Again... we don't give him the reaction he was looking for.

I drop my arms to my side in disbelief. "Don't give us that! As soon as she winked your way, you were a hot mess!"

"You fell for it like a ton of bricks, Pervy Sage!" Naruto adds, furious. Master Jiraiya's teeth grit audibly and when he glares at us, it looks like he's smiling.

"I wish you wouldn't call me that in front of other people!" he hisses.

"Are you kidding me?!" Naruto points behind us. "We've got worse things to worry about than what these guys think of you! Get with it, Pervy Sage!"

"Didn't I just ask you not to call me that?!"

The shark-man laughs. "Whatever name you go by, Master Jiraiya, I must say—you're something of a disappointment. A lecherous old man with the disposition of a child... It's almost impossible to believe that you're one of the three legendary Sannin."

"What?! You already know who he is?" Naruto shouts.

"Uh... don't be fooled by appearances, or, you know, anything these little squirts might say," Master Jiraiya says, laughing weakly.

"So, you somehow managed to release the Genjutsu we cast on her, eh?" He sets the woman down against the unbroken wall of the hallway.

"What kind of coward would do something like that?" Master Jiraiya demands. "Using his Sharingan to inflict an Illusion Genjutsu on an innocent woman, all in order to separate me from Naruto and Kari..."

"To... separate us?" I wonder aloud.

"I know Naruto's the one you're really after," he adds, "but you've got no connection to Kari for you to try and nab her, too. Not anymore."

What... connection?

"That explains how Kakashi knew," Itachi says. "Now I understand. He learned it from you. You're right: Naruto is the prize the Akatsuki's after. And as for this... connection you speak of. Irrelevant nonsense."

What connection!? Is that what that memory was about?!?

"Regardless. We will have them."

When the frog disappears in another cloud of smoke, someone – Master Jiraiya – tugs on the back of my shirt, and I stumble into him. If not for him, I don't think I would've been able to move still.

"There's no way you're getting either of them," Master Jiraiya says, placing his hand on his shoulder to steady me. I swallow.

"We'll see about that."

"Actually, this is all very convenient!" he adds. "I can eliminate you both at the same time."

"—s-stay out of this!" Sasuke says from his place on the floor. He pushes himself up with his unbroken arm, panting, eyes glossed over with pain, and sways on the spot. "The only one... who's going to eliminate him... is me!"

"Go away," Itachi says. Sasuke's eyes widen. "You don't interest me at the moment."

"Well, get interested!" he shouts, fist raised when he rushes at Itachi. But it's clear that his injury drained him a lot of his strength and momentum, even more so when, and as easy as breathing, Itachi lifts his leg and kicks Sasuke in the middle, all the way down the hall and into another wall.

"Why you lousy—""No, Naruto," Sasuke yells back, stopping Naruto in his tracks. "Don't butt in! Mind your own business! I've... told you before I've lived my whole life for this day! This moment... This fight... is mine!"

I sense him activate his Sharingan before I see it—he charges at Itachi with as much speed as he can possibly muster, but he's too injured. He's sent flying back down the hall.

"This... fight... is mine," he repeats. He's barely able to make a hand sign.

"So be it," Itachi says. Master Jiraiya makes to move, but the shark-man stops him.

"You heard him, old man," he says. "This fight is none of our business." I watch in horror from Master Jiraiya's side as Itachi moves toward him again. "Let's let the two of them sort it out."

I can't just... I don't want to... let you do this alone!! I look to Naruto, whose own teeth are clenched so tightly they could shatter. He wants to move, too. He's... trying to time it. But he has very little room for an opening, where he's standing. Me, however, with the shark-man's attention on Master Jiraiya, and with a bigger gap between them and the hallway than what Naruto's got... I have a better chance.

I do my best to ignore what Itachi's doing to Sasuke right now, to ignore the hand wrapped around his own brother's throat, and shirk the Master's hand off my shoulder. My body burns from my neck down, and there's an awful friction between my chest and ribcage, but I don't stop moving—not in spite of the shark-man grabbing at me with sharp fingers that graze my arm, not when Itachi looks back my way, not when both Naruto and Master Jiraiya call my name—

"Ninja Art: Toad Mouth Trap!"

