Chapter 4:

AN: I am so sorry for the long update! I've been real busy lately with school and such so there hasn'been much time for writing. But, anyway, here it is! :P Read and tell me what you think. :)

Chapter 4:

Sasuke woke with a groan. He had a big headache. It felt like someone had taken a huge rock and slammed it in his head many times in a row. Slowly, he opened his eyes. For a moment everything was blurry, then he took in his surroundings. At first he didn't recognise where he was. Then, everything came back to him at the same time. The pain, the talk and everything else that happened last night. The pain was still awfull the places where Itachi had stabbed him, but he could feel that they were slowly healing. He looked down. He was sitting in a chair with his hands chained on his back. He was only wearing his pants and his upper half was covered in bandages. Apparently someone had stitched him up while he was unconscious. That was kind of a good thing he guessed, but he had a feeling the only reason for the action was that without the treatment he would've been dead. He didn't think more about it and started thinking about how he was going to get out of this situation. The cuffs around his wrist were secured tightly and there was no way in hell he could get out of them. They were of course chakra-sealing chains too. In other words, he was stuck. He sighed and leaned his head against the chair, thinking. He had to get out of here…

Leader sat in his office thinking about what Itachi had said earlier. The fact that Sasuke had his brother's old rank was good news, indeed, but it also meant they would have to expect an attack very soon. If the boy was as valuable as Itachi claim, Konoha cannot afford losing him to the enemy. They would definitely come for him. They would have to keep a sharp eye.

Naruto sat against a tree in the dark searching the landscape. They were close by the Rain Village now and had chosen to rest for a few hours. He had the first watch and was now sitting in a tree on lookout. They were all exhausted by the long trip and needed to rest to get some chakra left. It was never wise to move into enemy territory unprepared so Naruto had unwillingly agreed to settle down for the night. What he really wanted was to break into the Village at night and find Sasuke, but he knew that would bring unwanted attention plus the fact that it would be the most stupid idea when it came to Akatsuki. If you wanted something back from them and you weren't planning on making a deal to get it you had to be clever. So, the plan so far was to take a few hours rest before getting ready and then make a plan on how they were going to do this. He sighed. He had to do this right. He refused to even think about the option if he didn't. Tsunade's orders were disturbing, but he knew that even if he would refuse to obey the part about killing Sasuke, there were others on the team that wouldn't. He glanced down at the group below him. They were mostly sleeping. Neji was staring out in the horizon, thinking and Kakashi and Yamato sat in a corner mumbling to eachother. Other than that it was no movement or sound to be heard from the group. He knew they still were a short distance away from the Village, but they couldn't risk going to close before resting. He snorted. Why couldn't they just hurry up! There he was, waiting for his teammates to have their beautysleep, while Sasuke probably was being tortured by his brother or worse! They didn't have time for this. Seriously! What was wrong with people!? He checked the clock again. Yes! The two hours they had agreed on was gone and it was 4 a.m. He swiftly jumped down from the branch he was sitting on, waking the others as he passed them on his way to Kakashi and Yamato.

"It's time to leave", he said hurriedly. Kakashi looked up.

"I know. Gather things up everybody!" He said and stood. Naruto was about to leave when Kakashi grabbed his arm.

"Naruto…come here for a moment." Naruto followed him a few steps away from the clearing.

"Look, I know how you feel about this and that you want to rescue Sasuke as fast as possible. Especially after hearing Tsunade's orders, but I just wanted to tell you that in this mission we cannot afford any rash actions. We have to think everything through severely before doing it. This is Akatsuki and they are not going to give Sasuke back to us easily. But, I promise you Naruto, I will do anything in my power to save Sasuke from their clutches." Naruto just looked at him. He didn't know what to say, so he just nodded. Kakashi accepted his nod and walked away.

When Naruto returned to the claring everyone was ready and waiting for him. He looked at them and picked up his backpack. "Okey, everybody! Let's go kick some ass!" Then he jumped up on a branch and headed off towards the Rain Village.

The rain was thundering down. It was almost impossible to see through the heavy rain drops. Naruto stopped at a clearing, looking through the trees at what lay ahead. The Rain Village. They could slowly see it coming closer. So far everything had gone according to plan. Now was the tricky part. They had to get through the gates without bringing attention to themselves and then search for clues after Sasuke. This was of course a good plan, if they managed to get inside without being discovered. If they were however, they had to do this some other way and would probably be forced to attack from the outside, which would be much harder.

"What do you think?" Naruto asked Kakashi who was standing next to him.

"That this is going to be hard. We have to get in there somehow. Hopefully without being discovered."

"That's going to be hard."

