A/N: I haven't gone over this story. I'm just posting my folders of stories. This too is a sequel idea for my last story A Longlost Friendship under my other account Rinskau Hiroshi-San.
'Kuso… I told them to be cautious.' Sasuke let out a growl of frustration but he was actually hiding his fear. Toshiro had sorrow clear in her emerald green eyes and she was slowly sinking into despair. "We never should've let them go off by themselves. Who know what trouble they've gotten into." She shivered at a horrifying thought and Sasuke put his arm around her to calm her down.
"I'm sorry. I never should've let them go on their own like they wanted to. Forgive me, Toshiro."
She looked up into his eyes and she sighed. "I forgive you, Sasuke. It's as much my fault as it is yours. I also let them go. I now can understand why my parents never used to let Izunami go anywhere. They only wanted her to be safe. Some parents we are."
"But I don't recall saying that we weren't going to go after them. This isn't over until we find them, no matter how long it takes."
Toshiro nodded and looked out ahead of her. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get going."
Sasuke smirked and they both started running through the woods at top speed.
Quite a bit further on two teens were silently running through the trees.
"Midori!" one called to the other, "slow down!" Mother and Father are still back there. We need their help to take him down!"
The girl rolled her eyes at her twin brother and continued on anyway. "Oh please, Yahiko. They're behind us to see to it that the villain doesn't get around us. Besides, Father wouldn't have let us come if he thought we couldn't handle it."
Yahiko dropped his argument and nodded. "You do have a point. But if we get in trouble it's your fault, not mine."
"Ii yo, ii yo, I get it. Don't worry, we'll be fine. Just do what I do and everything will work out."
Yahiko was about to protest again when two hands suddenly reached out of the trees behind him. One slapped itself over his mouth and pulled him back through the brush and out of sight.
Midori thought that he was still behind her and took no notice that something had gone wrong. "Did you hear me Yahiko? Yahiko?!" She turned around suddenly and went in to a state of panic and she started calling his name out frantically. "Yahiko?!"
Midori stopped in her tracks almost immediately and darted after the sound of scrambling violent thrashing. "Yahiko! Where are you Yahi-"
Behind her she thought she thought she heard something move and two hands reached out from behind her and grabbed. She got jerked back sharply and was stopped abruptly in place. There, staring her in the face and holding her by throat, was the very person they had all been sent out after to assassinate. "You…" she hissed in a low tone.
"Do what I do and everything will work out. Good job Uchiha," he said in a mocking tone. "You really know how to look after those you care about."
Midori looked over and her eyes found Yahiko. His feet were bound and the small band of men had tied his hands behind his back. There was a rather large piece of tape over his mouth and he was lying on his stomach and one of the bigger men had his foot on Yahiko's back to keep him still.
Midori mouthed a silent apology to her brother and the men's leader knocked her unconscious. He dropped her to the ground and one of the other men picked her up and slung her over his shoulder.
Yahiko glared at the leader of the gang as he walked over to the teen and knelt down to his level. "Well what have we here? This one looks exactly like his old man. Exactly like…" An interesting thought passed through his mind and he walked back over to the man that was holding Midori. He briefly looked her over and he grabbed her chin with his hand and he took out a kunai with the other. He glanced back at Yahiko with an evil smirk. "Your sister has such a pretty face. I'd hate to see anything happen to it."
As expected Yahiko tried to pull away and free but he couldn't move and the man pushing him down pushed harder. The men's commander slowly lifted the kunai to Midori's slender neck and held it there threateningly. "If you make one false move you won't ever hear her voice again and my friend here will apply enough pressure to your back and we'll all listen to the sound of your ribs cracking or I'll just have him split your spine cleanly in half. It's your choice. Kill her and yourself, or behave and we'll play your expectancies by ear."
Yahiko ceased his struggling instantly and a few of the men laughed at him. He didn't really care that they were making fun of him and he held back a smirk. 'The moment Father finds out what's going on here all these men are dead. Of course, we won't be allowed out on our own for awhile, but at least we'll walk out of this alive.'
The leader brandished an evil smirk and his eyes met Yahiko's. "That's what I thought. I wouldn't be surprised to find a curse seal on your neck. You're exactly like your father and because of that you're so easily predictable. I see it benefited me to know him all those years ago." He laughed a little bit and muttered, "You're pathetic."
Yahiko let a growl escape from his throat and his captor pressed harder. He winced at the pressure on his already sore back and he got quiet again. The leader threw the kunai at Yahiko and it stuck itself in the ground not an inch from his neck.
