6 Two Tiny Reunions

After leaving the mansion, Itachi headed West. It was a two-day walk from the Serpentsgrip mansion to the supposed location of the rogue mages. The calibre of a Shinobi must not be underestimated. Itachi reached the location in three hours of continuous running.

Before he left it was decided that any loot he found, any item no matter the value was his to keep. That was on top of the rewards for the completion of the mission.

Itachi was sure at this point that the transfer here had improved him immensely. His illness that once plagued him was nowhere in sight. He felt an overflowing power inside that only waited to be released.

Evidence of this was despite his incredible speed, he didn't feel the drain even after three hours of running. The trip he just made must be some sort of record in this world, surely.

The "fortress" he arrived at was nothing but crude walls build with barely passable grade. The guards were of similar quality. The group he took out previously must have been their greatest fighting force.

He wanted a quick and clean job but what his eyes spotted next made that slightly more difficult. Two tiny figures were sneaking closer to the "fortress" walls. One was very familiar to him.

"What a small world. I imagined that it would take longer for our paths to cross again." His eyes spotted a tiny scarlet head of hair moving around in the darkness.

"They cannot know I am here. This is to be done quietly. No choice then." He said and went into action.

***

Since joining Fairy Tail, Erza had quickly gained popularity, not just within the guild, but among the civilians of Magnolia as well. Her innate strength and kindness truly resonated with the people she met.

This was the first mission she was allowed to take so far away from the guild. Master Makarov had wanted her to adapt before truly venturing into the world. And still, she wasn't allowed to go alone, not when the mission was to subjugate a rogue mage group. The power of this settlement according to reports was not too great, but she was still new to fighting.

"Erza, get your head in the game!" Cana, her friend woke her up with a light slap on the arm.

"I am ready. Sorry, my mind wandered a little. Won't happen again." Her grip on her sword increased.

"We need a plan." She watched the guards stationed on the walls.

"Put the watchers to sleep then go in and take them out one at a time," Cana suggested.

"I was thinking we just break down the door and charge in? Easy and clean."

Cana flicked Erza's forehead with an annoyed expression.

"Idiot! That will get us surrounded and killed in a minute. They are quite weak, but they still use dark magic. Binds, curses, paralysis and stuff like that. We can't underestimate them."

"Right! Sorry, Cana. I'm not very patient. Or good at planning." Erza dropped her smile a little.

"I wish Itachi was here." Her cheerfulness faltered just a little.

"Itachi? Why?"

"Hm?" Erza looked up, seemingly not aware of what she had said.

"Oh, never mind. I misspoke." Despite the situation, her mind slipped away into its own world again.

She missed him a lot. The world felt safer and more assured when he was around. He always knew what he was doing, he was always one step ahead. They had been around each other for a short while, but it was still the safest she had felt in years.

"Hey! What are you two doing here?" A watcher seemingly appeared from thin air.

'Crap! I forgot to count the minutes.' Cana scolded herself.

Before her mind could figure a way out, the guard fell down on the ground. Red liquid spewing from his neck.

"Erza!" The scarlet-head heard her friend, but she couldn't move before she too fell down. The last thing she saw was Cana drop to the ground.

Above the girls, two blood-red eyes materialized in the darkness.

****

Itachi stood above the dead watchman and two unconscious girls. It was the best solution he had currently. He wanted to talk to her, see how she was adapting, but the mission came first. He couldn't risk exposing his involvement in this.

"We will surely see each other another time." He placed the cloak over them to protect them from the cold. Because of this unforeseen situation, he would make this quick. Something that never bodes well for enemies of this particular Uchiha.

And quick it was.

Similar to Cana's idea, he took it down systematically. One area after the other. One second, two bodies dropped, the next second, another body fell. Merciless and effective.

Itachi arrived before the centre-most building. It was styled in a more regal manner, letting everyone know that inside lived the boss of these people. The most important figure. The door to the building opened as he arrived.