"Yep. I will send some of my dogs to explore the area and check if everything is safe. In the time being, we have to make a plan." Naruto nodded. He turned his back to the Village and went back to the others. They all gathered around him.

"Okey guys. It's time to make some plans."

Leader smirked. Just as he thought. Intruders. And one of them it would seem, was the Jinchuuriki. This was going to be fun. He called for Itachi in his mind and told him to hurry. Two seconds later there was a sharp knock on his door and the prodigy walked in.

"There seem to be some ANBU just outside the gates. One of them is the Jinchuuriki. My guess is that they are here for your brother. They actually look pretty strong. Sneak out there and give them a proper welcome. No killings, just warnings. I want them to know who they're playing with here." Itachi nodded and left without a word. When he walked down the hallway he thought about this new situation. It was certainly good news. He could use this to get Sasuke to talk. He smirked. He was going to enjoy this.

Naruto and the others sat in a circle and talked with low voices. They were trying to find the easiest way in, but it wasn't exactly easy. They had a lot of options. They could just go in and make a ruckus, they could dress up like farmers on their way to town for supplies or they could just sneak in at night. Those were some of the options they were discussing, but no matter how they looked at it there were always some disadvantage in their plan. Finally, after discussing the matter for an hour, Naruto had enough.

"Why the hell do we need to go in so damn discrete?! They probably already know were here anyway so why all the hiding? Can't we just burst in and attack?"

Kakashi was the first to speak up.

" No, Naruto. We can't and you know why. This is Akatsuki. They won't let us just go in, get Sasuke and then walk out again. You know that. We need a plan."

Naruto gave him a look that clearly said: 'Well, then you better hurry up cause I'm running out of patience', before he went to the outskirts of the camp and stood there thinking while the others continued their discussion. As he stood there, staring at the Village in the dark, he suddenly felt uneasy. 'That's weird,' he thought. 'I never feel like this unless—' He gasped.They had been found. Just as he was going to warn the others a kunai was thrown at him from the dark. He just barely manage to dodge it from hitting him right in the face. Too late he realised it was a diversion. All he could see was a swirl of black and red before he was thrown towards a tree with tremendous force. He hit his head hard and became a bit disorientated. Then he heard sounds of kunais crashing into eachother. He looked up and saw his entire team laying on the ground, either uncouncious or hurt. Neji was hit in the shoulder with a kunai and was at the moment pulling it out with a grimace. Then he saw the source of the sound. A grey blur of movement – which had to be Kakashi – and the red and black blur was attacking eachothers with kunais. Either one of them hit the other. It was almost impossible to separate the two men. But who was the other one? Black and red, it had to be Akatsuki, but who would be able to move that quick? Then suddenly, he got a glimpse of swirling red eyes and long black hair. Shit! It was Itachi. Then it seemed like Itachi had had enough cause he suddenly disappeared and then, in a blur of motion, showed up behind Kakashi and before Naruto could warn him he had hit him in the back of the neck and Kakashi fell lump to the ground. Naruto gasped. He was one person and had brought down his entire team in a few seconds…! Damn, he was good. He looked at Itachi again and found him staring right at him. A second later he was pressed up against the tree and Itachi's hand was around his throat. Slowly Itachi took of his mask and placed it in his cloak.

"Where is Sasuke?," He managed to force out. Itachi just looked at him for a moment before he answered.

"He's safe. Maybe a bit hurt, but other than that, he's fine. We will see if he's still fine tonight. It depends.."

"Depends on what?"

"On whether or not he chooses to talk…" Naruto struggled against the arm, but it was no use.

"You bastard!" The grip tightened.

"Shut up and listen. Unless you want Sasuke to suffer even more than he already does, keep the fuck away from the Village and don't try to save him."

Then he threw Naruto on the ground and when he looked up again he was gone. His mask was gone too. 'Shit! What should I do now? Sasuke!'

Sasuke sat in his chair tugging at the handcuffs for what seemed like the billionth time. No matter what he tried he couldn't get out of here. Suddenly the lock on the door rattled and the door swung open. A person came in before the door slammed shut. Sasuke groaned when he saw who it was. Itachi. His brother slowly walked over to him and leaned against the table infront of him. For a while there was no sound at all in the room. Then Itachi started talking.

" Still not into talking, Sasuke?" When there was no answer he started to rummage in his cloak.

"How about this? Will this help you?" A mask was thrown at the floor infront of his feet. Sasuke gasped, he just couldn't hold back the surprise. It was Naruto's mask! There was no mistaking it. He was the only one who had a mask like that. It was formed and drawn as a fox' face.

