to reassure her about the risks of having S-class criminals so close to her home village. "If anything, they're pressing harder. They're trying to reach something- a hideout, or backup." He grimaced. He should have sent his ninken to Suna instead of Konoha when asking for backup. The response time would be shorter. Hindsight, unfortunately.
If it were any other mission, he would have turned the group north towards Suna and counted that getting backup was worth the possibility of losing the trail. But that delay would mean losing any chance of retrieving the Mizukage's jinchuuriki from Akatsuki. Aside from all the political implications that failure would have, he wasn't willing to let Akatsuki do any more harm than they already had.
~~~
Killing intent poisoned the dry air, itching like sand on skin.
"What do you mean you were followed?"
Aiko pressed her fingers against her thighs under her long sleeves, as if that would do something to ward off the chill in Obito's voice. It had to be in her head, but she felt so cold.
That was ridiculous of course, they were in the desert. Even in an underground cavern like this, it was cool at best.
"Isn't that fucking obv- ow!"
Kakuzu cut the skinny Akatsuki off too late.
'I think I made my decision too late.' Aiko tried not to hold her breath, dreading the moment that she knew was approaching. If she'd confronted the fact that she really did not want to aid in another bijuu extraction before Obito had come back, she could have left. Maybe she would have gotten away and been able to figure out what Akatsuki had really wanted her for.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
For a long moment, the only sound was the intentionally audible collision of sandals on stone while Obito stepped towards the entrance that the newest arrivals were still lurking in. She'd been there as long as Obito had, this time, and had watched him summon the monstrous nine-eyed statue, presumably from a museum of modern art. (Or, you know, wherever he'd been keeping it. She hadn't asked).
'And isn't that a creepy mystery? I don't like it. Could it be any more obviously ominous if we had sat down and brainstormed? It looks evil. Like something that we should definitely not be filling with tons of demonic energy.'
Of course no one had asked her opinion on that. After the eyesore had been summoned, they had waited. Zetsu had been next to arrive, which had somehow made waiting slightly less uncomfortable than being alone with Obito. No matter how she'd tried, Aiko hadn't been able to do a good job of pretending that nothing had changed since she'd found out that Obito had fucking lied to her and taken liberties with her body.
'He's got to know that I've been acting off. I'm lucky that he hasn't said anything yet. He will soon.'
She felt trapped and stifled. The cavern was just as bad as the safehouse she'd come straight from via kamui. Her legs practically shook with the need to sprint, to leave her problems as far behind as possible. If she caught a glimpse of the sky, she'd just take off and never stop running.
She didn't want to talk to him about it, didn't really want to have it confirmed and finalized like that. She just wanted to be gone.
But that wasn't an option. Not now, and not while Obito had his eye on her. She was fast on her feet, but he could zip ahead of her if he knew her path. She wouldn't get anywhere while he was around. And lucky her- he hovered when he was worried. He hadn't left her alone in days. She was going to have to convince him that nothing was wrong, somehow, if she wanted him to leave her alone long enough for her to fuck off into the sunset.
'Or I could be honest. Tell him that I know. Maybe he won't hypnotize me into forgetting, despite the fact that we both know he's very skilled in that area and I have no ability. And the fact that he's set a precedent for disregarding my wishes isn't ominous at all. That sounds like it'd play out well. Great idea. Now I just need to figure out where we'll vacation while he ensures that I never have access to information that would let me figure that out again. Maybe Kumo is nice this time of year?'
Yeah, not going to happen. Across the open cavern, the svelte and foul-mouthed young man that had accompanied Kakuzu made the mistake of shifting uncomfortably under Obito's slow show of aggressive movement. Kakuzu was far too steely to show weakness, but he seemed cognizant of the very real possibility that their leader was about to attack them for their startling show of incompetence.
To be fair, they really should have killed off any pursuers long before approaching the area instead of leading enemies there. That didn't make her any less uneasy at the black silence Obito was maintaining.
