Sai paced in agitation, Sakura was taking too much time, and he was sure that he was going to go insane with worry. He may be an emotional retard but even he could tell what the feeling was that was twisting angrily in his gut.

And then he felt it.

His ink snakes were being commanded by someone else and they were unlocking Naruto from the ground while still keeping the teen bound.

Sai's eyes widened in horror and he took off, unable to concentrate long enough to transport himself there—this had never happened to him before and some part of him was screaming that he wasn't being a proper, emotionless shinobi. But most of him didn't care, every other cell in his being was screaming at him to hurry, to run, to save Naruto. He had to stop whoever it was that was trying to kidnap Naruto and had blocked him from dispelled the ink snakes so that Naruto could at least defend himself.

Sakura collapsed the moment Tsunade took over for keeping the ninja's heart beating and she leaned heavily against the white wall nearest to the bed. The bleeding had stopped and now all they had to do was stabilize him and reset all his bones but Sakura had been making the man's heart beat for over twenty minutes and now her chakra was almost completely depleted. Her eyes were barely held open, her heart beating quickly, trying to wake her up but failing miserably. The pink haired kunoichi was now slumped against one of the few places on the wall that hadn't been splattered with blood from the explosion earlier.

"Sakura," the Hokage did not take her eyes off of the man in front of her, most of her concentration on the heartbeats it bothered to make but she was well practiced enough to be able to hold short conversations. She remembered a woman whose heart was even more erratic than this one and shuddered at how difficult that had been. "You did very well. Take the next day off; you need to recuperate from using your chakra for so long."

Sakura somehow brought forth the energy to respond, "Do we know what happened to him? Why someone would do that…?"

Tsunade pursed her lips for a moment, debating on whether or not she should tell the truth before deciding it was ok. "Leave," she commanded the other medics and they silently left the room, "Hinata, you may stay, go ahead and start resetting his bones: he can't just sit here after all." The teen nodded and Tsunade quickly focused on her chakra flow then the heart she was pumping chakra into began to slow.

"He was a spy in one of Orochimaru's organization." Sakura almost interrupted with a question but decided that it was too much work. "We had him pretend to defect from Konoha a long time ago and then go on a search to join Orochimaru while secretly keeping the Third and then myself informed on what happened during the entire time he was gone." Sakura gasped, she'd had no idea that some ninja would have to do missions like that; knowing that your friends, your family would forever believe you to be a missing-nin even when you aren't—it all seemed very cruel. "This isn't the first time that Konoha has sent out a ninja for the job of spying in the same manner only sometimes they have to 'defect' to escape punishment…" before she could elaborate further the man's heart slowed even more and then sped up quickly, she eased off her flow of chakra instantly. "We don't know who found him out, only he does, but I knew something was up when he went for three weeks without reporting." Her eyes clouded with imagination and something akin to regret, "Three weeks of torture no doubt. Orochimaru sent some group of shinobi and had him dropped off where two ANBU found him. They almost engaged the other ninja but had to think of the injured first so they brought him here."

"Wow, he had to 'defect'," Hinata had paused in her mending during the discussion and looked at Tsunade with large eyes that begged to be told that the horrible truth was all a lie.

"It's not so horrible: the qualifications for a mission like that is a hard mixture to come by and we don't do it very often. Just when we absolutely have to and even then we still hesitate—a ninja volunteered for the job a couple years ago and we only agreed because they were the best. Technically still are but…

"Anyway they have to be willing to sacrifice their life to the mission, to be able to leave everything behind without remorse or second thought. When a Hokage chooses for someone to defect they usually pick a ninja with extreme strength, one that had no one to support, and who will never really betray Konoha. It may not seem like it would be hard to come by people like that but there aren't many ninja willing to leave their homes behind, especially with the death rate currently at ninety nine percent."

"So many lives…" Hinata whispered and she went back to work mechanically.

"That's still…wrong. Whenever they come back to the village there will always be a hint of doubt, someone will always wonder if they will leave again." Sakura had regained some energy after resting but didn't try to stand just yet.

"Maybe, we don't know." Tsunade looked up at the ceiling but continued after being gently prodded by the Hyuuga heiress, "No one to have 'defected' has ever returned, alive or dead. They've always been caught after a couple of years. We have only one ninja out now that has lasted the longest of any others to take the mission—ten years or so—but he hasn't returned and we kind of don't plan on him living long enough to come back in the first place. He knows this, he knew before he requested to take the mission."