"Where did you get this?!" he looked up at his brother. He could see the amused smirk playing in the corner of his mouth, but chose to ignore it.

"Why should I tell you? You are my prisoner. You are the one to tell me things I want to know, not the other way around." Sasuke glared at him. So this was how it was gonna be. If he didn't tell Itachi something, he wouldn't tell Sasuke where and how he got that mask. In other words, his options sucked.

"No way." he said. Itachi quirked an eyebrow. "There is no way in hell you can make me tell you some info about Konoha in exchange of knowing how you got a hold of that mask."

"Oh, really?" His brother really seemed to be enjoying himself now. "Then tell me, aren't you curious to know if I killed him or if I captured him? Cause you see, he and his little friends came towards this Village to get you so I payed them a little visit. You know, to give them a proper welcome and all that." Sasuke searched his brother's eyes for a lie, but found non. That didn't mean he was honest though.

"Liar. Even if you gave them a visit it doesn't mean you killed them or captured them. You could've just given them a warning to not come any closer."

"Very good, little brother. Yes, that's right. I could have done that too, but how are you supposed to know that unless I tell you? For all you know, your prescious Naruto can be in another cell just like this at this very moment. Maybe someone's torturing him at this very moment. What do you think?" Sasuke was scared now. For Naruto. His brother was right. There was no way he could know that Naruto were safe. But still, he couldn't risk it.

"I won't tell you anything." Itachi looked at him for a moment longer.

"You know what? I think I'll let you think about it for a moment. I got some things to take care of and when I come back, I hope for your own sake that you've decided to talk. Otherwise I'll just have to force it out of you." And with that he left, with the threat still lingering in the air. Damn. He knew that it would just get worse, but he couldn't talk either, now could he? At least he knew they had came for him. Even though it might be that they had screwed up if Naruto actually were captured. He would just have to make a choice and he knew it wasn't going to be easy.

A few hours later he could hear the lock open again. 'Already?', he thougt. Itachi couldn't possibly think he had already decided? Then he saw that Itachi weren't the one coming through the door. It was just a guard. The guard looked like a rookie and was carrying a tray with food. The door closed behind him. Sasuke smirked as the nervous rookie walked slowly towards him. Maybe this could be his way out…

The rookie placed the tray on the table infront of Sasuke. It was a bit rice and some vegetables with a glass of water on it. Sasuke discovered that he was rather hungry, but that would have to wait. As the rookie took some rice and was about to give it to him, Sasuke quirked an eyebrow.

"Can't I eat it myself? Come on, uncuff me." The rookie looked really scared now. The Uchiha had actually talked to him. He had been given strict orders to feed him, not talk to him and then come out with the tray afterwards.

Sasuke saw the uncertainty in his eyes.

"Look at me! Do I look like I'm fit to a fight? I barely have enough strength to stay awake. How can I even manage to do something to you? I can't even use my sharingan." The guard looked a bit calmer. Of course it was a lie that he was so weak. The reason he couldn't use the sharingan was because of the chains, but apparently the guard didn't know that the chains was the only thing that held him back from killing him right know.

"I can't let you loose. I've been given strict orders to feed you and then come back out."

"Come on! All I want is to eat by myself. No one will ever know that you let me loose. I promise." The guard looked like he was going to protest, but then he shrugged his shoulders.

"It's not like you can get out anyway. Since the door is locked. Allright. Just don't tell your brother, okay?" The Uchiha smirked. It made shivers down the guards spine, but he still went behind the boy with some keys.

"Promise." Sasuke said as he felt the chains loosen. When they were loose he stretched his arms slowly. The guard came infront of him again with a nervous expression. He was really afraid now. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. The Uchiha lowered his head so the black bangs fell infront of his eyes. Then he spoke with a deadly calm voice.

"You know, they probably didn't tell you this so I'm gonna tell you. You know those chains you just uncuffed me from?" His head slowly rose and he could see his eyes were shut. "They were the only thing that held me back from using my sharingan." The guards eyes widened in shock as those eyes snapped open and he stared right into two swirling red eyes. Before he knew what was coming he was trapped in a genjutsu. When he came to his senses again he was the one sitting in the chair, arms chained on his back. He was also gagged. The Uchiha stood infront of him by the table, eating with a deadly calm. It was really scary how much this guy looked like his brother. When he had finished eating the boy took his weapon pouch and went for the door.

Sasuke smirked to himself as he walked towards the door. What a stupid guard. He almost felt sorry for him though because his brother was probably going to kill him. When he came to the door he took a kunai out from the weapon pouch he had taken from the guard. Then he knocked just like his brother did each time he was going out. The door opened immediatedly and a guard was standing there with big eyes when he saw who was standing at the other side of the door, but before he knew what hit him he was laying at the floor with a kunai in his throat and Sasuke was already gone.

