Naruto: Cthulhu: Ch. 266

Guren slowly turned the well's pulley, and when the water bucket rose to a height within reach, she bent down and lifted it with one hand. Then, she poured the final bucket of water into the water vat and hung the sweat towel from her neck over the vat's rim.

"Come out."

Though she spoke casually, her gaze had already locked onto the nearby bushes.

The shrubs grew densely and cast heavy shadows, making it hard for the naked eye to see what was hidden inside, but her instincts as a ninja told her someone was watching her from within.

As soon as her words fell, two figures emerged with a rustle of leaves.

Seeing them, her eyes first widened in surprise, but then her brows furrowed, and her hands instinctively clenched slightly.

Standing before her were two individuals clad in matching uniforms, those black cloaks with red clouds that were blindingly distinct under the bright sun.

One of them was shorter. His exposed face above the cloak's high collar clearly showed deep tear troughs, making him appear somewhat haggard.

Next to him stood a tall, imposing man whose appearance was far more jarring.

His light blue skin bore a shark-like face, with three vertical gill-like slits lined along each cheekbone. A cruel smile curled at the corners of his mouth just above his collar.

Their sudden appearance at her doorstep didn't completely surprise Guren. At the very least, she recognized their uniform, and knew the identity and origin of one of them.

"Itachi."

"It's been a while," Itachi responded with his usual calm voice, even though Guren clearly had no desire to see him.

"Ever since that incident, this really is our first meeting again."

"Yes... that incident." Itachi echoed her tone with quiet depth.

The "incident" they referred to was none other than the time when he had partnered with Jūzō and infiltrated the Land of Waves.

At the time, Itachi had only recently joined the Akatsuki and had been paired with Jūzō to carry out various assignments.

One day, Pain issued a secret mission: capture a pure-blooded Deep One.

To assist with the infiltration, the organization dispatched a guide.

That guide was Guren.

Back then, Orochimaru had not yet betrayed the Akatsuki, and he was the one conducting the research on Deep One genetics.

To obtain the pure-blood genes, Orochimaru assigned Guren, who had been lurking near the Land of Water, as the guide for Itachi and Jūzō.

Although the infiltration was ultimately successful and the Deep One was captured, Guren herself was also seized during the mission, and Itachi and Jūzō had to blow their cover to rescue her.

The cost was steep.

Jūzō was instantly killed in a clash with the formidable Kojiro, and Itachi's Tsukuyomi technique suffered backlash from Kojiro's immense spiritual power.

Not long after that mission, Orochimaru defected from the Akatsuki, and Itachi never saw Guren again.

"Well, well. I didn't expect you two to be old acquaintances. No need for lengthy introductions then."

"But I suppose I should introduce myself, since I'm not as famous as Itachi."

"My name is Hoshigaki Kisame. As you can see, I'm now his partner."

Kisame spoke with amusement, fiddling with the hilt of the massive blade strapped to his back, a playful expression on his face.

Upon hearing that name, Guren's eyes widened once again.

Just seeing his face earlier gave her a familiar impression of a man-fish hybrid.

Now that he had said his name, she immediately thought of someone else with a similar name, Hoshigaki Kojiro!

The real name of the leader of the Land of Gods, and a former elite of Kiri.

It was obvious: Kojiro and Kisame were both from the Hoshigaki clan.

Why?

Why would someone from the same clan as the one who killed Itachi's former teammate now be partnered with him?

Guren was inwardly shocked by the strange personnel shifts within the Akatsuki. But Itachi wasted no time and directly stated his purpose for coming.

"Guren, I haven't come to reminisce. You're hiding the Three-Tails' jinchūriki here, aren't you?"

His words made Guren's heart tighten, and her fists clenched.

So they really were here for Yūkimaru.

Though she had chosen to go into hiding with Yūkimaru, the Three-Tails inside him was bound to attract unwanted attention.

An innocent man gets into trouble for harboring treasure.

Guren had originally assumed that the first to come looking for them would be Orochimaru.

If it had been Orochimaru, she might still have hoped to appeal to his emotions or reason with him, given the years she had served at his side.

But instead of Orochimaru, far more dangerous individuals had come.

Even when Orochimaru had been in Akatsuki, Guren knew how powerful the organization was, so powerful even he wouldn't openly defy its leader.

And Itachi... was the same man who had coldly slaughtered his entire clan.

Facing someone like that, Guren didn't believe she had any real chance of winning.

If she lost, Yūkimaru would be taken and subjected to all kinds of painful experiments once more.

She had left Orochimaru precisely to protect Yūkimaru, to give him a normal child's life, free from exploitation.

"I will never hand over the Three-Tails' jinchūriki to you!"

"Is that so?"

Itachi replied lightly, without much inflection, but the moment his red Sharingan eyes met Guren's, her knees hit the ground.

Guren's body trembled uncontrollably, even though the weather was warm.

Seeing her immobilized and unable to resist, Itachi reached out and began to approach, preparing to search her memories.

But just then, a gust of foul wind surged from above his head.

He looked up immediately, just in time to see a large, clumsy-looking brute swinging a fist down at him.

But that punch never landed, Samehada had shot out in time to intercept the heavy blow.

"Ambushes... now that's a bad habit."