'How have I not noticed before that he's actually kind of scary? I'll just go on ahead and count the ways that I don't want to be here. My surprisingly scary friend is taking advantage of me, he's about to make me torture some poor chump again, and I have serious doubts about my future with the company because the five-year plan is incoherent and the dental plan is shit. I also have concern about the optical care.'
She licked her lips and dragged herself out of her increasingly hysterical thoughts, grateful for the stupid belled hat that hid her mood. It was also helpful for concealing her grimace at that fucking headache. The light-haired newcomer had no such ability to hide his face— the one Akatsuki she hadn't known had taken off his hat for some reason. Perhaps he'd lost it in a fight with the slim man slumped over his shoulder.
Oddly, she was grateful that those two had been followed, even if that meant she had to fight someone. Any distraction would be good, as long as it put off the inevitable time when she had to help in another slow, drawn-out (unnecessary there's no reason for this Obito's lost it completely) brutal kill of someone who'd already been victimized. Aiko was hardly a bleeding heart, but this was kicking someone who was down for no real reason. That was just not her style.
As if reminded that he was still holding their victi-target, the young Akatsuki let go of the shin in his hand and jerked his shoulder to bump his load to the ground head-first. The jinchuuriki hit the cavern floor with a thud and subsequent clatter of displaced rocks, a pale leg bending at an uncomfortable angle. Apparently he didn't believe in pants, judging by his bare legs. Whatever sandals he'd been wearing were probably in Wave country. Against her will, Aiko glanced at the flash of skin and noted that his loose blue kimono had slipped off his left shoulder, leaving him nearly bare chested. If it weren't for his orange sash, he might have lost his kimono completely from the rough treatment.
Despite his good looks, the visual effect wasn't sensual. She looked away. Disrespecting his body like that was just unnecessary cruelty.
Aiko nearly laughed when she put that rumination in context.
'Ha, no, that's a minor problem at this point. Murdering him is unnecessary. Obito's cracked. His plan makes no sense and we're just going to kill this kid for no reason. Fucking fantastic.'
Lavender-haired boy bared sharp teeth at Obito, despite his poorly hidden discomfort. "We didn't do anything wrong, asshole. Ever think that the problem might have been your shit planning? You were wrong about the Mizukage being unable to send reinforcements, obviously."
He was probably right, but now was obviously not the time to grow a spine. Obito's patience was looking pretty damn short.
If they didn't need that moron, Aiko had no doubt that he would be a bloody smear on the wall right now, judging from Obito's posture. In lieu of that, the best he could do was terrify the brat into compliance. Of course, he didn't intimidate the crude way that other men might have. Whenever Obito used his bulk as intimidation, it seemed to be an accident. Of course, maybe that was just the impression he wanted to give. How would she know the difference?
'I never knew him, did I? The guy I knew wouldn't lie to me about something this big. The guy I thought I knew wouldn't have felt the need to pretend that jinchuuriki aren't people to justify what he wanted. I don't think even Obito knows what's going on in Obito's head.'
Obito took a graceful step in, raising one hand slowly –the pointy-teethed boy tensed, too proud to step away and admit fear- and Obito gently tucked a bit of hair behind the other man's ear and let his arm rest on the shorter man's shoulder, fingers stroking the hair at the back of his neck. His face was so close that the younger Akatsuki had to tilt his jaw straight up to keep eye contact with the dark holes in that ghastly orange mask.
He all but purred, "Who is following you?"
'Aiieeee, why you gotta be so creepy? That's not cool.'
She took a moment to be glad it wasn't her that he was lurking over. She thought she might shrink away from his touch at the moment.
Anyone who was willing to drug her and authorize surgery on her was someone she couldn't trust to have her best interests in mind. And she'd seen how he treated people he didn't need. Aiko swallowed, forcing down the same tingle of unease that had been twisting in her stomach all week.
'I don't want to be near him.'
And fuck, of all the stupid things, she felt guilty for that. She couldn't get her head around Obito being the person who had taken care of her for as long as she remembered and being the person who had tricked and used her. It just didn't make sense. She didn't want to hurt him or confront him (because that would mean dealing with that ugly truth). She just wanted away.