10 minutes later Sasuke was running soundlessly through the many hallways trying to find the way out which seemed to be impossible. All he found on his way was another hallway. He was starting to get tired to. The wounds on his chest were slowing him down. He turned around the corner and came out in the end of a new hallway. There he suddenly stopped and didn't move an inch. At the other end of the corridor stood Uchiha Itachi. He too had froze completely. Nobody moved for a few seconds. Then almost at the same time Sasuke cursed and abruptly turned around running as fast as he could while Itachi smirked and ran after him. He was impressed. He had never thought that his brother would actually manage to escape.

'Shit, shit, shit! How can I be so unlucky?!' He cursed himself for not peeking around the corner before he ran into the hallway. Now he was running all he could with his brother in his tail. He was fast, but his brother was faster. Especially when he was in this condition. He turned another corner, but at exactly that moment he was shoved from behind and he lost his balance, tumbling to the ground. Lying there, panting hard, a low chuckle came from behind him. He turned around glaring at his brother.

"I'm impressed, otouto. That you actually managed to escape this far… Too bad it's so many hallways here, right? Tell me, how did you escape?" He stepped forward, leaned down and grabbed his hair painfully as he dragged him to his feet.

"None of you buisness!" Sasuke snapped. A loud smack echoed trough the hallway. Itachi had backhanded him. Now he looked serious again.

"When I ask you a question you answer it. I highly recommend you don't try my patiens right know." The voice was deadly and Sasuke swallowed. He had a point. He had just tried to escape and was busted by none other that his brother. He decided to tell him a little.

"The rookie…" He said. Itachi looked at him with a questioning expression.

"The rookie. He came in with food. I tricked him." Itachi just looked at him for a moment. Then he smirked again. He then proceeded to drag Sasuke by the hair back towards the cell.

"Really."He said while Sasuke tried to kick him or land a punch although nothing worked. "Well, then we should go and check that out."

Itachi dragged his brother around the last corner and stopped short. He let his eyes sweep over the mess his brother had made. A guard was lying by the door, killed. A kunai was sticking out of his throat. 'Nice,' he thought. He continued towards the open door. When he got closer he could hear a muffled sound from inside and when he looked in he smirked. So that was what he'd done. The rookie Sasuke was referring to was sitting in the chair, his hands chained behind him and he was gagged with a piece of cloth. He had to admit the boy was clever. He had probably just put on an innocent face and said he wouldn't do anything and the stupid rookie believed him. With a last tug on the hair he released his brother and looked down at him.

"Good work, brother. I didn't think you had it in you." The boy sneered at him, but he just smirked. He was really surprised actually. He knew there might be a possibility that his brother actually would find a way to escape, but he didn't think he would dare to do it after that torture lesson they had the other day. 'Well, I guess I was wrong,' he thought. 'All the better. It would be boring if he didn't have some guts.' He took the weapon pach from Sasuke and handed him a set of keys.

"Uncuff him." His otouto looked like he was going to disobey, but thought better of it and walked over to the guard. Slowly, he uncuffed him and threw the keys to the floor before he turned away, probably pissed of being back in that room. The guard got himself together and removed the gag. It looked like he had been scared like hell, sitting there all tied up. He actually didn't look any better now, considering who he was facing. He stood there for a second, thinking of what to say.

"I'm s-s-so s-so-sorry, Itachi-sama," he stuttered. "I--" Itachi cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"Don't apologize. I know he tricked you." The guard looked relieved. "But didn't I tell you before you went in with the food to be careful? Didn't I tell you to feed him and NOT uncuff him?" He spoke with deadly calm. The guard looked scared as hell. He started stuttering again, but Itachi interupted him.

"Leave. Clean up the mess outside and get rid of the body. I will take care of you later." A threat lingered in the air and the guard took the hint. He hurried out of the room and closed the door. Itachi slowly turned his attention back to his little brother. Time to teach someone a lesson.

Sasuke heard the door slam after the scared guard. He really felt sorry for him, but there was nothing he could do about it. He slowly turned around to face his brother and realised he was standing right behind him. Before he could react, Itachi had slammed a fist into his stomach, hard. He leaned forward and coughed hard. Itachi then proceeded to kick him in the side so he slammed into the wall behind him. He collapsed on the floor and slowly looked up at his brother. He met his red eyes and could see the amusement in his eyes. He was enjoying himself that bastard!

"I think it's time for your punishment, otouto…" Itachi spoke before kicking him again. Sasuke painfully closed his eyes. 'This was going to be a long day.'