"You caused me much grief this night. Can I assume that my father sent you?" An older-looking Rita stepped out and nobility oozed off of her.

Itachi answered with a blank stare.

"I take your silence as confirmation. Then it is no point delaying this, is there?"

Another silent confirmation.

"Then after I kill you, I will go and personally deal with my sister and father." She swiped her arm in an arc and multiple small needle-like tools were sent towards Itachi.

He dodged with a simple head tilt.

'Crude technique. She is an amateur at best. With these kinds of skills, why would she choose this lifestyle? She has no talent for it.' Suspicion rose in Itachi.

The needles were obvious distractions as she rushed him with two scimitars in her grip. The unusual part was that she had another pair of swords floating behind her.

"Interesting magic."

Itachi weaved some hand signs and spit a massive fireball at her. With the distance between them, she just barely managed to dodge. She was slow even by normal people standards. She landed off to the side and took off running again. Unfortunately, Itachi had more talent and experience than probably anyone alive.

A kunai had already arrived at her location and lodged itself in her leg. The explosion from the fireball shot her body forward a small bit.

Itachi arrived instantly at pointed another kunai at her throat.

"I have questions. If you stay still, I will make it painless..." He left the rest for her interpretation.

"Who are you? My father couldn't have gotten desperate enough to contact the Balam alliance."

"You assume I am some sort of dark mage?" He was not overly familiar with them.

"What else. This place reeks of blood, which means my people are probably dead. Legal guilds do not kill. You obviously do."

"I'm not from around here."

"Why does your father want you dead? Honesty will benefit you here." He said coldly.

"You are here to kill me, why do you care?"

"You are weak, pathetically so. No skill, no talent with a sword nor can you analyze a battlefield or your opponent. Probably why you could only hire such weak people to fight for you. This does not line up. Your father should not be threatened by your presence, a child from a legal guild could probably deal great damage to your group here."

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Your father described you as scary and skilled with a blade. You are none of those."

She kept quiet so he continued.

"This deal I entered is not black and white. I see that I have been played now, by a very intelligent and talented actor." He increased the pressure of his kunai.

She kept quiet and Itachi felt his patience drop slightly.

"Since I was four I have studied techniques made purely for killing or dealing as much pain as possible. I could do horrible things to you, make you scream for death. Now talk."

There was a long silence where she contemplated her options.

"He is my father. He didn't lie about that. Beyond that, I have no idea what he told you, but it was probably all lies."

"Who are you? You are not the sociopathic madwoman I was sent to kill. You also do not look or talk like someone who went mad at losing her potential fortune to a younger sibling." He loosened the pressure on her neck.

"Any of this line up with reality?"

"None. I have never had a claim to the fortune. Maybe publically but they were going to have me killed long before I could claim it. The reason; because I am not like them."

"Explain."

"They are sadistic. The missing villages, have you heard of it?"

"No."

"Short version is, over the years many many villages went missing. The blame was placed on the dark guilds around these parts. They are only small ones, barely passable to get into the Balam alliance, but powerful enough to lay the blame of the kidnapped villages on."

"And you're saying your family did this?"

"Yeah. I caught them and was forced to flee the house because they found out that I was going to travel to the council to report them."

"I am impressed if this is true. It is a rare occurrence where I am fooled so completely. I will have to congratulate your father and sister before I kill them."

"Wait, What! That's suicide! My father might not control a major dark guild but he has many dealings with the Balam alliance. Which means taking him out will put a massive target on your back."

"I will confirm what you have said here myself. If it is as you said, your father and sister won't wake up the following morning."

"Do you not fear the alliance? I realize that you are plenty strong, but they are not afraid to go against giants like Fairy Tail. You can not survive alone!"

"They have dealt with mages. But have they ever dealt with an Uchiha?"

"I have no idea what that means."

"Nor need you. Now look into my eyes, I will confirm what you said." The famous Sharingan spun to life and his penetrative gaze entered her eyes.

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End