Beneath And Beyond

XIII

"Off you go." The bird flew away, flapping its wings, disappearing from sight.

"They will be here till nightfall." She turned around. The ravenette nodded. The blonde snorted.

"So, what now?" He asked, pushing his hair back.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." She answered, pulling her hood up over her head. She faced away and walked off.

"What's with her?" Deidara asked, annoyed. The girl had been acting weird since leaving Suna. Itachi shrugged. He was worried but it seemed like she was battling herself.

"Senpai." The voice shocked them and they turned around. She stood on a tree branch, watching the two.

"I-I have some work to take care of... I'll be back before Sunset..." There was a hesitant pause. Deidara opened his mouth to argue but Itachi kept a hand on his shoulder, silencing him.

"You can go, Naruto. But come back quick." He smiled at the girl who nodded and disappeared in a yellow flash. 

"Why did you let her go?!" The other blonde shouted, stepping back and harshly pushing Itachi's hand away.

"She's having an inner conflict. She needs to sort it out." Itachi reasoned and waited for the evening to arrive.

-

"Sasuke, I have to talk to you." Shikamaru said, walking up to the raven Uchiha.

"What is it?" The man in question asked, looking at the Nara.

"It's about our mission. Lady Tsunade told me to tell you." He said, moving away from the group of people, taking him to a secluded area.

"Spill it, Nara." 

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome. As the Hokage said, we do not have to attack our captain or the ones with them at any cost."

Sasuke nodded.

"It may be a bit hard for you to control your anger, Sasuke. But the village depends on them as much as it does on us right now. Taking into consideration who you're about to meet, I wouldn't be surprised if you try to kill them. But just remember, as ANBU-"

"The village comes first." Sasuke finished. "I know." He walked off.

Shikamaru looked at the retreating figure and looked at the sky, maybe he could do some cloud-watching.

Muttering a "Troublesome", he sat down.

-

She approached the waterfall quickly and sat down on the soft grass. She hadn't been able to defeat herself. But now, she had answers. Now..

She had faith.

The mist soon clouded her from everyone. And the waterfall split a bit, revealing a figure clad in a cloak, with fishnet sleeves and a rope keeping the two sides together over her chest. Her face was hidden by the hood.

Naruto took off her own hood and the figure followed. There she stood with red eyes. the evil version of herself.

"You still haven't learned your lesson yet?" The figure asked, her voice echoing. "It's going to be the same. No matter how much you try, you can't beat me." It said, smirking.

"I know. Trying to defeat you with force won't work because we have the same moves." Naruto answered, smirking herself.

"You can't chase me either." It frowned. "I know you better than anyone else."