AN: (Spoilers ahead, beware)
I know Sasori technically died not long after the time skip, but when I came up with this story I didn't know that yet. I had only heard of Sasori thanks to other fanfics I read and thought he would be an awesome villain. I have a few ideas of explaining how he survived but I don't know how valid they would be. Also, I have only gotten as far as Gaara being brought back to life in the anime, and have not read the manga at all yet, so if there are any mistakes based on that I apologize, but I don't know if I'll change anything in the story based on those mistakes since I like the way it is and the way it's going so far.
As for the age of the characters in this story, my OC Aiko, Naruto, Sakura, Gaara, and the rookie 9 are all 18, with everyone else's ages corresponding to that. Also, although Sasuke is mentioned in the story, and would have been either rescued or killed by this point in the original storyline, I am not including his fate in this story as of yet. When and if I do I'll either put an explanation in the story itself or in an AN about what exactly happened to him in my story universe.
I'm rating this story M for mature just in case because of the mention of rape and torture. And so I don't have to change it if I decide to add a little romance/smex to the story later. SO NO UNDER 18 PLEASE!
I appreciate any and all constructive criticism since this is my first fanfic, and because I hope to be a fiction writer some day. But I do ask that it be constructive criticism, not flames. I refuse to read outright flames, I f you don't like my story, then don't read it again, so please don't clutter up the reviews of this story with 'I hate this story' or 'this story is stupid' , ect. If you don't like the story, but have any helpful advice for future fanfics/writing in general, then I will gladly read it and take it to heart.
I'm sorry in advance for any grammar mistakes, I edited the best I can so far. If you spot any horrible errors still in the story feel free to let me know and I will change them. Thank you and sorry for the long Author's Note. ^^;
Tsunade sighed as she looked at the two Anbu she had in her office. She knew one of them wouldn't take this well. She tapped her fisted hands against her lips as she thought, and sighed once more when she again came to the conclusion that there was absolutely no choice. She had to have someone who had known her to be on this mission. It would help them when they joined up with the others on this mission and might give them a bit of an edge in finding the missing Anbu. She closed her eyes when she thought those last words, she hoped that the Anbu hadn't been surprised and kidnapped, especially by him. Tsunade shuddered as she looked down at the report of what had happened when the missing Anbu had been kidnapped by him before. Even an experienced shinobi as she would not wish that kind of twisted and crazed obsession on their worst enemy. Finally she looked up at the two Anbu standing in front of her and nodded for them to sit down.
"Thank you both for coming. Your skills are essential in this mission. But I must warn you, this mission is of the utmost confidentiality, even for Anbu…Your mission is to locate, and bring back the Anbu white wolf."
She looked at the senbon chewing shinobi as he stiffened and then slowly took his Anbu mask off to look her in the eyes more clearly. She waited to see if he would explode or not and was somewhat surprised when he replied calmly, if somewhat shakily to her statement.
"Lady Hokage, the white wolf mask was retired, at the request of both Kakashi and Ibiki, out of respect, upon the death of the one who was to receive it. And the third swore to them that it would remain retired."
She sighed and squeezed her eyes shut for a moment before looking back up at the Anbu pair to see Genma tense beyond belief and his white-eyed counterpart watching curiously and quietly. "It did remain retired…until the third found out she was alive, and mostly well, when she was about 9."
Genma jumped up, losing control of his senbon in his surprise, and stared at her in shock. "She's…..she's alive?" he croaked, blinking as the hokage nodded, "Does Kakashi know? Does anyone else know?"
Tsunade looked behind her at the senbon in the wall behind her before nodding to answer Genma's first question and flinching a bit at his second. She sighed, "No, Kakashi doesn't know….the 3rd thought it best that as few as possible knew about her being alive for her and the village's safety. He was afraid if too many knew it would get out and another attempt would be made on her life, so he kept her hidden. The only people that knew about her were the 3rd, Ibiki, myself, Shizune, her uncle that survived with her, her cousin and guard."
Genma, about to sit back down, shot back up and opened his mouth to say something at her answer, then stopped as she continued. His face darkened and he nodded slightly, but was obviously still angry. "No matter the concern for her safety, Kakashi should have been notified, he was her godfather! I understand not notifying her only living relative since he was still young himself, although it might have prevented his leaving….."
Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples from the headache already formed mostly from this conversation, then nodded. "I know, I agree with you completely. When I was named hokage, I was given a scroll by Ibiki from the third telling me of the situation. I had planned to notify Kakashi and I had planned to notify her cousin, but then the whole fiasco with him leaving and everything else came up, and she was needed for other missions. After that, something always seemed to pop up whenever I thought about telling Kakashi, or she was out on some kind of long and dangerous mission and I couldn't afford Kakashi getting all protective and trying to go after her."
Neji looked over from his upset teammate to Tsunade at the mention of a fiasco of someone leaving and cleared his throat. "May I ask who the Anbu white wolf is?"
Tsunade lifted an eyebrow," You haven't figured it out yet? You were on her cousins' retrieval team…." She flapped a hand as Neji stiffened, his eyes going wide then sighed again, "The name of the anbu white wolf is Aiko Uchiha. Cousin to Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha, thought to have been brutally murdered when she was only 6, and a genin, by Itachi." Tsunade looked at the two scrolls at her elbow for a few seconds then pushed them forward as she cleared her throat. "The first of these scrolls details how Aiko survived the massacre and how her abilities have progressed over the years. The second scroll…," Tsunade sighed and put her face in her hands for a few seconds before looking back up at the two and continuing a bit shakily, "the second scroll is a report of when Aiko was kidnapped when she was 16."