Samehada in Kisame's single hand swung upward with force, lifting the massive figure that had tried to ambush Itachi.

The burly figure spun once mid-air and landed neatly beside Guren, gently supporting her kneeling body.

"Guren, are you okay?"

A familiar voice entered her ears, instantly breaking the genjutsu that Itachi had cast through eye contact.

"Rinji..."

The towering figure, built like a mountain of flesh, was none other than Guren's former subordinate.

Back when he was on the verge of death, it was Guren who gave him a ladle of water and saved his life.

Since then, Rinji swore to follow Guren no matter what, to repay her kindness.

During Orochimaru's planned attack on Hōzuki Castle, Guren had tried to flee with Yūkimaru and happened to cross paths with Rinji. Thus, Rinji left Orochimaru and chose to live a reclusive life alongside Guren.

"Don't look into that man's eyes."

"Mm."

Guren issued a warning, and with just a nod, Rinji understood her meaning.

Even while observing in the shadows earlier, Rinji had already noticed the forehead protectors on the two standing opposite Guren.

One bore the mark of Konoha, and the other Kiri, but both protectors had been slashed, a clear sign they were rogue ninjas.

From one of their eyes glowed a crimson hue not found in ordinary people, Sharingan.

After settling Yūkimaru in a nearby cave, Rinji had launched a surprise attack on the Sharingan wielder, hoping to take down this dangerous opponent possessing a powerful kekkei genkai before things escalated.

But to his surprise, the Sharingan user's companion was no pushover either. With just one hand, he had effortlessly blocked Rinji's full-force strike using a blade.

One had to understand, Rinji was already immensely strong as an Earth Release user. Back when he was invited by Rin to participate in a massacre, it was because of that unparalleled brute strength.

Even more, when Rinji's fist clashed with that massive blade-like object, he felt a faint drain in his chakra.

One wielding Sharingan, the other with monstrous strength and the ability to drain chakra, Rinji realized both were extraordinary ninjas, powerful beyond belief.

Still, Rinji had resolved to protect Guren no matter what.

"Is he your servant or something?"

"Mm. It has that beauty-and-the-beast kind of vibe."

Seeing Rinji and Guren huddled close together, Kisame remarked with a twisted smile on his shark-like face.

Guren scoffed coldly, saying, "You're much more unpleasant than that Kiri ninja I met before."

The "Kiri ninja" she referred to was, of course, Zabuza Momochi. Though their interaction hadn't ended on good terms, Zabuza had still chosen to save her when she was captured.

That had improved Guren's opinion of Zabuza.

But this man before her, with a shark's face and a mouth full of razor teeth like Zabuza's, instantly multiplied her disgust tenfold. It reached a point where it couldn't be erased.

Now, she had no choice but to keep her eyes on Kisame's face, Itachi's Sharingan was too domineering. Without special training, she couldn't risk direct eye contact with Itachi again.

At that moment, Itachi spoke.

"All right, I don't want to hurt you."

"As long as you hand over the Three-Tails' jinchūriki, we'll leave immediately."

Hmph. Still trying to talk nice at this point? This cold-blooded killer who slaughtered his own clan?

Though her heart was full of contempt for Itachi's words, some instinct compelled her to ask the next question:

"What do you want... the Three-Tails' jinchūriki for?"

"That's classified. I can't tell you," Itachi replied coldly. "But you only have one option, hand him over. Otherwise..."

Before he finished, Itachi's body suddenly lunged forward, a kunai aimed directly at Guren and Rinji.

Though they heard Itachi move, neither looked him in the eye, doing so would mean certain death.

Rinji had no choice but to forcefully pull Guren into his arms and use his back to shield her.

Just as Itachi's kunai was about to strike Rinji, a flash of silver light streaked across the air, clashing with the black kunai and sending sparks flying, deflecting Itachi's attack.

Itachi instantly leapt back to his original position. When he steadied himself, his eyes fell on a figure that stunned him completely.

Sasuke.

The boyish face of childhood had begun to shed its immaturity, and the Uchiha clan's strikingly handsome lineage was fully evident on his face.

His current appearance was vastly different from Itachi's memories, but that was expected. It had been nine years since the brothers last met.

Back during the Chunin Exams three years ago, Itachi had tried to visit Sasuke during his information-gathering mission in Konoha, but his childhood comrade Yugao had stopped him.

And yet here, in this remote wilderness, fate had arranged another reunion.

Itachi never imagined he'd see Sasuke in such a place.

The sudden arrival of Sasuke completely shook Itachi.

He stood frozen in place, unable to speak, eyes silently scanning over how much Sasuke had changed and grown.

But unlike Itachi, who instantly recognized his brother, Sasuke didn't realize who was standing before him right away.

His intervention earlier was purely instinctual.

Seeing someone who held the Three-Tails' jinchūriki information under attack, Sasuke had reacted reflexively, not having time to clearly see who the attacker was.

He had only been seven on the night of the Uchiha clan massacre, and thanks to Danzō's memory seals, his memories of Itachi had faded into a vague human silhouette.

Yet, standing before this man now, Sasuke felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, and an odd sting behind his eyes.

It wasn't until his gaze fell upon that pair of Sharingan that he hesitantly muttered, "...Nisan?"

So now... what happens when two brothers reunite?

Will they fight, or not?