Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Chapter summary: Itsu
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Wait! You can't leave yet." Sakura yelled out, chasing after the fleeing woman, through the halls of Konoha hospital.
"I told you, if you won't tell me where my clothes are, I'll find them myself." The woman called back, as she turned another corner.
"You can't go that way, that's a dead end." Sakura called out.
Ignoring Sakura's warnings, she continued heading in that direction. When Sakura arrived at the dead end, she was surprised to find it empty. Sakura was startled by the woman's swiftnes, especially in the condition she found herself.
"Where did she go?" Sakura asked herself; scanning the area for any possible escape routes.
Sakura decided to head over to where everyone was waiting to hear about Sasuke, hoping to hear something herself, or at the very least recruit some of her friends to help find the escaped woman.
"Sakura-chan!" came the familiar voice of Naruto, as Sakura approached the large group.
"Hi, everyone. Is there any news?" Sakura asked.
"Not yet." Ino answered her.
"Oh." Sakura said a little disappointed. It seemed like this whole thing was taking forever. "Hinata." She called the petite girl.
"Yes?" Hinata turned to her friend.
"You haven't talked to Tsunade-sama yet, right?" Sakura asked, hopeful that the young Hyuga hadn't, considering the new information.
"No, sorry." Hinata apologized.
"No need to be sorry," Sakura assured her, "in fact, that's good."
"Why is that good?" Neji inquired, a little annoyed that his cousin was still such a push over, but grateful that the pink-hair medic-nin had replied as she had.
"Well," Sakura began, "I kind of lost the patient." Sakura confessed.
"NANI?!" Naruto jumped up from his seat on the floor. "You killed her?"
"What?!" Sakura shouted back, "Why would you think that, baka?" she bonked the blond on the head.
"You said you lost her." Naruto retorted, rubbing the stop on his head where Sakura hit him, "Hinata-chan told us she was fine, just couldn't remember anything, which mean YOU had to do something."
"I didn't mean she's dead, baka!" Sakura scolded him, "I meant… I LITERALLY lost her. She ran away!"
"Ran away?" Kurenai repeated (A/N: I have her do that a lot don't 1? Like a parrot… lol)
"Hai!" Sakura blushed a little. It was embarrassing to admit that a skilled kunoichi, such as herself, had allowed a patient to escape her custody.
"How?" Tenten asked, "Last time we saw her, she looked like she'd be out of it for at least a week."
It was true; when Team Gai had found the woman, she had been all but broken. Her chakra had been completely depleted, and she had suffered a number of injuries, including one to the head.
"Well, she must be a really quick healer, I guess." Sakura shrugged, it was the only logical explanation. She too had seen the condition of the woman when they brought her in, and had been surprised she had woken up so soon, let alone that was able to move and run.
"Apparently." Neji commented.
"Hey!" Tenten called out, garnering everyone's attention, "It's that her?" She pointed towards a thin figure wearing a hospital gown, a few yards from where they stood.
"It is!" Sakura excited exclaimed. "No one make a move… she's fast." She said, as she began circling around to try and grab her. Neji, Tenten, Kiba, Naruto and Lee volunteered to try and capture her. The six of them were about to split up; each going down different corridors to block any possible exits when suddenly Gai realized something.
"ITSU!" Gai exclaimed, startling everyone and causing them to lose sight of the woman.
The jonin sensei's gathered there, all looked up in surprise at Gai; Kakashi no longer reading his book, which he had let drop to the ground when he heard Gai.
"What.did.you.say?" Kakashi asked, visibly tense.
"That woman." Gai explained, "She looked just like Itsu, only, a little older."
"That's impossible." Kurenai exclaimed, "Itsu's been-" She stopped her self, "Itsu's been gone, for a very long time." She finished.
"But I know-" Gai began.
"Gai!" Asuma and Kurenai scolded him in unison, trying to silence him.
"It's okay." Kakashi assured them, "Tell me Gai." He turned to face his friend, "Are you sure?"
"I WOULD NEVER LIE TO YOU, MY ETERNAL RIVAL!" Gai replied, "And…" he began in a more serious tone, "I would never say anything false about her."
"Where is she?" Kakashi turned to Neji, who had his byakugan activated, and was searching for the woman in question.
"Three halls down and to the left, but she's moving fast." Neji informed him.
"Everyone split up… Shikamaru, go with Neji, Ino, with Hinata. You four are the most likely ones to find her because of the Byakugan, so Shikamaru and Ino, if you find her, use your jutsu to get a hold of her. Naruto, use your shadow clones to search through the hospital. Lee and Gai, to the main exit, block her if she tries to leave. Choji, to the elevators, block them. Kiba and Shino, to the stairs. Sakura, inform the hospital staff that a patient is on the loose.. Asuma and Kurenai, emergency exits." Kakashi motioned for them to split, and everyone went in their assigned directions.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Kaka-sensei" Kakashi turned to face Sakura who was standing a few feet behind him.
"What is it, Sakura?" He asked.
"They found her. Shikamaru used his Shadow possession jutsu on her, and they're taking her back to her room." The two began walking towards the hospital room where the woman was assigned to.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
"Kami-sama!" Kurenai gasped as she and Asuma walking into the room where the younger shinobi were already gathered.
"Is it really her?" Asuma rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
"Who is she?" Naruto asked, watching as Hinata gave the woman a sedative to calm her down, while Shikamaru continued to hold her down with his jutsu.
"Hatake Itsu." Gai said, in a solemn tone.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
A/N: dun dun dun… lol… gotta wait til the next chapter… beddy-bye time for me now…
Now we're finally getting to the good stuff…