Chapter 4: Midriff

The next day dawned clear and bright for Team Kakashi. It was cold despite the sun's warm beams and the wind whistled through the leaves in the forest canopy. Even in these irritating conditions, the four Leaf-nin plunged onward. It was nothing really. Except it did cause Sakura to gaze critically at Sai's bared midriff. And when he asked her what she was staring at, she looked away and muttered, "nothing." At least for the time being anyway.

They reached a village called Kysetta in only a few hours. This was where their mission was to take place. This was supposedly the village where Akatsuki was recruiting. This was the village where they would be capturing an Akatsuki subordinate… if they were lucky.

"We're going to split up," Kakashi told them. "Teams of two. Sakura, you go with Sai. Naruto, you come with me. We are gathering information. Gathering only. I don't want any confrontation yet if we can avoid it. Got that?" He aimed his hard gaze on each of them in turn as they nodded in understanding. "Now we're trying to get a location on the recruiter. Meet back here in three hours."

"Roger," Sakura replied and the group broke off in two different directions.

Kysetta was a village that received a great deal of traffic from the fishing industry. It was landlocked, but it happened to be on one of the major over-land shipping routes. After several decades, the village had developed a large fish market, which in turn developed a large cat population. If Naruto didn't know any better, he would say that the cats were all glaring at Kakashi. But why would they do that?

"We don't want to spook the recruiter," Kakashi said in an undertone, "so keep a low profile, Naruto."

"Yes, sir!"

"Which means no shouting or ninjutsu," Kakashi added in a pained voice.

"Oh. Sorry."

Kakashi shook his head ever so slightly. "Just keep your ears open, Naruto."

Naruto nodded allowing himself to become immersed in sound as he followed Kakashi down the street.

"—and then she said 'no' and I was like 'ah-huh' and she was like—"

"—good sir, it's a bargain, truly, for this fine haddock—"

"AND STAY OUT!"

"—and stones may break my bones but—"

"TAG, YOU'RE IT!"

"—and he wasn't in this morning. I'm worried about that 'Kusuki' girl he was with last night."

"No, it wasn't 'Kusuki.' It was 'Akatsuki.'"

The first man shrugged. "The point is, Garrel's gone missing and I can't find him."

"Well, that would be the definition of missing."

"Listen, smartass—"

"Sensei," Naruto said, tugging on Kakashi's sleeve. "Over there, by that sign."

"The two overweight gentlemen?"

"Their friend had gone missing after meeting with the recruiter."

Kakashi looked at Naruto in shock. "You've got some good ears."

Itachi was curled up in the corner of a plain room. There was no furniture. There was no sunlight. He rocked back and forth in the fetal position. His thumb was shoved blatantly in his thin-lipped mouth and his hair, even in the utter darkness, was visibly a violent shade of purple.

The door creaked open and a beam of light fell on Itachi. He shivered.

"Say it," Tetsume said. Her eyes glinted like fire.

"No," Itachi replied.

She stared down at him, immune to his sharingan. A razor-sharp kunai was pressed to his throat. "Say it," she repeated.

"You are the master of all things Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, and Lightning. I am your humble, purple servant Bobo. Your will is my command. I am your personal bitch and I worship the ground you walk on. You are—"

Shattering glass jerked Tetsume out of her daydream. Another damn bar fight. It was such a good daydream too. "Give me some sake," she muttered at the bartender.

"Not for a few years," the oily man replied, turning away from her.

"Bastard," she grumbled and flipped him off behind his back.

Behind her, a group of males (for that was the most accurate term) laughed. She glared at them, but they continued with their rude and irritating antics. Sighing, she reached into the lime-colored pouch on her hip and drew out a shuriken. Barely looking at them, she threw it so that it caught and shattered a beer bottle.

"Hey!" shouted an alcohol-soaked moron.

She smiled sweetly and left the bar.

"Sai, are you cold?" Sakura asked, still unable to tear her eyes away from his bared midriff.

"No."

"But you know it's going to be winter soon, right?"

"Yes," he replied monosyllabically.

"And it's going to get colder," she continued

"Where are you going with this?" Sai asked.

Sakura seemed to struggle with something. "I think you should wear a sweater."

"A sweater?"

"Or a jacket," Sakura added quickly.