If he'd left her at all alone since she'd realized he was going to make her extract another bijuu, she probably would have tried her luck on the road.
Kakuzu stepped in, apparently bored with watching Obito intimidate his partner. "Konoha, I believe," he rumbled distastefully. She could practically hear his lip curl. "A dog man has followed us since we crossed Fire Country's borders. No one else could have been on our trail so persistently. I have not seen the team in person, however. They have come as close as ten miles to us before we lost them for a time."
Obito growled, roughly whipping his arm back and stalking away. He paced like a trapped tiger, apparently blind to the wide-eyed observation of the other Akatsuki. Even Zetsu leaned away when Obito veered a little too close on his angry circuit.
She sucked her lower lip in and bit at the flesh, not letting her wary attention slip off of her friend and nominal leader. It wasn't the most stable he had ever looked.
Reluctant, he stopped long enough to concede that, "Perhaps this is merely poor luck." Obito exhaled sharply, deciding something. "We'll have to take care of them. Since you two have been spotted" - he leveled what must have been a dirty look at Kakuzu and the new kid—"you will accompany me to deal with your pursuers before we begin the extraction."
'Obito is going to take care of this personally?' Aiko was nearly surprised, until she remembered his vendetta against Konoha. No matter what he said, he was bitter about his old village. Of course he'd take their potential interference as a personal affront. A bitter smile pulled at her lips. 'That almost works in my favor. I'm finally getting some time away from him.'
So close, but yet so far. She wasn't going anywhere with Zetsu hanging around to watch her. Obito might not have said that, but it was clear to her that he was her watcher- it might be intended to provide for her safety, but the supervision would keep her from running.
An indignant yowl split the air and tore her out of her depressed lethargy with a start. The young Akatsuki had leveled a rude finger at Aiko. She managed not to jump, despite suddenly being the center of attention. "Make one of them do something," the teen ordered, tilting his hips. "I don't see why I should do all the work."
The sound of flesh meeting flesh rang out. Aiko blinked- she hadn't even seen Obito move, but the boy was sprawled on his rear and gaping, one hand held to his reddening cheek.
"Don't whine, Suigetsu-chan," Obito chided brightly, kneeling to address the young man on level ground. "She needs her chakra, ne, since she'll be picking up your slack later. Zetsu will stay here as well because he isn't a combat specialist. Any other complaints?"
He kept talking, but Aiko was hung up on that last bit.
'I didn't know that Zetsu wasn't a fighter.' She licked her lips, and determinedly did not look at anyone else and risk giving away her thoughts. 'Come to think of it, I've never seen him fight. He's a spy, isn't he? He uses stealth and poison, I think. That doesn't lend itself to stellar combat skills. Maybe I could take him."
Her heartbeat was picking up speed.
It was a crazy thought. It'd never work unless she got lucky, and when the hell had she ever been lucky? But it still appealed to her.
"If everyone else leaves- if Obito leaves and then I get rid of Zetsu, I could make a run for it. He wouldn't expect it. He thinks I'm an airheaded princess.'
Of course, that would mean her escape would leave a casualty, and she hadn't wanted to be confrontational. …Aiko found that she cared a lot less about that drawback when the casualty was Zetsu.
The idea had a certain sense of symmetry to it. This was where Zetsu had eaten Fuu- and she'd helped kill Fuu, Aiko wouldn't deny that, but what Zetsu had done went beyond the pale. Of course, this Suigetsu brat apparently had about as much respect for their enemies as Zetsu. Had he been the one who laughed last time?
'I hate my coworkers.'
Well, whatever. Suigetsu was probably a douchebag. Kakuzu appeared to be the only half-sane person present, but he didn't make it worth sticking around this madness.
Nothing would. Killing Zetsu would be a little bit of justice for poor Fuu. Sure, she felt guilty for inadvertently benefitting from Fuu's murder by taking it as a warning, but there wasn't much to do about it that would ever erase her part in that. It wasn't like she could bring… Fuu… Back…
'I'm not the sharpest senbon in the armory, am I?'
