I could just stare at Tsunade. I couldn't believe what she had just said. 'W-what?'
'Sasuke's missing, Kikyo. And we have a few suspects, but we're gonna need the help of you, Sakura, and Naruto.'
'Of course..Anything..'
I was still numb with shock. Sasuke was missing. Missing. He was one of the strongest in the village, and he was kidnapped? This was bad. 'What do I need to do?'
Tsunade sat back at her desk. Sakura had regained her composure and was standing next to me. 'I'm sending you to the Akatsuki, Kikyo.'
I flinched. Wasn't expecting that.
'Akatsuki?! But, Tsunade-'
She raised her hand. 'No. You're going. We think that Itachi Uchiha may have had something to do with Sasuke's disappearance. You're going to pretend to be captured by them and learn everything you can about where Sasuke might be. Sakura.'
Sakura straightened up. 'Yes?'
'You're going to Sunagakure. We don't think they had anything to do with the kidnapping, but we want to ask for their help in case we need backup. Gaara will assist you.' Sakura nodded.
I couldn't help my curiousity. 'Where is Naruto going?'
'I'm sending him to the Sound village. He's going to find out if Orochimaru took Sasuke.'
Wonderful. Send my boyfriend to crazy Orochimaru.
You shouldn't be talking! You're going to crazy Itachi and his crazy homicidal self!
Tsunade looked towards the window. 'I sent ANBU operatives to find any traces of the kidnappers. You two should go home and prepare for your mission. You're both leaving tomorrow. Naruto has already been informed of his mission.'
I nodded and started back for home. When I opened the door, I was shocked to find that Kakashi was gone. I ran for the fridge. Empty. 'Damn it, Kakashi! Stop eating all of my food! Argh!'
'Uh, Kikyo? Why are you yelling at the fridge?'
I spun around and saw Naruto sitting at the kitchen table. I walked to the table and sat down. No one said anything for a couple of minutes. 'We're gonna be gone for a while, huh?'
'Yeah,' I replied. 'You're off to Orochimaru, and I gotta deal with Akatsuki. Great.'
Naruto reached for my hand, and the touch was comforting. 'We'll find Sasuke. I mean, knowing him, he's probably already breaking his way out of wherever he is!'
I nodded. Naruto rose from the table. 'I gotta go home and sleep. I'll see you and Sakura tomorrow. We're all leaving at the same time.'
He began to move towards the door and I called him back. 'N-naruto!'
'Hn?'
I didn't want to say it. 'I..W-what if we don't come back?'
Naruto thought for a moment. 'Well, Sakura has the safest job because she's just going to Sunagakure, but you and me have it pretty tough. You're one of the most skilled Jounin in the village. I mean, you overcame a demon last year. I think you can handle the Akatsuki.'
Then he left the house. But what he didn't realize is, I wasn't worried about myself. Naruto was caring, yes. But he was also brash and hasty. He wanted things done when he wanted things done. He was the kind to rush into battle without any clues about the enemy. That's what I was worried about. Orochimaru was one of the cleverest ninja ever to walk the planet, and Naruto was going to have to watch him without being caught. He would possibly even have to save Sasuke on his own.
I shook all of these thoughts from my head as the front door opened and Ino walked in. Her blonde hair was hanging in front of her eyes, and I knew that she had gotten the news about Sasuke. 'Ino?' I said softly.
She looked up. 'He's gone, right? Yeah, Tsunade told me. I..I'm going to help Sakura pack. She must be a total wreck. You think I should bring her some food?'
I nodded my head no. 'That's gonna be an issue.'
'Why?'
'Kakashi raided our fridge again.'
Ino blinked a few times. 'Argh! How does that old silver haired pervert keep getting into our house?! Do I have to sit on the porch and keep watch to keep him out?!'
I couldn't help but laugh. Ino smiled. 'Well, you're going on a mission tomorrow, right? Tsunade wouldn't tell me what the mission was..'
Hn. She probably wants to keep it a secret.
Yeah. Better fool Ino.
'It's nothing,' I said. 'It's just a mission to keep my mind off Sasuke. Naruto and Sakura are going on one too. But we're gonna be gone for a few months, so you don't have to buy as much food..unless you wanna feed Kakashi too.'
She sighed. 'I might as well. It seems like no matter how much I Kakashi-proof the house, he always gets in!'
We laughed again, and I headed upstairs to get some sleep and pack. I didn't realize how tired I was until my head hit the pillow and I immediately fell into a deep sleep.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-x
I was standing on top of the Hokage mountain, looking down at Konoha. I looked to my left and my right and saw Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura standing on either side of me. They all head leaves in their hands. I remember this..This was a year ago today..
Yeah. The day that Hyako began to break out.
I almost flinched. I had forgotten all about Hyako, the demon who had tried to take over Konoha using my body. The demon who had killed my best friend, and who had almost killed Neji Hyuuga, the one person who was able to seal her away for good. But she was gone for good now.
The scene changed, and I saw myself falling off the side of the mountain, with Neji dashing outside just in time to catch me. The scene changed again. I saw myself in the training grounds, where I lost control of Hyako and completely destroyed everything in a five mile radius.
Scene changed.
I saw myself waking up in the hospital room, with Naruto finally admitting that he loved me, and Neji getting punched pretty hard in the face.
Scene changed.
I saw myself in Hyako's chamber, releasing her from her prison and setting her free in the world. I saw Ren coming to save me at the last minute and taking me to see Chi.
Scene changed.
I saw myself fighting desperately with Hyako. She was trying to crush my organs and cut off my circulation, killing me before Neji could seal her. I saw my eyes begin to flutter, and I saw myself lay still upon the floor as Hyako was finally banished from my body.
Come on, get up. Stop watching. It's time to leave, anyway.