"How can you know? Whoever he is, he might be able to come back, you said so yourself, he's lasted the longest. He might make it back to Konoha!" Sakura felt a sick hope rise in her stomach, one that whispered that maybe Sasuke had been one of those select few, he qualified that was for sure. There was also hope for the faceless ninja suffering for a choice that had altered his life permanently. And then Sakura remembered that Sasuke had tried to kill Naruto for real and he had let Naruto live on a whim.

"Because the place that he is in has him too deep for him to simply walk away and they are too strong for us to kill. If he is ever found out he will be killed, if he tries to leave he will be killed, there's no other facts I can give you about him though, I have already said too much." She shook her blonde head and let out a sigh.

"Has anyone…from our generation…" Hinata looked thoughtful but it was very obvious whom she was talking about. He was the only one of their generation to no longer be a ninja of Konoha. He now belonged to Otogakure, Hidden village of Sound run by Orochimaru, who was currently Konoha's greatest enemy.

Naruto struggled as best as he could while being securely bound and thrown carelessly over the shoulder of a smelly fish-like man. Said fish-like man would not have liked Naruto's train of thought—he considered himself closer to a shark after all, they are predators and fish are the prey. And obviously he wouldn't like being called smelly.

"Let me go!" he roared as he flailed uselessly in the strong man's arms some more. Other ANBU had been by when the two Akatsuki members had been kidnapping Naruto but they had been like the man torturing Naruto—hateful men (and two women) who wanted Naruto dead like the Akatsuki, just for different reasons.

Kisame ignored the blonde who wriggled continuously on his shoulder. "Oi, Itachi-san, do you remember that ANBU guy that was fucking with the brat?" Naruto watched Itachi but the man gave no sign that he heard his companion. "I was a lil surprised that you didn't step in sooner."

Itachi stiffened but it was small enough where Naruto almost didn't catch the motion. "Shut up."

To be honest, Naruto had been expecting Itachi to be impermeable, to not let anything get to him, and in some cases this is true—like when he's fighting or killing—but he had buttons that could be pressed, much like his younger brother Sasuke. The blonde shinobi—who was having a shockingly bright revelation—had his suspicions that he was a very explosive button.

There was a long silence after that little statement in which Naruto just stared at the tree branches that flew behind them. He glared at those tree branches, somehow finding a way to blame them.

This is all your fault. You should just break and drop me and Kisame onto the ground. He was utterly shocked when his mind created a high-pitched voice that wined at him.

"Even if we break off and die underneath Kisame there is very little chance that he will be thrown off balance."

Well what if he does lose his balance? Naruto asked and then wondered why he was talking to tree branches.

"Well if a S-class criminal somehow lost his balance enough to drop you onto the ground thirty feet below, you would fall unchallenged and you would be immobilized by pain." They continued without pause, "Now let's add this other impossibility, ok? Let's say that you aren't rendered momentarily retarded by the fall—or killed—how are you supposed to break free of the ink snakes?"

The blonde decided that he needed to break off the mental conversation before he muttered something out loud.

Naruto was startled awake when he was suddenly dropped onto the ground like a sack of potatoes. He looked up and blinked at Itachi's back while trying to figure out what had happened.

So it wasn't a dream… "How long was I out?" it was supposed to be a good little question and stay in his head but it had popped out in defiance much like he would the moment the Akatsuki men let their guard down.

"A while," Kisame was sitting on the other side of the small fire, which meant that they were comfortable enough that they didn't fear an attack from enemies—like people that were supposed to be saving Naruto. "Had to carry you myself most of the way. Itachi-san wouldn't give me a fucking break for a long time." Naruto didn't miss the glare Kisame sent to Itachi but the black haired man pretended to.

"I'll take first watch," the Uchiha said emotionlessly as he settled down right next to Naruto, "And I will carry Naruto-kun tomorrow." Isn't it funny how a guy that wants Naruto dead uses the suffix '-kun'? I think it is…

Naruto gulped. These men obviously didn't fear Konoha's wrath in the least. "My friends are gonna come after me," Naruto had meant for the statement to be a bold show of defiance much like his awakening sentence had been—all that had come out was a whispered sentence that sound more like a pleading then anything else and that pissed him off. Sure these guys were tons more powerful than him but since when did Naruto let that stop him? Never! He had taken on Orochimaru—a very powerful ninja that was the closest to immortal than any other person in history—and he would have defeated the bastard had Yamato not sealed the Kyuubi's chakra back inside of the seal within his head. So why was he so quaky with fear by being capture by the Akatsuki?