A gooey pink thing starts growing from each of the walls, and even the floor beneath me, coating the corridor from beginning to end. I cry out when it encases my feet, forcing me to stop moving. My head snaps up to ahead of me at Itachi and Sasuke—to my relief, the pink fleshy stuff has absorbed him away from Itachi. But to my great anxiety, rather than looking to the man who cast the Jutsu, Itachi looks at me. I... I can't read what his expression means. I can't tell why his chakra suddenly dipped and spiked when her did.

"You've both just been swallowed by the mountain toad," Master Jiraiya announces. "Welcome, my friends, to the belly of the beast! He has a very sensitive digestive tract, so be careful not to upset him. Not the most glorious way to die, is it? It must be humbling to know you've been reduced to toad bait, heh-heh."

The surface beneath my feet suddenly bubbles and churns, and I'm thrown off my feet and backwards onto my hands—I wince at the slimy feeling that slips between each of my fingers.

"Whoa—I'm not liking this at all!" Naruto cries.

Desperate to get away from it, I wriggle my limbs, to no use. "Agreed!"

"Naruto, Kari, stay still," Master Jiraiya says. "Just remain calm. Trust in my Jutsu."

"Kisame," Itachi calls. "Come."

Kisame, the "shark-man", pulls his feet out of the pink flesh beneath him, but then his sword gets stuck. He manages to rip it free, and rejoins Itachi.

"It's useless!" Master Jiraiya shouts. "No Ninja has been born who can survive this stomach!"

Itachi and Kisame turn down the right hallway and Master Jiraiya ups the ante in his attempt to keep them trapped. But there's a loud bang, a vicious tremble in the floor, and a sudden heat through the mountain toad's stomach has me reeling—that's chakra!!

"Pervy Sage!" Naruto calls, running close behind him. The pink flesh around my hands and feet shrinks away, and I move after them, massaging my chest. The end of the hallway burns with a strange, black fire.

"They've escaped," I say. "They're already far away now."

"What is this stuff?" Naruto says, moving toward the flames.

"Stay away from it!" Master Jiraiya shouts, and I jump from the proximity of his yell. He then unravels a scroll at his feet, along the floor of the mountain toad, and starts writing on it. He forms several hand signs quickly and sighs. "There. Sealing Jutsu: Fire Seal, now!"

He slams his palm down on the ground, and pushes us away from him. A blue mist rises from the scroll, captures the black flames, and returns to the scroll. A new marking appears on the parchment in red before fading to its original black ink; content, he rolls up the scroll, and seals it with a paper tag and string.

"All right," he says, and tucks it inside his vest. "Well, that takes care of that for the time being. Now for Sasuke."

On cue, the mountain toad releases Sasuke. Naruto runs forward and catches him before he can hit the floor, and I join them, kneeling down to take Sasuke hand in mine.

"Just what did Itachi do to him," I growl, giving it a gentle squeeze. "He's unconscious. He's... cold."

What the hell was all of that? Itachi didn't seem shocked that I knew him, and somehow, I just know he knew I didn't mean it as if he were in some mission dossier. It was on a personal level. I only knew because besides Sasuke, he's the only pure blood Uchiha left alive. Unless somehow there'd been an Uchiha not present at the compound the night of the massacre besides Makara-sensei. And... that memory of his. I could only confirm it because of the photo in my manifesto from their father's documents. That was me having my head patted by him, that was me being spoon-fed by him, that was me he'd gave his sorrowful farewells to—why?

That was... the first memory someone had that I was in. I already know I once lived in the Hidden Leaf Village; the Yamada did, too, of course, and me being half Yamada thanks to my father, and half Uchiha thanks to my mother, I definitely must've visited the Uchiha compound often. Why did each gesture of his seem so... sad?

I don't have time to think about it thanks to the kunai that flies through my hair. Into my hands, several thick strands fall, and my head whips toward the window where a familiar figure leaps through, foot first.