"You really must enjoy hanging just out of Death's reach, don't you? How you tease him so." He narrowed his eyes at the teen and clenched a fist in frustration. "You may not see him now, but you won't be able to evade him much longer."
Yahiko's captor had an almost impatient look on his face and he glanced down at the teen. "Why do you hold back on him? Why don't you just kill him now, and get it over with?"
A few of the henchmen drew a breath and some took a step or so backward, all but one man. He had a curious expression on the visible part of his face and the rest was covered with a thin black mask he had one of his eyes covered with a thick band of cloth.
Their leader's face drained of all emotion and he unclenched his fist. "Why, you ask?" He turned and slowly walked over to his henchman with a questionable look in his dark eyes. "Your answer is thus; he has not yet fulfilled his purpose. But you on the other hand," he said in a menacing tone as he raised an open hand. "I haven't outlived anything. You shouldn't have to waste your energy on disposing of me."
His uplifted hand twitched a little and he smiled a dreadful and most evil smile. "You're worth killing." He suddenly clenched a fist again and the henchman's face contorted and he moaned like he was in some terrible pain.
Yahiko's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at what was taking place directly above him. To his horror there was a loud crack, followed by another and another and the poor man cried out in horrendous agony. He dropped to his knees and Yahiko could easily see him trembling all over and he closed his eyes, not wanting to see anymore.
For one reason or another, the leader unclenched his hand and got down on one knee before his comrade. His smile was gone by now, and in a quiet, and almost gentle voice, he said, "Be sure to give my regards to our parents."
The henchman's pain-filled eyes rose to meet his leader's uncaring stare and he bowed his head.
"Sayonara… my dear little brother." He clenched his hand and there was a crack that was louder than the rest, and his younger brother toppled over and landed on the ground.
Yahiko's eyes snapped open and they found the still warm corpse that was lying next to him. He shot a glance at the killer and thought, 'He just killed his own brother! Even my uncle wasn't that cruel!' Yahiko attempted to scoot away from the body but he soon found another foot on his back and he stopped moving again.
The cruel leader looked around him at the other members on his guild and he asked, "Are there any more queries to be asked?"
As he looked around not one dared to make a sound. "Good," he muttered under his breath.
Yahiko inhaled as the foot was lifted from his back and he was grabbed by his large collar and pulled to his feet.
After a second or so of silence the head of the group nodded to another member. He quietly cut the cords binding his feet and hands and he took a step back.
Yahiko ripped the tape off his mouth and took a deep breathy. "Now what?" he asked in a careful tone. "You must expect me to follow you of my own free will."
"I know you will do no such thing. But fear not, for I have a most, simple, solution." His eyes flicked over to a henchman standing somewhere behind the teen.
Yahiko was about to say something when a pain like being bit by a mosquito appeared on the back of his neck. He reached back and pulled it out and held it in front of his face. "A dart," he muttered as his vision began to get hazy. Yahiko dropped the little red dart and he started to sway, and then everything went black.
Toshiro slowed to a stop and her stomach flipped. Sasuke stopped next to her and glanced ahead of them. "What's wrong? What happened?"
She shuddered and turned to him with tears lining her eyes. "Midori… Yahiko…" She hugged him tightly and he wrapped him arms around in a comforting way. "Something has happened to them. They're in trouble. They might've run into who we were sent out after."
Something flared it Sasuke's eyes and the second Toshiro let go of him, he took off into the trees with Toshiro following closely behind. 'I'm completely enraged. It's almost like the anger I felt toward Itachi on the night Toshiro almost died twice.' His anger was mounting and he put on another burst of speed. 'If anything happens to them, I'll never be able to forgive myself. Those men are dead.'
Midori's eyes lazily opened, but it didn't make much difference, for wherever she was, was pitch black. She strained her eyes to try to peer through the darkness but she failed to see anything.
She tried to move but she found her feet bound and her hands were tied behind her back. After trying to untie the cords binding her wrists she soon realized that she wasn't alone and that she had her back against someone else's. She gently grabbed the wrist that was against hers and she felt for a pulse.
Midori felt a few throbs below her fingertips and she let out a relieved sigh. "Hey," she whispered as she gently poked the person behind her. "Wake up."
He moaned and shifted a little to a straight-backed sitting position. "Midori? Is that you?" he asked with a tired tone in his voice.
She smiled and relaxed a bit. "Yahiko? I thought you were someone else. Where are we?"
Yahiko didn't respond and Midori was impatient for an answer. "Yahiko?" she said as she poked him again. "Don't fall asleep on me. Stay awake."
He groaned and in a quiet voice he said, "I've got a headache. I was shot with a dart. And stop poking me." He poked her in the middle of her back and she poked him again.