He knew why though, and the answer chilled Naruto to the bone.

They wanted to kill him.

They wanted to rip the Kyuubi out of his body and nothing more than his death would ever make them stop. His or theirs.

Orochimaru hadn't been bloodthirsty; he hadn't even known that Naruto would be at the bridge. That made a huge difference apparently to Naruto's self-defiant side.

"They will die then," snickered Kisame, "Samehada has been urging for blood, Konoha shinobi will do but we prefer Mist blood." He chuckled at the horrified look Naruto sent him because they all could tell that the blonde believed him and he had every reason to.

Hours later had Naruto and Itachi sitting beside each other and staring blankly into the glowing embers of the burnt out fire in the dead of night. Naruto had been itching to talk for the past two hours but he hadn't dared—Itachi could easily just knock him out and not have to deal with him until they… And then Naruto realized they could knock him out and never have to wake him again because they would just be removing the Kyuubi from his body when he got to their base. That thought effectively shut him up for now.

"Why aren't you fighting?" the quiet question shocked Naruto and he turned his eyes to stare blankly at Itachi for a long time. Neither of the two spoke, they just sat and stared into each other's eyes, one pair shinning with challenge while the other had a dull sheen that made them look like they belonged in a dead person more than the being that was alive.

Naruto refused to answer in the end, "I have to piss," he stated and his bladder gave an extra complaint because of this, egging him on with its cries of annoyance. He'd had to hold it in since before he even got done training and he was surprised he hadn't pissed on Kisame in his sleep.

Itachi stood fluidly and dragged Naruto to his feet by his upper arm. Rather than risking Naruto pissing all over his cloak, Itachi had the ink snakes separate his legs, poised to snap back into place if he dared to run. The man led the teen to a small space between two trees.

"How is this gonna work?" Naruto asked once he realized that they were far enough away from the camp that he couldn't see the embers even with his heightened senses, thanks to the Kyuubi being within him for all of his life—the demon had changed Naruto in many ways, he just didn't know all of them.

Itachi ignored him and his thin fingers began to unbutton Naruto's pants. When the blonde cried out a protest Itachi silenced him with his other hand. "Would you like to piss on yourself?" it wasn't really a question—since no one would ever really want to do that…—but it was worded too like one not to slap a question mark on the end of it.

Naruto was rigid as he shook his head no. He didn't want this. He didn't desire Itachi's touch and when the man pulled his organ out of his warm pants and into the cold night air, Naruto found that he couldn't release his bladder because his nerves were wound just way too tight.

"I-I can't'…" he was ashamed and it must have shown on his face when Itachi almost rolled his eyes at the teen.

"Just go, there's no other way." He seemed as annoyed with the situation as Naruto, which, in Uchiha Speech meant that he was finding the entire thing trivial, and beneath him.

But to Naruto touch signified something completely different then for most people. No one had ever really shown him the wonders of touch, not even in more than hugs, and now a man that wanted to kill him was holding his junk and expecting him to piss while not knowing he was the first person—other than Naruto—to touch the blonde there. And suddenly there was a stream spouting from his head, falling to the ground and filling the air with its unpleasant smell. It wasn't very strong in the open air but it was enough to make Naruto wrinkle his nose as he watched the pee go downhill. They must be standing on a very subtle slop for the Kyuubi container to not notice it sooner. Naruto let out a happy sigh as his bladder cheered and did a motionless happy dance inside of his body.

When he was done Naruto looked up at Itachi and the man wasn't staring at him—which Naruto was kind of grateful for—he was looking off into the trees, further away from camp. His eyes narrowed and suddenly the black irises turned red and the Mangekyo swirled into place. It was an enemy of Itachi.

