Never Forget

Understanding

Chapter 15

We silently made our way through the trees, which were steadily thinning as we approached the plateau. Neji held up a finger, and then two, and I stuck out my hand, signaling for everyone to stop. Two chakra signatures, Neji was telling me. I focused really hard, and could just barely sense them. They weren't really trying to hide themselves, clearly.

'Team Asuma, you take Hidan – about a hundred meters, nine o'clock. We will take Kakuzu – about two hundred meters, one o'clock. Everybody got it? If you run into serious trouble, don't hesitate to call for help.'

'Yes ma'am!' was the collective cry. I made eye contact with Asuma and waved my hand. He swiftly led his team away, in Hidan's direction.

'Kakashi and Neji, make for Kakuzu. I'll take Sakura from above and hopefully launch a sneak attack.'

The two men nodded at me and slipped away. I was feeling a lot better after a good night's rest, and fortunately, there had been no disturbances that I had been needed for. Amaterasu had explained to a frustrated Tsunade that I was resting, and she'd understood and backed off.

In fact, I thought, despite the danger we were currently facing, I was almost ready to start cracking terrible jokes and making stupid statements like I'd used to do. Maybe not the best time.

I picked Sakura up like a little kid, waited another instant, and then flew straight upward. She gasped in surprise and squeezed her eyes shut, which I could understand; her stomach was probably left somewhere on the ground.

"Kira-sensei," she said quietly, as I stopped ascending and began to fly in Kakuzu's direction, "If you have Amaterasu, why can't you just end the war before it starts?"

"I wish I could," I replied. We were just above the thin layer of clouds. "Hide your chakra signature." She obeyed, and I did the same. "Amaterasu is a very powerful goddess, but there's only so much of her power that I can use. Naruto is the same, with Kurama. Until he trains to use more of Kurama's power, I don't think he'll be able to stand up to whoever's really driving the war."

"So you haven't trained enough?" It was an innocent question, not an attack, but she blushed immediately, realizing what it might've sounded like.

"I suppose not. Amaterasu doesn't want me to try, because the death rate is apparently extraordinarily high. The telepathy I've been using is already one-of-a-kind. She thinks I'll burn myself out."

"That makes sense," said Sakura, nodding, before thinking about something I'd said earlier. "Wait, who's driving the war? I thought it was the Akatsuki."

"We all thought that," I said grimly. "But I've started to wonder if it's their leader or not. I just have a lingering suspicion that there might be more to the story than we originally thought."

She opened her mouth again, but I interrupted,

"And we can discuss this later, after we take down Kakuzu – yeah?"

She nodded, her green eyes set with determination. We were hovering right above Kakuzu, and I could sense Kakashi and Neji's chakra signatures. They were already fighting. I descended slowly, so that I could get a clearer glimpse of what was going on – it was difficult to see through layers of clouds. A water jutsu. And then a fire jutsu. So Kakuzu could wield different elements, as Itachi had said. Another water jutsu – and then an earth jutsu. What was going on? How was it possible for him to wield all five elements?