Swordsmen Of The Mist (VII)

Itachi knew that he had at most only a few seconds before he would be cut into pieces, so he acted fast:

Pulling his legs upwards, he wrapped them around the water clone's arms that still held him before twisting his entire body, his chakra enhanced strength ripping the limbs apart with a loud splash. Then, while still falling headfirst towards the ground, he used his newly freed hands to fly through half a dozen hand seals in the blink of an eye.

"Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu!" (Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique)

He disappeared beneath the ground just in time to avoid the deadly trap.

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The metal wire was closing in on him fast and Kakashi was more than aware that he would die if he didn't found a way out.

Jumping high into the air was an option, but if he did that, a lot would depend on luck. After all, once in the air, there wasn't anything he could do to change his mind or even dodge an incoming attack. Blocking the wire was out of the question as well because the odds of it just cutting through anything he could possibly use to do so were too high.

So, if he couldn't jump into the air and couldn't stay where he was either, there was only one way to go.

Kakashi rushed through hand seals while falling into a crouch.

"Doton: Tsuchi Kairō!" (Earth Release: Earth Corridor)

This technique usually caused the earth to rise up and trap a target between it, but all it took was a simple adjustment to make the earth below him fall instead, allowing him to escape the incoming attack that way.

Kakashi smashed his hands on the ground to initiate the technique and felt the floor give way beneath him just when the wire arrived, managing to cut open his back before he could entirely vanish into the safety of the underground.

_______

The closer she came to Konoha, the more excited Anko got.

It had been a bit over six years since the last time she had laid eyes upon her home, six years since she had last talked with her friends. Or anyone else who wasn't a snake, for that matter. However, after all this time, she was now finally on her way back. Before the end of the week, she would be able to walk the streets of her youth once again.

Wow, that made her sound old. Scratch that, she thought. How about 'walking half-forgotten paths once again' instead? Damn, that even sounds poetic! Yeah, let's go with that.

Anyway, it was late already and no matter how much she wanted to arrive at her destination, she didn't see the point in missing out on a good night's rest.

Going through the necessary hand seals with ease, she summoned Aoda. As usual, the dark blue snake appeared in a puff of smoke, his large body forming a protective barrier around her entire camp. "It's dinner time, boy," she said while getting a fire started on which she could cook some food. "I hope you have already eaten because there is no way I'm gonna be able to-" That was the moment she turned around and actually looked at her companion. "Hey, what's up with that stupid face?"

Most people would naturally struggle to recognize emotions in a snake's expression, but for Anko who had lived in Ryūchi Cave with nothing but snakes for over a year, that wasn't much of a problem.

Aoda was probably the most well-mannered and mild-tempered snake she had ever met. However, if that were all that was to him, she wouldn't have taken such a liking to him. No, while these traits made it indeed easier to cooperate with him, it was his dry humour that drew her towards him. It reminded her a bit of Itachi, honestly.

She had spent a lot of time with him during her training and even summoned him every single evening ever since she set off from Ryūchi Cave, which meant she knew him and his expressions very well by now.

Right now, he was looking really uncomfortable. Dammit, he couldn't even look straight at her!

"Nothing, Anko-sama," he said, trying and failing to sound casual. "I'm-"

"Yeah," she interrupted him. "Let me stop you right there. First of all, how often did I tell you to not call me –sama already? Just call me Anko." Not that she generally minded being addressed respectfully like that, mind you. Anko liked it just fine when lesser snakes spoke to her like that. Aoda was her friend, though, so he should call her by her name! "But that's beside the point. Now cut the crap and tell me what's going on."

His light green eyes met hers for a second before he turned away again with a low hiss as his entire body twitched uneasily. "It's really nothing-"

"There is," she interrupted him again while crossing her arms in front of her and starting to tap the ground with one foot. "And you're going to tell me what it is. Right now."

Anko could see in the way he lowered his head that she had won this confrontation.

"One of the snakes that recently returned spoke of dark tales," he said hesitantly. "Of evildoings and wicked acts, and attacks carried out during the middle of the night."

Evildoings and wicked acts, Anko repeated in her mind, brows furrowed. What does that mean? Then her eyes widened. No way, could it be…

She felt her heartbeat quickening. "You said that these tales come from a snake that recently returned. Do you mean 'physically' returned as in 'it slithered all the way herself', or do you mean returned as in 'coming back from being summoned'?"

If possible, Aoda now looked even more uncomfortable than before. "The latter, Anko-sama."

For one moment, the entire world became silent. She didn't even care that Aoda had addressed her as-sama again; all that mattered was that this must be Orochimaru. It had to be! After all, there was nobody else who could summon snakes other than the two of them.

The only being who could track both the snakes that were summoned outside of Ryūchi Cave as well as their summoners was the White Snake Sage, but she had denied every one of Anko's requests to tell her Orochimaru's location. The only other way to find him through the snakes was finding one who was recently summoned by him and willing to tell her where. Unfortunately, the ones she found that fulfilled these criteria either denied her as well or simply lacked the intelligence to be of any help.

Because of that, she had ultimately given up on this approach.

Who would have thought that all she needed to do was to have some patience?

"Where did these attacks happen?" she asked urgently. "You know, don't you? Tell me!"

"I don't think-"

"Dammit, Aoda! You know what that bastard did, and you know that I vowed to bring him to justice! If you know something, please help me!"

Anko could see his mental struggle as clear as day; he didn't want her to fight Orochimaru, but he could also understand her motives. His desire to keep her safe and his willingness to help her achieve her goal were at odds with each other and it was unclear which side would win.

As it turned out, it happened to be the latter.

Snakes were predators first and foremost, after all. It wasn't in their nature to just sit back and do nothing when their prey was within reach.

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