Naruto was surprised when Itachi released his binds down to his wrists very suddenly and slammed him against the tree to his back, his free hand still holding his penis but with a firmer grip now. Naruto yelped when his hands were pinned above his head by the snakes burying their fangs deep into the oak and Itachi was so close, too close. The man before him was suddenly breathing down his neck, his lips ghosted over the tan skin and Itachi forcefully pushed Naruto's head to the side as he continued the gentle caress from his lips. Naruto was so shocked that he couldn't stop himself from getting hard until it was much too late. Naruto had always been easily aroused since he only got the barest of caresses, of touches from the people around him and a hug from Sakura or even Sasuke would usually be what he imagined when he masturbated for days afterward—not for a sexual reason but because he just loved the feeling of someone in his arms so much that it brought him pleasure in every sense.

Naruto was brought back to the present when Itachi palmed his cock and began to gently move his hand up and down his shaft, fingering the head playfully—Itachi and playfully in the same sentence? No way—while he licked Naruto's neck experimentally. The blonde couldn't stop the moan that tore out from his throat at the unexpected sensations while his body began to heat up. Who knew it could feel so much better when someone else was touching you?

Itachi's teeth nipped at his flesh, not leaving a single trace that he had been there other than the small amounts of saliva left behind by his tongue. The man began to stroke Naruto harder, and was rewarded when Naruto began to pant lightly. Naruto's eyes widened, his hips rocked back and forth into the man's hand and he felt like he was losing himself, like he was forgetting that this was Uchiha-freakin'-Itachi that was jerking his junk in the middle of the woods for no apparent reason.

Naruto's body shuddered, wanting release yet he was denied that pleasure when a cruel thumb blocked his tip and Itachi pulled back to stare at Naruto's blushing face with curiosity barely showing in his eyes.

"That would have been quick," he muttered and all Naruto could do was gasp at him in a desperate attempt to respond. "I always wondered how long someone who had never been subjected to this kind of thing before would last." He used his other hand to massage Naruto's balls when the boy seemed to be calming down too much. Naruto slammed his head into the oak tree behind him and cursed low in his throat. Itachi leaned in and let his breath ghost against Naruto's ear, "Beg me."

Naruto gave the man a confused look when Itachi pulled away and Itachi stroked him in response, keeping Naruto right at the brink, right at the fissure where he would be tossed over the edge and into a blinding pleasure that had never done even this much for him in the past. He wanted to dive right in, he wanted Itachi to push him over, it didn't matter just so long as he climaxed.

"Beg, Naruto-kun or I won't let you cum."

Naruto gasped in shock. "Where the hell did this come from?" he gasped and threw his head back again when those skilled fingers gripped him firmly and pumped him quickly. A thin stream of semen slipped past the pale man's thumb but not nearly enough for Naruto's release.

"Do you not want to cum then?" Itachi bit down on Naruto's throat and Naruto began to buck into his hand, his eyes wide with shock.

"Y-yes, I want to." He groaned when Itachi continued to bite him, feeling like a dirty whore since he had said something so…pornish to a man that only wanted to kill him. Naruto didn't understand what had come over himself, he wasn't meaning to say those things at all—every time he opened his mouth with harsh words only breathy replies came out, if anything at all.

"Beg," Itachi practically growled as he pumped Naruto so quickly that it almost hurt. But Naruto didn't want to beg, Naruto didn't even want to be in this situation, and yet here was Itachi trying to get him to do things he didn't want to do. Oh who was Naruto kidding? Itachi was getting him to do things he didn't want to do because Naruto was unofficially a touch whore.

"N-no," he gritted out, his body screaming for him to beg, to plead, to get down on his knees and fucking do anything Itachi wanted him to do in order for sweet, sweet release.

Itachi smirked vaguely; like he was above the thing he was doing and just looked at it through a third person perspective. "But Naruto-kun, you look like you want release," he pushed his fingers into the pubic hairs that framed the top half of the bottom of Naruto's shaft and he tugged on the coarse hair experimentally. Naruto gasped and bucked slightly, their bodies brushed and Itachi let the hand in Naruto's pubic hair abandon that position and slide up the tanned skin in front of him, pushing Naruto away as well as making the blonde shiver with the touch.

Naruto bit back another moan when Itachi pinched one of his pink nipples between two fingers. The pleasure filled haze was lifting with these lesser jolts of electricity and Naruto felt like he was back to masturbating—nothing really desirable, just an act for release when he really needed it.

