Serious Trouble

Demanding that Itachi trade Homura Uchiha for Sasuke had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Orochimaru still resented the contempt and humiliation Homura had shown him.

"Homura Uchiha?!"

Itachi frowned, his expression darkening.

He had never heard that name before. But he quickly realized Orochimaru must mean Senior Homura, who had been sparring with him every few days recently.

Sasuke, recovering from the heavy punch to his stomach, cried out, "Itachi, help me!"

His brother's plea left Itachi frantic, but his face remained composed. The three tomoe in his crimson eyes slowly revolved, ready to act.

A sinister smile spread across Orochimaru's face.

He did nothing to silence Sasuke. One plea from the boy was worth a hundred demands of his own. He could already sense the anxiety beneath Itachi's calm expression.

Shinno folded his arms and watched with interest, waiting to see what Itachi would choose.

Itachi did not deliberate for long. He shook his head slightly. "I'm sorry. I don't know anyone named Homura Uchiha. Let Sasuke go, and I'll come with you."

Having established just how much Sasuke mattered to him, Orochimaru drew a kunai and pressed it against the boy's throat. "I've changed my mind. I want you and Homura Uchiha."

Itachi stared at the blade against Sasuke's throat. His Sharingan's three tomoe spun faster, and the fluctuations in his chakra grew increasingly violent.

Orochimaru felt a sudden unease, but kept smiling. "Do you want him to die?"

He pressed the kunai slightly into Sasuke's neck. Red blood immediately trickled along its sharp edge.

Tears filled Sasuke's eyes as he looked helplessly at Itachi.

He fought not to sob. He did not want anyone to look down on him, and he feared even more that his weakness would disgrace the Uchiha Clan. But his terror was too great. Large tears spilled down his cheeks despite his efforts.

Itachi forced a smile for him. "Don't be afraid, Sasuke. I promise I'll save you."

Meeting his brother's gaze, Sasuke nodded hard, clenched his teeth, and stopped calling for help.

"Such touching brotherly love." Orochimaru smiled mockingly. "Itachi, my patience has limits. Give me your answer."

Itachi's voice was hard. "I really don't know Homura Uchiha. There is no one by that name in our clan. You can verify that elsewhere."

Orochimaru's expression soured.

First Danzo had told him no Homura Uchiha existed. Now Itachi was saying the same thing.

Perhaps the name was an alias. He described Homura's appearance to Itachi, then asked, "That's who I'm looking for. Surely you remember her?"

'He really is after Senior Homura!'

Even so, Itachi shook his head. "None of the girls in our clan who are fifteen or sixteen match that description."

Orochimaru was losing patience. "If you want your brother back, bring Homura Uchiha to me!"

Still holding Sasuke, he vanished from the courtyard.

Itachi ignored Shinno and leaped after him.

As Itachi passed, Shinno noticed his Sharingan. The three tomoe were spinning so quickly that they seemed to join together, almost forming a black ring within his crimson eyes. An indescribable presence was also radiating from him.

'Orochimaru may have gotten himself into serious trouble...'

The thought came to Shinno unbidden.

He soon shook it off as absurd. An eleven-year-old Uchiha could hardly be a match for Orochimaru, one of the Sannin.

Putting the thought aside, Shinno closed his eyes and searched with his senses. Then he slowly turned toward Naoki's house.

"Over there?"

He had infiltrated Konoha for more than one reason. Helping Orochimaru hunt the Uchiha repaid a favor, but his more important goal was to absorb Shion and her priestess power.

After acquiring part of Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation research and Hiruko's Chimera Technique, Shinno had taken a different approach. Combining those with some of the techniques in the artificial Tailed Beast scroll, he had absorbed Moryo outright, becoming the demon's jinchuriki and gaining the ability to suppress its will.

That transformation had brought him a wealth of knowledge about Moryo and the priestesses. He had learned that the demon and the priestess of the Land of Demons were two aspects of the same existence.

Moryo embodied evil. The priestess embodied light.

If he could fully absorb both Moryo and a priestess who possessed that power, he would acquire both aspects and become something beyond a Tailed Beast.

But when he stormed the priestess's palace, he discovered she had already passed her power to her young daughter, Shion, and sent the child away. She had also placed a temporary seal on Shion to prevent him from sensing her.

As time passed, that temporary seal had weakened. Now Shinno could sense that Shion was in Konoha and even determine roughly where she was.

The priestess had used a temporary seal instead of giving Shion the enchanted bell because the journey to Konoha might be dangerous. The seal could not completely suppress Shion's priestess power. In a crisis, she could break through it and unleash that power to protect herself.

If she had worn the bell instead, it would have suppressed her power so thoroughly that she would have been unable to fight back if danger found her.

Having located her approximate position, Shinno set off immediately.

He had told no one about his plan to absorb the priestess's power. Not Orochimaru, his collaborator, and not even Hiruko, his partner in the Akatsuki.