Genma stiffened again, his eyes widening. "What? She was kidnapped? By who?"
Tsunade looked down at the scroll again, sighing sadly as she remembered the contents of it. "She was kidnapped by Sasori of the Atkatski. He came across her while she was collecting herbs in the forest when she was 11. For some unhinged reason, he became obsessed with her instantly, he would've kidnapped her then if her two nin dogs hadn't attacked him before he could even try. It seems whenever he isn't doing some Atkatski duty, he tries tracking her in hopes of a chance to abduct her. He got his chance when she was heading back from a mission delivering something to the kazekage. He held her captive for just under a week. During that time he brutally tortured her and was getting set to rape her when she managed to escape and was found by Temari, Kankuro, and the kazekage."
Both Anbu stared at Tsunade as her face hardened. "According to the kazekage, she was in extremely bad shape. She might not have made it if her nin dogs hadn't managed to get back to the sand village so quick after they were attacked. Thanks to them the kazekage sent a message to me right away, and I immediately sent Sakura to the village hidden in the Sand to assist them if so needed. She saved Aiko's life then, although even she said it was a close call…" She looked up at the two men, he mouth set in a thin line, "I'm afraid that Sasori may have gotten her again, she was supposed to be back from her mission last week, at the lastest. Yesterday evening, her nin dogs were found by Temari and Kankuro on their way home from a mission. They are both in bad condition and are being treated by Hana Inuzuka, who was luckily on a mission nearby. Apparently they were poisoned through a number of senbons imbedded in their skin."
Genma interrupted quietly, "Are Ko-ko's nin-dogs still name 1 and name 2?"
Tsunade smiled slightly, "Yes, those two rascals are still her nin-dogs, and just as protective as ever," sighs, "Which is why I was surprised they were taken out so easily."
Neji lifted an eyebrow and spoke quietly, "Easily?"
"Their words supposedly, not mine. They said they had only been able to get a faint whiff of a familiar scent before they were taken out by the senbons and blacked out. No warning, no time to react. That's what Hana was able to make out when they briefly regained consciousness last night."
She shifted slightly and looked at the two scrolls still on her desk and then at Genma who had been gazing at them silently for the past few minutes. "There are a few other things you must know before you leave and read the scrolls, the Kazekage will be assisting, albeit discreetly, in the search as he and Aiko have become close friends over the years. Sakura and the rest of team 7 will also be participating, mostly for Sakura's healing talents, but also for the obvious reasons."
Genma looked up at her, "Will Kakashi be told?"
Tsunade nodded, "The Kazekage is informing him and the rest of team Kakashi as we speak. They will start from the Sand Village and search near where name 1 and name 2 were found by Temari and Kankuro. As for you two, you will start from here and see if you can find any evidence between here and where name 1 and name 2 were found. We have no idea where Sasori may be keeping her if he is the one that has her. I doubt it would be far with the fight Aiko would put up. After that meet up with Team Kakashi and the Sand Siblings and assist them in any way you can. Understood?"
"Yes, Lady Hokage."
Kakashi stopped dead upon entering the room designated by a quiet Temari, going pale as his hand reached up shakily to his headband to reveal his sharingan to make sure this wasn't some sort of sick joke.
Sakura and Naruto looked at each other worriedly before returning their gazes to that of their sheet white sensei. Sakura cautiously put a hand on his arm as Naruto tried to peek over his shoulder frowning.
"Kakashi-sensei, what's wrong?" Sakura asked softly.
Shaken out of his shocked state, Kakashi ignored Sakura and looked over at the kazekage watching him with a solemn expression on his face. Kakashi looked at him his sharingan spinning fast and his voice dangerously quiet, "Where is she?"
Gaara looked at him silently before looking down and saying in a quiet voice, "She's been missing for a week, Kankuro and Temari found name 1 and name 2 on the brink of death just the other night." He looked back up at Kakashi, his voice still quiet, "She wanted to tell you from the beginning that she survived, but it took her 3 years to heal completely and that's when the third hokage found her and decided it best her survival be kept a secret, for her safety and the safety of your village. Then-"
"What are you talking about Gaara? Who are you talking about?" Naruto's voice was shaky, surprising everyone. As Kakashi turned around to look at him curiously Naruto caught a glimpse of the two injured nin dogs on the floor, with Haana Inuzuka sitting nearby resting and silently watching her two charges.
His eyes went wide as he sucked his breath in, before looking grimly at both Gaara and Kakashi.
"She's alive isn't she? Aiko Uchiha's alive."
Sakura gasped quietly as Gaara motioned them to the seats in the room nodding quietly.
"Yes, she is," he looked at Sakura briefly, "You've actually met her too Sakura-chan, when you healed her here two years ago, you know her as the Anbu white wolf."
Sakura sat down heavily, putting her hand to her mouth looking at the tabletop blankly, "That explains her hallucinations back then, but… how do you and Naruto know her Kakshi-sensei, and why have I never even heard of her name before now? How…closely was—is-- she related to Sasuke?"