Disclaimer - I do NOT own Naruto (If Itachi or Gaara disappears I had nothing to do with it)
Katsumi must have looked like goldfish as she stared up at the murderer of the Uchiha clan, mouth hanging open. He held a kunai in front of him and the snakes who had been heading toward her lay dead on the forest floor. As quickly as he had grabbed her Itachi yanked her to her feet and spun her so that her back was to his chest. Katsumi stifled a yelp of pain as she struggled to pull away, a difficult task considering she had not finished healing her legs. Her struggles stilled the instant Itachi's blood stained kunai was placed at her throat. Katsumi glared straight ahead, not even looking toward Orochimaru as she tried to think of a plan. She drew a blank.
"Itachi," Orochimaru hissed. "I would appreciate it if you would hand over the…"
He never finished his sentence as he dodged a barrage of senbon needles. From the darkness emerged three other figures. Katsumi hadn't expected Atkatsuki to follow her after she had left the tea house. Obviously they had found her to be of interest…or they had sensed Kabuto's chakra on the box just as she had.
"I'm afraid we can't do that Orochimaru," echoed the raspy voice of one of the men. "And you and I have a score to settle." As she glanced toward the figure she noticed his appearance had changed drastically. He now resembled a hunch back, a scrap of cloth hiding the lower half of his face and Katsumi could see what appeared to be long metal tail.
"Ah, Sasori-san," Orochimaru spoke with false joy. "So pleasant to see you, but I'm afraid we will have to cut this little reunion short. It seems I'm outnumbered and actually running low on chakra. I'd hate to give you such an easy fight. However, if you know what's good for you, you will keep the girl alive. I'm sure we can reach an agreeable compromise."
"Coward," Katsumi muttered as she struggled against Itachi's hold. She stilled when the kunai pressed a little harder into her throat, uttering a curse under her breath. She glared at Orochimaru as Kabuto appeared by his side, wounds fully healed. With a few quick seals the pair disappeared in a puff of smoke as Sasori launched a handful of kunai towards them, only to have them pass through nothingness.
"Awww, well there goes that plan for a fun evening. I guess we could always turn to plan B," Deidara said as he leered at Katsumi.
"That threat still stands you bastard," Katsumi growled through clenched teeth her eyes still blazing with the crimson of the Sharingan.
"Bold words for someone who can't use their legs," said the man next to her. From what she had learned he had to be Kisame, Itachi's partner. His skin really was blue and slung across his shoulder was Sahamade.
"Big club for a walking fish stick," Katsumi shot back. Kisame gave a hearty guffaw.
"It seems Orochimaru knows how to make them. Pretty and feisty," Kisame said with a smirk.
"Believe me I get all my good traits from my mother. Now unhand me Uchiha-san," Katsumi demanded as she tried to peel his arms away from her. Itachi's grip tightened and she let out a small whimper of pain. Apparently she had cracked a couple ribs in her fall. With the adrenalin rush coming to an end she was really beginning to ache.
"Deactivate your Sharingan and stop struggling," Itachi's voice rolled across her ears and she gave a slight shudder at the feeling of his breath on her ear. "If you don't sit still we won't be able to treat your wounds." Katsumi growled.
"I happen to be a med-nin as well as a capable fighter if you didn't notice while you were spying. Kindly put me down so I can undo the damage Kabuto did to my legs before I lose them." She could hear the men snicker as she spoke and she glared at them with all the venom she could muster as she let her Sharingan fade.
"If you try to run we won't hesitate to kill you," Itachi said.
"Do you really think that I'm that stupid," she hissed. "I only have enough chakra to heal myself and stay alive. If I was going to run I would wait for a more opportune moment."
Without so much as a word Itachi withdrew the kunai and let her go. Unable to support her own weight, Katsumi promptly fell to the ground with a pained gasp. She shot an annoyed glance toward the Uchiha and he stared back with an unreadable expression. Muttering curses under her breath Katsumi focused on healing her legs. After she finished she scanned her chest to find that she had indeed cracked two ribs and broken a third. She gave a small hiss as the broken rib snapped back into place. She felt four pairs of eyes on her and she furrowed her brows in a mixture of frustration and concentration.
Katsumi's chakra wavered and slowly began to dwindle. She focused the last of her energy on patching up her damaged ribs and making sure there was no internal bleeding. As she finished she released her jutsu and the healing chakra vanished from around her hand. She pushed herself up and managed to get to her feet. She turned slowly to face the men behind her.
"Now whhhaaa…," her world tipped precariously. She suddenly felt very heavy and the ground began to rush toward her. 'Shit,' she cursed as she felt her eyes close. Funny, she never felt herself hit the ground.