"Dynamic Entry!" Guy-sensei shouts; instinctively, I plaster myself against the wall, and just in time to avoid Master Jiraiya landing on me after he'd been kicked by him. I reach into my hip pouch and take out a piece of gauze for the Master to shove into his nostril.

Guy-sensei laughs guiltily.

"I-I guess I was a little over-enthusiastic," he explains. "You see, uh! I was trying to hurry, and I couldn't see very clearly. Using my head band when I appeared at the opening, all I could see were three sinister figures, so..."

"If this is your way of saying "sorry", it stinks!" Master Jiraiya shrieks.

"My... my hair!" I cry, unable to keep it in. That kunai of his lobbed off the bottom half of my bangs! "You cut off the hair... I'd been growing for six years...! It took me six years to get it this long, Guy-sensei!!"

"Sorry about that!" he replies hastily. "I-It was a simple misunderstanding!"

I huff at him. "A typical boy's response. If I cut it to make it even, I hope Sakura doesn't think I'm copying her hairstyle..."

"Simple-minded is more like it," Master Jiraiya adds to Guy-sensei's response; I nod, and blink the frustration from my eyes. "But never mind that now; we've got to get Sasuke to the medical corps at once."

Guy-sensei nods. "Right."

"He's badly beaten up. His arm is broken, and he's been knocked out by whatever Jutsu it was that—" and he lowers his voice "—Itachi used on him."

"Pervy Sage," Naruto says, the panic clear in his voice, "Sasuke is going to be all right, though, isn't he?"

"Physically, yes," he replies, "but I'm worried about what may have been done to his mind."

"It was from his Sharingan," I say, "so it must be a Sharingan-related Jutsu. That would narrow it down a little, right?"

"It would, yes," Master Jiraiya says, "but how do you know for sure?"

"I could feel it when he activated his Sharingan," I answer. "His chakra. Um... Master Jiraiya, I..."

He sighs. "I know you have questions right now, Kari, but I can't answer them right now. I can't answer them on my own, either."

"I... I know." I wring my hands. "We need to... get Sasuke help."

"What the heck..." I look to Naruto, who's red-faced. "... what the heck did Sasuke do to deserve this? Okay, Pervy Sage—it's time for a new game plan, starting right now! I admit, I let those goons scare me a little, but that's over. No more running! After all... it's me they're after, right? Well okay, then! It's time I give them what they want! And you can bet that they're never gonna get their hands on Kari, no way, believe it!"

"Nice speech, kid," Master Jiraiya says, "but I'm afraid you wouldn't stand a chance against them. You're not in the same league. What would have happened if I hadn't shown up just now? Huh? It took all I had to get them away from you two."

"Is that right?" Naruto says. "So, what are you suggesting? That we just do nothing?! Sit here, waiting for them to hit us again? What kind of strategy is that?!"

"Just be quiet!" Master Jiraiya shouts. "You haven't earned the right." Naruto looks away from him, bitterness leeching into his chakra. I'd say something, too, but... everything is just too obvious. It would be embarrassing to try and argue with him. "I'm sorry, Guy; I wanted to let Sasuke fight his own fight." He sighs deeply. "I see now I should have intervened sooner."

"This is obviously the same kind of Jutsu that Kakashi was hit with," Guy-sensei says. "We don't know when he'll come out of it."

"Kakashi-sensei?!" Naruto and I share a look of panic with each other.

"There's nothing worse than seeing your students die in battle. It's like... losing little pieces of your own soul. What we need is a supreme medical specialist; a master of healing arts, and soon."

"You're right," Master Jiraiya says, "and the woman you're talking about is the one we've come to find."

"Huh?" Guy-sensei says. "The woman? Y-You don't mean...?"

Master Jiraiya chuckles. Obviously, whoever they're talking about, that's exactly what he means.

"Yes, that's exactly who I mean," he says. I drop my arms at my sides and sigh.

"So, who is it that you "mean"?" I demand.

"She's another of the legendary Sannin; the Queen of Slugs and Elixirs," Master Jiraiya explains. "The Gambling Fool, and the Mistress of the Healing Arts—Lady Tsunade."

Updated June 16th, 2024 | 2,374 words