To be fair, it was very strange and counterintuitive to think of dead people as a potential resource. She could theoretically bring Fuu back. She could try, at least- Aiko owed the girl that. Okay, Obito would not approve, but- but he was going to be gone for at least an hour. Probably more, depending on how long it took to kill whoever was coming. Here's hoping they took a while to die.
'He would be so mad…' Aiko's eyes darted over to Zetsu, whose back was facing her. He was watching the other three men disappear out of sight en route to intercept whatever obnoxious tail Suigetsu and Kakuzu had picked up. 'And he'll probably catch me. But it's a lot easier to ask forgiveness than permission. If I kill Zetsu, I bet there's enough of Fuu left in his creepy leaves for Naraka to rebuild her. I'm lucky that Obito hasn't figured out that I know already. I may as well try…'
And then- well, she still wouldn't have repaid Fuu exactly for the kidnapping bit and probably getting her listed as a missing nin, but she'd feel like less of a monster. She'd do one good deed and then take off into the sunset. Maybe Fuu wouldn't mind being a creepy zombie beast like Aiko. It wasn't all bad. Aiko felt a lot like a person. Probably. (How would she know if she wasn't a person? Maybe she wasn't and that was why she was seriously considering murdering a supposed comrade because he was in her way?)
'I may as well save this jinchuuriki too. No one deserves what Obito wants to do to him.'
Maybe she was just ludicrously theatrical, but she might as well go out with a bang instead of a whimper before Obito genjutsu'd the absolute crap out of her.
'And that would be one way to quit Akatsuki. Forget a letter. This would get my point across. Then I'll make a run for it in the opposite direction that Obito took. I… I may as well take the jinchuuriki with me, or send them in a different way. No point in saving them to get picked right back up like errant kittens.'
They'd probably be safer away from her. If she knew Obito at all, he would come after her first, to figure out what had happened if nothing else. In a sick and severely stunted way, he did seem concerned with her well-being.
Obito had only been gone for a couple of minutes, but he was far enough away that he wouldn't be paying attention to what she was doing. Okay, so she'd never summoned Naraka, but summoning in general seemed to be an instantaneous process. If she hurried, she could be running before he even reached his opponents.
'I think I'll owe Konoha a nice thank you letter after this is over, assuming Obito doesn't hunt me down and drag me back.'
Her heart was pounding against her chest with the force of her rebellious idea. It felt so naughty, but also right. Aiko licked her lips, feeling chakra build and concentrate along her spine. Silently, it slipped out in a long cord, twisting into the air above her head. She breathed in carefully, not allowing her breathing pattern to change and indicate that anything was wrong. Her resolve was finally firm: Zetsu was a creepy jerk and he was the only person standing between her and the open door. That was a pretty potent combination.
A thin shadow flickered on the wall barely in Zetsu's peripheral vision as the chain came down.
Squelch.
~~~
"I thought there were only two Akatsuki," Kankuro commented uneasily. Something of wood and metal clattered on his back.
He couldn't be blamed for his trepidation. Two on four was poor enough odds when the two were Akatsuki. Three on four was an engagement that they shouldn't be entering in.
'We don't have a choice. They came to meet us- they want a fight. There's no backing down now.'
Kakashi might have assured the younger shinobi that everything would be well, if it weren't for the fact that he felt frozen stiff with anger. He wasn't seeing red, he was seeing orange. It had been a long time since he'd seen the other man before, and that had been very brief. The Akatsuki member was taller and broader than he remembered. Not quite as physically imposing as Jiraiya-sama, but close to it. "Tobi," he greeted civilly, voice coming out as cool and unconcerned as it ever did despite hatred simmering in his gut at the stalker, kidnapper, and all around monster nuke-nin.
If Gai could see him now, there would be tears of manliness at his 'hip' attitude. It wasn't even intentional. Emoting became much more difficult when his tension went up.
"How kind of you to stop by for a visit." Something about that low voice put his nerves up and disturbed the hair on the back of his neck. It was both chilling and familiar.