Was that really only a year ago?
Yeah..Hard to believe, eh?
Wow, you don't know how happy I am that Hyako's gone.
x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x--x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Chi helped me wake up. I blinked against the sunlight streaming into my room, and I thought, Wow, this could be my last few hours in Konoha.
Don't think that. You know you're stronger than anyone in the village. Akatsuki is gonna be nothing for you.
Yeah, I guess.
I got dressed and left a note for Ino, because she was still sleeping. Who knew when I would see her again?
As I approached the village gate, I caught sight of Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi. They smiled as I came close, but I knew they were all nervous. Well, not all of them. Kakashi just looked hungry. Not surprising.
'Hey, Kakashi. Ino just went to the supermarket yesterday. Our fridge is stocked for the next month. You better go take advantage of it while you can, old man.'
He scowled. 'I'm not that old!' Then he smiled. 'And maybe you're not sucha bad kid. Don't die, kay?'
I nodded, and Kakashi said goodbye to Naruto and Sakura before dashing off towards my house. Ino's gonna wake up and find Kakashi sitting in the kitchen. Hehe.
That left me, Naruto, and Sakura. We walked out of the village and started down the road. We would travel together until we had to take seperate routes. Naruto was heading directly to the Sound village, Sakura was going directly to Sunagakure, and I was going towards a village where Akatsuki members had been spotted.
We talked until we came to the fork in the road. Naruto looked back at me and Sakura before giving us each huge hugs. He pulled me aside. 'Be careful, okay? I love you, and I can't have you dying just yet.'
I laughed. 'Worry about yourself, dobe. Try not to piss off Orochimary too much, eh?'
Naruto turned back in the direction of Konoha. 'Bye, Granny Tsunade! Don't drink too much!'
Somewhere else in Konoha:
Tsunade : 'I have the urge to punch Naruto..'
Shizune : '?'
Back to the story:
So this was it. I was on my own. Heading towards a village to find some crazy killers and live with them. Awesome.
How am I gonna pretend to be captured?
Well, you can't just say 'Hey! Come get me!' cause they'll probably get suspicious. Put up a good fight. Maybe injure one or two of them. Then pretend to slow down and get caught.
How do I know they won't just kill me?
Because if you show them your strength, chances are that they're gonna take you back to their hideout to see what's up with you.
Gotcha.
I walked for about two days, and then I caught sight of the village where I was supposed to look. As I began quickening my pace (I was hungry) I heard rustling in the trees behind me. I pretended not to hear it. I found one already?! I don't wanna fight them now! I want some ramen! Argh!
The rustling grew louder, but I could tell that there was only one of them in the trees. He was just making a whole lot of racket. This can't be an Akatsuki member. They're terrible at hiding!
I heard an 'oof' from the trees. Whoever it was had just hit their head on a branch. Okay, I've had enough.
I spun around and threw several kunai into a tree. A man fell out. 'Hey, why did you do that to Tobi?!'
'What's the matter with you?! If you're gonna follow me, do it right! Which means, make sure I can't track your movements, stupid! Geesh, who are you anywa-'
Oh, you've gotta be kidding me. You have GOT to be kidding me!
Nope. Not kidding. He's it.
The man was wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it. An Akatsuki cloak. I couldn't see his face because it looked like he was wearing a mask that looked like a..a cookie?
I tried not to laugh. 'Uh, hey, what's on your face?'
The man got up and brushed the dust off of his cloak. 'It's Tobi's mask! It's super scary!'
'Yeeeah..Uh, what's your name, huh?'
'My name is Tobi! I'm Akatsuki!'
And THAT'S what I need to hear.
I jumped into action immediately. I pinned Tobi against a tree and drew a kunai. 'Akatsuki, huh? Looks like they're lowering their standards. Wow. Can't hide, can't track, can't fight.'
I was about to bring the kunai down on Tobi's shoulder when a bird flew out of a tree and rammed into me. But it didn't feel like a bird. It was way too heavy to be a bird. That's when I realized it was made of clay. Clay bird?!
This is stupid. They're gonna fight you with a clay bir-
The bird exploded right next to me. 'WTF?!' I yelled, flying backwards and smacking my head on the ground. 'Th-the bird exploded!'
I heard a voice come from a branch above me. 'Jeez, Tobi! Do you have to get into trouble everywhere you go?!'
Big mistake, bird man.
He had spoken. Which meant that I could tell where he was. I flipped onto my feet and threw kunai with chakra strings attached into the area where I had heard the voice. I saw another black cloak emerge from the branches just in time to avoid the attack. He - or at least I thought it was a he - had blonde hair that was done up in a half ponytail. 'Hey, girly man!' I yelled. 'Stay still, would you?'
Girly man landed on the ground a couple of feet away from me. He immediately spun around and smacked Tobi on the head. 'Are you stupid, Tobi?! I sent you to get orange juice from the store! Orange juice, Tobi! And you find a girl to fight?! She's a strong one, too!'
'Uh..' I said. This wasn't going as I had expected. It was like they were an old married couple. Is this really Akatsuki?! They suck!
Yeah, let's take care of them, please. I'm still hungry.
I dashed at the girly man while he was distracted, with a knife in my hand. I managed to cut his arm before he turned around and swiped me down onto the ground. I got free and jumped backwards, throwing several knives. Girly man dodged them, but they almost hit Tobi in the process. 'Tobi! Move!' yelled girly man.
Then I saw movement in the trees behing Tobi. Another person emerged, and I prepared to attack again. But then the person opened his eyes, and I don't remember much after that. All I remember is seeing two red eyes staring at me from the shadow of the tree, and I was on the ground. I couldn't move. What is this?!
I struggled to get free, to no avail. The man stepped from the shadows and looked down at me again. The instant we made eye contact, I was unconscious.