"Why?" he asked, completely perplexed.

"Because you'll get cold," Sakura said.

"So?"

Sakura groaned. "Would it be easier if I just said I don't want to look at your amazing abs, so would you please cover them up?"

"I'm confused," Sai said. "Why do I have to wear a jacket or a sweater?"

"… because I want you to."

"Well, why didn't you say so? Were you using that sarcasm thing again?"

"No. You're being an idiot. Come here so I can hit you!"

"Excuse me, sir," Kakashi said, walking up to one of the rather overweight men discussing their mysteriously vanished friend. "I'm investigating some strange disappearances in the area. Would you happen to know anything?"

The men looked at him oddly. "No, we don't know anything," the larger of the two said quickly, too quickly.

"My associate heard you discussing a friend of yours who has gone missing. You'd best tell me everything, unless you want someone else to disappear. They may not just be disappearing," Kakashi added, "they could be dead." He stared them down, hoping to strike some fear in their feeble hearts.

Their eyes widened. "Garrel," the relatively smaller (but still quite large) one said hoarsely. "He disappeared last night. He was with some strange girl. She part of some weird group, 'Kusuki'—"

"'Akatsuki,' you idiot," his friend muttered.

"'Akatsuki,' that's what I meant."

"What does this girl look like?" Kakashi asked.

"She's tall. Yellow hair in a braid. Wears a lot of green and a forehead protector like yours. Only it's not the same symbol. She's foreign."

"Thank you. And don't talk about this to anyone," Kakashi said.

"What are you going to do?" one of them shouted after him.

"Find out what happened to your friend, among other things," Kakashi said vaguely. He headed off down the street and turned a corner where Naruto was waiting.

Clearly, he was tired of waiting. "Well?"

"We've got a description," Kakashi described the recruiter. "See if you can spot her so we can get a location."

"What about Sai and Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked pointedly.

"There are two hours left until they're supposed to meet us. If we happen to meet them, we'll share the information. Otherwise we carry on as is. Perhaps they'll find some interesting leads."

"And if we find her before we have to meet with Sai and Sakura-chan?"

"In that case, we'll have you make a shadow clone to continue tracking her while we meet the others. Any other annoying questions?"

"No," Naruto replied, glowering.

They had nothing two hours later. It seemed as though Naruto and Kakashi had scoured the entire village, but they saw no one who matched the recruiter's description. The only thing Sakura and Sai had managed to do in their three hours was purchase a lovely black jacket that matched the rest of Sai's attire.

Kakashi gazed at them with disappointment, but said nothing about the new item. He briefly explained to Sai and Sakura what they had come across during their three hours. "Have you seen anyone like that?"

"No."

"Damn, she's good." He gazed thoughtfully at the forested area around the village. "Hn… what if she's not here at all?"

"Uh… Kakashi-sensei… have you lost it?" Naruto asked.

"No," Kakashi said, glaring at him. "I mean she could be hiding outside of the village. Here's what we're going to do…"

Several kunai and a shuriken were embedded in a gnarled tree trunk. Tetsume worked on the metal, teasing it out of the wood. The bark looked strange with just empty gashes and gaping holes in it. She sat down, her back against the tree. This country seemed so dry to her. The leaves were falling off the trees, turned crispy by the winds… or something like that.

She didn't notice as an inky black mouse skittered through the fallen leaves. There were numerous woodland creatures and Tetsume had learned to tune them out long ago.

"I've found her," Sai said as his rodents returned to his scroll.

"Lead the way," Kakashi said. "To a location where we can safely observe," he added. "And, Naruto, wait until I say to attack."

When Itachi walked into his bathroom, he found a bottle of purple hair dye resting next to the sink. He glared at it for a moment. "I hate that girl," he muttered and walked away.

Hey, everybody. I hope you like this story so far. I'm really excited about how many people have already put it in favorites or on alert. So for that I say thank you. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I would like more reviews. It's nice getting them from the same people all the time, but I do like a wide range of constructive criticism. So if you do have a moment it'd be much appreciated if you reviewed. Beyond that, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and don't worry, the torture of Itachi has just begun (he's so fun to annoy). By the way... I've suffered cold fingers to get this chapter out. I really should wear gloves when I type.