But it couldn't be. He hadn't met this man before in his life.
'I wouldn't necessarily know. He wears a mask for a reason. I could have seen him anywhere.'
Alternately, of course, the corpse puppet that Madara was using just reminded him of Uchiha voices in general. Considering that Sasuke and Itachi were the only living Uchiha, it wasn't odd that a voice like that would sound like something from beyond the grave.
For the hundredth time, he told himself that there was no chance that Madara had gotten Obito's body, and ruthlessly suppressed the grief-maddened part of his mind that wanted to claim that his teammate might have grown into a man like that if he'd had a chance (If Kakashi hadn't been as inadequate a teammate as he was a son, teacher, and student).
"Naruto, your ninjutsu will be strong against the boy. Be careful, he can dissolve into water," Kakashi ordered. Temari and Kankuro should be the ones to fight together, standing against Kakuzu. He would have liked for Naruto to have backup, but at least his opponent looked to be in poor shape after a fight with a jinchuuriki and a run across the continent.
'Tobi was uninvolved in that fight. He's completely fresh. He must have been waiting here for the other two.'
And where did the missing jinchuuriki go?
'Utakata-san has been dropped off with Tobi's partner, whoever that is,' Kakashi decided. 'Akatsuki always travel in pairs. That's the only reason I can see for them to abandon that policy.'
"Kakashi-san?" Temari prompted, face hard. "Orders?"
Ah, right. Strategy didn't do any good if it wasn't shared with the underlings.
Kakashi pushed up his headband and blinked open a Sharingan, already spinning with Mangekyou. This was a fight he would have to go all out on. "Tobi is mine," he said simply. "You two take Kakuzu."
"Your confidence is charming, but I am afraid that you cannot be allowed to go any farther." Tobi tilted his head to the side, somehow conveying amusement. "I apologize in advance for killing you, but all mediocre things must come to an end sometime."
Kakashi blinked.
"Well, that was scathing," Temari commented.
"And rather personal." Mildly offended, Kakashi frowned at his opponent. "Have we met?"
Tobi seemed to leer. "I have been picking up your slack. Did you even try to teach poor Aiko how to throw?" He clucked his tongue disapprovingly. "I've been a much better teacher. You wouldn't even recognize her now. She's a sweet girl, isn't she?"
What.
A flicker of demonic chakra fluttered into being. Kakashi didn't have to look to know that Naruto's eyes were red.
"Stay calm," he cautioned, throat tight. "Don't let him get to you."
Of all the regrets that he had, the distribution of weapons skills he had taught Aiko didn't even register. The implication that Tobi had done his best to twist her and remake her in his image, on the other hand, set his gut churning.
"We're going to kick your asses," Naruto informed Tobi, not taking his eyes off his opponent. "And then you'll regret ever coming to Konoha." The fact that they had been following the Akatsuki team for a completely different reason appeared to have been dismissed.
"Why is everyone so worked up over this bitch?" The white-haired mist nukenin shouldered his oversized sword, elbow curled up by his head. He made a face, sticking his tongue out. "We are talking about the short, dumb one, right? The one that Aloe Vera called princess moron?"
'He makes it sound like she's the group punching bag,' Kakashi realized, feeling vaguely ill. Oh, kami. What had being left with monsters like this done to Aiko?
Tobi seemed nearly as offended as Kakashi felt. Perhaps that nickname hadn't been meant to be shared with Tobi.
Naruto bristled, tensing a moment before he leapt, the beginnings of a kage bunshin splintering off into the air helping him weave a Rasengan. "Fuck you, buddy," he spat out, nearly crashing into the nuke nin.
A grim smile of approval pulled at Kakashi's mouth.
'Well, that's one way to start a fight with Naruto.'
The others followed his lead, although Kakazu was the one that leapt to engage Temari.
Kakashi and Tobi stood for a moment in the middle of the conflict, making steady red eye contact.
'I only have to get one good hit in order to break that mask. And then I'll know at least one thing for sure.'
They moved.