A Different Path

Pouring Rain

"Is there a reason for you to be gazing at me like that?" A soft frown resonated throughout the depth of concrete surrounding the two shinobi, accompanied by the sleepy rhythm of delicate drops of rain breaking into the cold ground with a splash.
"Do I need a reason to not be worried about you?" The same fragile voice heard within the frown spoke.
"Knowing you, I suppose you do not." The orange-haired man averted his unusual eyes from the woman next to him, looking over the black railing and onto the motionless village beneath them. There was no human being in sight. It might have been because of the constant rain but it always rained there.
"Why are you working yourself like this? The attack's due for a few days now, there's no need-!"

"Our world is cruel, Konan. It has always been. The sooner we extract all of the Tailed Beasts, the sooner we shall cleanse it of the endless cycle of hatred, that cannot just be broken." The man narrowed his dark-purple eyes, the spirals present in there seemingly capable of hypnotizing anyone. But the Rinnegan did much more than that. His skin looked pale and smooth, somewhat milky. His delicate complexion was only tainted by his flourishing muscles beneath his dark cloak and the small, onyx tubes forced into his flesh, similar to some round piercings that were following the contours of his nose and ears. He was wearing a headband showing four vertical lines crossed by a horizontal one. Konan folded her arms and moved her saddened gaze onto her feet as if those had become the most interesting thing in the world.

"Jiraiya Sensei... You haven't given up on his beliefs?" A spark of hope popped in her eyes but it soon vanished. She pressed her lips together into a thin line, her nails painfully digging into the skin of her upper arms. The man had turned around to stare at her as his face remained unfazed. But she knew him better to be able to tell that he was in pain. He had always been.
"Don't be foolish. You are very much aware that I have never entirely shared his perspective of the world. Jiraiya Sensei thought that his books could change the way things have been, but his goal was a mere dream." He let his arms rest along his sides. Konan sighed softly. Oh, Nagato... If only you'd followed Yahiko's path.. We would be living a more peaceful life. And not just us.

"But are you willing to take Naruto's life to accomplish this mission of yours? The life of your very own cousin that you've know from your childhood? From ours?"
She said as she reached out to touch his shoulder but her hand froze in place when the air around him grew ice cold.
"Yes. Since that is what it takes." The woman's eyes became glossy, a painful knot rising from the back of her throat.
"You are my family. I can't go against you. But that doesn't mean that I agree." She turned away from him and started walking towards the stairs after she gave the man another saddened glance, the last seed of hope remaining thriving in her heart.

As soon as she was long gone, two sturdy men with black cloaks showing red clouds made their presence known by nodding their heads slowly.
"What's the plan, Lord Pain?" The one with sharp teeth and dark-blue skin, similar to a fish's clasped his hands together and rubbed them with a weird hunger while swirling his tongue over his lower lip.
"There is nothing including you, Kisame." Pain didn't bother to turn around and look at him. Instead, his emotionless gaze remained fixed on the big puddles forming before his eyes. "Or you, Itachi."
"I am aware of that. If we were to take part of the attack we would have been informed at least two weeks prior." The oldest Uchiha said, his face and voice as cold as always. Pain gave a curt nod, to no one in particular, even though the two caught it.

"Are we going to just stay here and do nothing? Samehada needs to be fed - and I prefer not to let it starve." Kisame grabbed the end of his weapon, tightening and loosening his hold on it as if he could unsheathe it and behead anyone, at any moment, malice prominent in his sharp eyes.
"There might be something you could do. Especially you, Uchiha."
The shark-like shinobi smirked with satisfaction while Itachi only blinked at their leader as a sign that he was listening. Little did Pain know that he was actually being played perfectly. "I have taken notice of my cousin and your little brother's relationship. It can easily interfere with my plan of action. Given the information regarding your clan being slaughtered by their very own prodigy, I have come to the decision of having you take care of the youngest Uchiha. But I do not wish to see him dead, just yet. He can be a useful weapon against Naruto, in case I fail to extract the Tailed Beasts from him." Pain said.

Nothing changed on Itachi's face. He nodded his head slightly while Kisame, still wearing that mischievous smirk on his lips, hummed in response, letting the hand that had been tensely resting on Samehada's handle to fall along his right side. "Good. You may take Kisame with you, if necessary." The redhead waved his right hand dismissively as the two took off, disappearing into a black mist. Once they had reached a lower level of Pain's tower, Kisame spoke.
"I suppose you won't need me, right?" His eyes narrowed humorlessly. He knew him too well.
"Yes. He has been my problem to begin with." Itachi gazed at him before Kisame gave him an understanding nod and got lost in a giant puddle of water.

"Are you going to do it?" Konan's determined voice was heard from behind a metal pillar.
"Of course." The Uchiha didn't turn around to face her so he could pretend that she wasn't even there. He kept looking at the way the raindrops crumbled beneath the strong force of gravity, on top of the roofs.
"I mean, will you take care of Sasuke?" She frowned softly again as if he was about to say 'yes'.
"No. He's my brother. You shouldn't have bothered asking." He shook his head slightly, brushing a few black locks away from his face. "You should start preparing the hideout in the Land of Lightning. We'll act according to our plan."

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Heya! I promised you guys that I'd update, didn't I? I have a thing I've wanted to ask you. I've tried, a lot of times, to draw the Naruto I've envisioned in this story. But I JUST CANNOT DRAW HUMANS. (Without making them look like spaghetti with fur) So I thought that I could start some sort of fan art thingy. I'm sure at least some of you guys can draw him better! I believe in you! So those who are actually interested, (though there might be none but whatever) please draw my Naruto and send it to me on Twitter. But please let me know beforehand if you're actually planning to do it. And guys, it doesn't have to be some piece of art, even doodles are greatly appreciated! If only you'd try it, you'd make my day!!
Next time, on Naruto Shippuden:
'Decoding'
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~See ya!~
~Bella~
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