"If you stop poking me then I'll stop too."
"But you started poking me first. Ah, forget it. I'm not going to argue with you." Yahiko slouched a little further and Midori sighed and rolled her eyes in the dark.
After a second or so of silence she said, "I'm sorry… for getting us into trouble. I should've listened to you. Then we wouldn't be in this mess." She leaned up against her brother and sighed again. "I'm sorry Yahiko."
"It's okay. Don't worry about it Midori." He glanced around him into the dark and muttered, "I can't see a thing in here it's so dark."
Midori perked up and suggested, "Can't your sharingans help you see in the dark?"
There was some silence as Yahiko activated them. "You have them too, you know," he said as he looked around.
Midori shrugged and looked up over her shoulder and she recognized the familiar red glow from her brother's first-stage Sharingans. "So, what do you see? Where are we?"
"Why don't you look?"
She sighed and activated hers too. "But it didn't help any. You could've just told me."
"And whoever said that you would believe me?" He deactivated them with a sigh. "What a waste." Yahiko felt Midori suddenly go rigid and he strained his hearing for the slightest sound and he found what he was looking for.
Breathing.
Midori had heard it too and she had also defined the sound of a fingernail scratching metal. She silently lay on her side and she slipped her legs through her arms. She sat back up and she started pulling at the cord with her teeth.
Yahiko knew exactly what she was doing and he held still, one because he wasn't as flexible as she was, and two because she would untie him once she had her own hands free.
Even though you couldn't tell, Midori's eyes lit up as the cord fell to the floor. She turned around a second later and she soon untied her brother's hands. After that brief task the two twins set out to work on the cords around their ankles.
Yahiko suddenly froze and Midori did too. Something was thrown toward them and he leaned back and Midori leaned forward. Yahiko felt wind as the kunai passed just over his throat and he swallowed.
He quickly reached over and pulled the kunai out of the dirt wall and he cut the remaining cords. Yahiko jumped to his feet and Midori did the same.
A person somewhere off in the dark chuckled a little bit and said, "Impressive… but I expected you to be quicker about your escape." A torch was lit almost ten feet away from them and the light revealed the face of the man.
He had a long scar coming from under a thick band of cloth covering his left eye and he looked to be in his early fifties. He had long silver hair that stood straight up on his head and there was a thin black mask covering his nose and mouth. The twins didn't recognize him but the man knew exactly who they were.
"So this is the new addition to the infamous Uchiha clan? I expected so much more form the descendants of Uchiha Sasuke."
Yahiko shot a glare at the man and held back a smart remark. Midori furrowed her eyebrows and she couldn't stop staring at him. 'I know I've seen him before. Not from the group of men, but, maybe somewhere else.'
The familiarity struck Yahiko as well, but he too could not figure out where he had seen the man before. 'A picture maybe?' he thought but he couldn't guarantee it.
The silver-haired man walked towards them and he stopped in front of a very tense Midori, Yahiko's eyes watching him like a hawk. Midori took a step backward nervously and she backed into the dirt wall. She tried to tell him to leave her alone but the words were stuck in her throat and wouldn't come out.
Yahiko moved and stood in front of the man and Midori watched him over her twin's shoulder. "You can't stop me," the man said in monotone. "Try as you might, but you will fail miserably."
Yahiko fingered the kunai in his hand and he watched the man's eye flick up over his shoulder. Something passed through his uncovered eye but he kept it to himself. Yahiko saw something in his eye and he decided that the next move that the man made would be his last.
The man smirked through his mask and he siked a move and Yahiko reacted. The second the kunai touched him the man disappeared and Yahiko watched a log fall to the ground. "Substitution," he muttered to himself and he kept an eye on Midori.
After a second or so of silence, a voice from somewhere in the shadows said, "I imagine it is your full intention to escape from here and complete your mission, correct?"
Yahiko stayed silent and Midori moved to stand next to her brother. "And just how does it matter to you?" she asked.
"It doesn't matter to me at all," the voice replied. "But I am willing to give one of you a chance to leave. A challenge, if you will."
Midori glanced at Yahiko who was shaking his head and she rolled her eyes. "Very well. What is your challenge?"
Yahiko glared at his sister and she looked back as the man walked out of the shadows and stood under the torch. He reached into his pocket and to their great surprise, he pulled out a single golden bell.
"A bell?" Yahiko asked, obviously unimpressed, and Midori just watched him.
"A bell," he said simply and it jingled as he shifted his stance. "It's quite simple actually. Just take the bell from me, and the one who gets it is allowed to leave."