Itachi slid his hand back down the tan skin, digging his purple fingernails into the tan flesh and Naruto pushed back more thoroughly into the tree bark. He liked the sensation of pain as it flipped into his senses and slid into his groin like a sensual look Sasuke used to send him when the Uchiha didn't think he was watching. The pale hand tugged on the pubic hair again before taking his shaft and pumping the flesh slowly, crashing Naruto back onto the brink of pleasure even faster than before, the short respite had made the greater pleasures all the more wonderful.

"Ah!" Naruto arched his back, his upper body pressing against Itachi while his head dug into the tree, his muscles tense and his skin growing clammy. The ache in his arms from being up in the air for so long seemed to add to the pleasure and the sound of his substitute stitches ripping and blood splashing out of the wound and onto Itachi's Akatsuki robe caused Naruto to whimper with pain. "S-stop…" Naruto pulled his body back but Itachi only pressed his own body closer, careful to hide his face from Naruto's view. There was something in his expression Naruto just couldn't see, not yet, not ever.

Itachi ignored Naruto's plea for him to quit and released the dam on Naruto's cock while quickly moving aside, letting that hand caress Naruto's balls. Naruto lost control—well, what little he had had—as Itachi licked his ear, nipping the lobe again and again until the blonde gasped what little breath he had to attempt at words but stopped when his orgasm hit.

"Ahhh!" he cried out loudly as his entire body stiffened and a stream of semen joined the piss cooling on the ground in about three spurts of creamy liquid. Itachi milked Naruto, pumping the teen until he was done and the penis in his hand went flaccid.

Naruto watched through glazed and half lidded eyes as Itachi tucked his penis back into his pants and returned the ink snakes to their usual places. He didn't say one word as Itachi led him back to the campsite silently. Itachi shoved Naruto onto the ground and Naruto fell on his side, his tired mind hazy from the best orgasm in his life.

"Why'd you…?"

Itachi had turned away from Naruto as he examined his coat where the blonde had bled on him—as if it was his fault. "This could be a problem," the Uchiha was mumbling more to himself than anything. "Kisame, wake up." He stood and left, trusting Kisame would awaken and watch the Kyuubi brat while he went to a nearby creek to wash off the drying blood.

The blue skinned man immediately snapped awake, Samehada in his hands before Itachi was even done speaking.

"I thought I heard screaming but I assumed it was just my victims in my dreams." Grumbled the man—missing how Naruto turned red with embarrassment and anger—once he realized there was no immediate danger: or should I say no immediate prey. His eyes turned to the blonde who was turned away from him; he noted how his side was heaving with breaths like he was exhausted or had done something strenuous. "What happened to you?"

Neither ninja noticed how Itachi had walked up again, with his Akatsuki robe completely dry. He had used a simple fire jutsu to get it usefully dry once he had cleaned all the blood off. There must have been a stream nearby that Naruto just hadn't noticed.

"Naruto-kun ripped out a couple of stitches when he went to lie down for the night."

"How the hell would he manage that? Stitches should be able to withstand more than just moving anyway, especially the kind they have for ninjas."

"We never changed the stitches that his sparring partner had put on him." Itachi started to pack up their things. Before Kisame could even open his mouth Itachi was speaking again in monotone, "He'll bleed to death if we wait until later to get him new ones." Naruto shivered at the idea.

Sai looked around the clearing with something clenching his heart tightly. Maybe this was what worry felt like? No, it was much too potent. Anguish? It was possible.

Sai let his black eyes sweep over the dead body of the ANBU guard and recognized the man's mask and hair to be one of the 'Naruto haters' that had infected most of the adult populace. Sai knew that Naruto would have never even hoped to defeat the ANBU while bound so completely so the person that had made his ink snakes move was probably the same person who had killed the ANBU. Sai knelt over to examine the severed hand that had to have come from the ANBU's stump and saw very deep bite marks, enough to draw blood no doubt. Naruto must have bitten the hell out of the man, perhaps pissing him enough to attempt (or succeed, Sai just didn't want to think that) to kill Naruto. So the people that had killed the ANBU had saved Naruto from death (hopefully) so that must mean that the person/people was/were the Akatsuki. No one else would have bothered to kidnap the blonde or even save his life if they weren't just going to let him go.

Sai rushed back to Konoha, his instincts telling him that he would have to report his findings before rushing headlong into a fight he wouldn't win.