Yahiko looked at Midori this time for her thought and he said to her, "If we do this, at least one of us could leave and go for help." She nodded and she looked back over at the bell in his hand. In unison they both said, "We accept."
He attached the bell to his pants around his waist and Yahiko charged at him. He threw kick after punch but none of them made contact. He brought the kunai back but the man poofed again, and he kept the kunai in the air.
The man reappeared behind him and before Yahiko could attack the hand that was holding the kunai was grabbed and pulled behind his back. He froze as he felt the tip of the kunai against the back of his own neck and Midori started running at the man.
Yahiko tried to pull away but he didn't have the strength to. The man smirked behind his mask and he said, "You're faster than most. I'm not surprised. But one thing." Midori slowed to a stop and he said, "I never said go."
Midori watched him closely and she held back a smirk as he said, "Okay… start!" and he disappeared.
Yahiko stood up to his full height and he looked around as more torches lit up. It was cave, and a large one at that. There were stalactites and stalagmites everywhere they turned, and there were multiple tunnels leading off to various locations in the cave.
The twins looked from the tunnels to each other and Midori asked, "Do you want to try and split up or do you think we should stick together and get the bell?"
Yahiko shrugged at her and started walking into one of the tunnels. "Follow me if you will, but I'm going to try in…" As he glanced behind him he saw that Midori had already started walking in the opposite direction. "…here…"
After awhile of walking Yahiko stopped in the middle of a large room in the in the cave. 'I know he's in here,' he thought as he looked around with his sharingans.
The man tried to sneak up behind Yahiko, just to see how he would react and with his back turned, the teen smirked. He suddenly turned around and unleashed an array of various attacks on the aging man, who had been expecting no such thing.
Yahiko siked a move on him and he went in straight for the bell. The silver-haired man watched in horror and he pulled back, and Yahiko's fingers only just brushed the bell. The masked man retreated back into the shadows again to prepare for his next attack.
'So close,' Yahiko thought with a smirk as he started walking through another tunnel.
Midori stopped in the middle of one of the larger tunnels and she leaned up against the wall with a sigh. 'I wonder if Yahiko has had anymore luck than I've had.'
She turned her head as she thought she heard something move further down the tunnel. She quietly pushed herself off the wall and slowly started walking toward the sound.
As she got closer, she eventually could define hard breathing and whoever it was seemed to be in pain. She took a breath and turned the corner and her heart fell to the ground. "Y-Yahiko?"
His body was mangled and bloody and Midori was mortified. One of his limbs appeared to me bent in the wrong direction and he had senbon needles sticking out of various parts of his body. He turned his head upwards and with a voice full of pain he gently whispered his sister's name. "…Midori…"
Something sparked in Midori's red eyes and she darted toward her brother. She blocked his voice out of her mind and with a kunai she slashed through the hallucination of her twin brother. She was breathing heavily as she stood on the spot where the image had been just before and she swallowed nervously.
"Nice try, whoever you are. My sharingans saw directly through it," she said to the air with a smirk.
Midori watched the shadows as the man came out and he stopped not far from her. "I thought you might."
She shook her head as she stared at the man and said with a slight smile, "And I can see right through you, too, charlatan."
He smirked behind his black mask and he disappeared again and there was a rock in his place. As the man walked out of the shadows a second time, Midori looked him over and verified that he indeed was real and not a clone at all.
"About time I finally see you for myself." She watched as he moved closer to her and he stopped just in front of her. Midori couldn't really hold it in anymore and she blurted out, "You look familiar. Who are you exactly?"
He was quiet but he smirked after a second of so. Midori waited impatiently for his answer and he replied, "Complete the challenge and find out."
Yahiko walked in just then and Midori glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Fine," she said to him in an emotionless tone and she turned around and walked back over to her brother. With one last look at the man she smirked and pulled Yahiko by the arm and out of sight.
"He's right there," Yahiko protested. "You were standing right in front of her. Why didn't you do anything?"
"Because," she said in almost a whisper, "I think he's testing us, Yahiko. And so far as I can see, the only way to get the bell is with teamwork." She emphasized the last word greatly and she smiled at her brother.
Yahiko had a look of disbelief on his face and shook his head. "No… you don't really think that he's…"
Midori nodded at him, still smiling. "Yep, I think so. It all fits, does it not?"
Yahiko shook his head. "I doubt it. It's not him. He's a member of that group that brought us here to begin with. He's not to be trusted."
Midori rolled her eyes but nodded. "Alright, fine. But still, we need to work together to get the bell."
"Fine. So what do you suggest?"