"It's midnight." Itachi got to his feet, the compartment going quiet; Kisame gathered his cards and tucked the deck back into his pocket, Tobi stowing his winnings. "Same procedure as before. Leave no trace. Don't be seen. Wait fifteen minutes and then move out."

He left the compartment swiftly.

Deidara shifted slightly and checked the bombs in his pocket; there was a strange sort of tingle in the air, a note of anticipation. Something was going to happen. He could feel it.


"Let's make another round," Sasuke muttered, glancing out the window. "It's been a while."

"All right." Naruto pushed himself to his feet, scrubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Beside him, Sakura rose as well.

"Remember the plan," she said, glancing between them.

They nodded and Sasuke slid open the door just in time to come up face to face with-

"Kakashi?!" he hissed, jerking back slightly in surprise.

Sakura and Naruto flinched, the man himself arching a brow and then narrowing his eyes as he stepped into the compartment and pulled the door closed behind him.

"What are you three doing here?" he demanded.

"It's none of your business," Sasuke growled, looking away.

"Oh God...No. Not happening. You three stay here, you understand me?" Kakashi ordered. "I'll handle Akatsuki. I told you to keep your noses out of it."

"He's my brother, Kakashi," Sasuke countered, face twisting in a snarl.

Naruto caught his shoulder before he could do anything.

"I know that, Sasuke. But taking revenge won't change anything. The only thing it's likely to do is get you killed," Kakashi said firmly, some of the irritation in his eyes fading. "Just try to get some sleep. We'll discuss this when we get to the station. Stay here. I mean it." He gave them all a look that promised a chewing-out later and then stepped out of the compartment again.

Sasuke clenched his fists and glared at the door, Sakura and Naruto seeming slightly frozen beside him. Nobody moved for about two minutes, and then Naruto stepped forward and peered out, looking up and down the hallway.

"He's gone. We movin' out?" he asked over his shoulder.

Sakura bit her lip; if he caught them again, he'd be livid...but...

Sasuke was already out the door.

With a sigh and a head shake, she loosened her pistols at her sides and followed, Naruto bringing up the rear.

Itachi stepped away from the barkeep in the dining car, the man polishing glasses and rearranging his liquor bottles meticulously and suddenly completely oblivious to his presence. He took out his watch; ten more minutes, and only one more conductor and the engineer to convince there was nothing going on on the train.

He was on a roll tonight.

Slipping open the large window next to one of the dining booths, he levered himself out, catching his feet firmly on the running board along the bottom of the train. He closed the window carefully behind him and then started edging along the train, using the ridge that formed the seam between the roof and walls for hand holds. This way, he could avoid the marshal he'd noticed on the platform until he was ready to confront the man.

About four minutes later, the engineer and conductor who'd been keeping him company had been successfully hypnotized and he was making his way back down the train, through the main corridor this time. The marshal was the last on his list, and he needed to get to him before the rest of his team or there would be a mess and it would be his fault.

Hearing footsteps approaching as he made it into the car just behind the dining car, he stepped into the alcove created by the door to a compartment, hand straying to his gun as he cleared his mind in preparation to catch the marshal (the only one likely to still be wandering) under his spell.

The footsteps grew steadily closer and closer, and he noted with some irritation that there were three sets of them; he'd told his team to wait, and they were four minutes ahead of schedule.

He opened his mouth, drawing in breath, with the intent to catch whoever passed him first by the shoulder and admonish them, when the first person passed him by and he froze.

What...?

Stilling completely, he watched as the achingly familiar form took another step and a pink haired girl came into view behind him, and then a blonde boy.

Clever of you to figure it out...but foolish of you to come here so impulsively.

He reached out to grab Naruto's shoulder, his revolver already in his other hand.

Sorry, little brother...not this time.


Kakashi sighed to himself as he slipped back into the last of the passenger cars; he'd gone to inspect the cargo hold, just to be safe. He was still irritated, but resignedly so; he should have known the brats would never have been able to stay out of it. Sasuke was too determined, and Sakura and Naruto were too stubborn to let him go off on his own again. He could only hope that they'd listen to him this time and stay in their compartment.

Worried as he was about his three knuckleheads, he failed to peer through the little glass window set in the door between the two cars and opened it to find himself blinking owlishly at a very different trio.

"Uh."

"Oooh! A marshal! Tobi wants an autograph!"

"Shut up, Tobi. I thought Itachi had put everyone out, yeah?"

The big guy, who he recognized as Kisame Hoshigaki, merely grinned.

"It looks like he left me a little treat. Get to work, you two. This'll only take a minute," he ordered, his grin turning nasty as he drew a wicked looking knife from a sheath at his belt.

The other two huffed and nodded, heading off toward the sleeper cars.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and drew his gun.

"Sure that's the one you want to use?" he questioned coolly.

Kisame laughed.

"I was about to ask you the same thing."


Naruto jerked and yelped as he was yanked around, coming face to face with none other than Itachi Uchiha. The man's dark eyes caught his own, seeming to draw him in, inviting him to sink into their depths and surrender himself.

"Sleep, Naruto," a smooth, baritone voice instructed him, and he found his lids growing heavier, his mind blanking.

Sure, he thought. Why not? He was tired anyway, what with Sasuke-bastard keeping him-keeping-Sasuke? He was supposed to be doing something...

He heard a shout and saw/felt/heard Sakura crumpling to the ground next to him, and Sasuke thumbing the hammer on his revolver, and the clatter as it was knocked away.

He just wanted to sleep, just like that nice voice had told him to...but that didn't seem right. As if in his peripherals, he was aware of Sasuke swinging a haymaker at...at...Itachi? Sasuke was fighting Itachi. Without him. Because he was sleeping...because Itachi had told him to?!

Feeling like he was underwater, he clenched his fist and brought it around to punch himself in the forehead hard. The fog in his brain suddenly vanished, disappearing in the wake of the pain. He shook his head once and then growled and threw himself forward, stepping over a feebly stirring Sakura to catch Itachi in an awkward flying tackle and slam them both against the door to the train car.

The man grunted as he impacted the sturdy wood, hand scrabbling across the surface for a bare second before he found the knob and then they were both tumbling through to the narrow walkway between the cars. He twisted as they fell to land on top of Naruto, knocking the breath out of him.

Naruto snarled and clung on, his arms tight around the man's chest.

"No you don't," he growled.

Sasuke was extricating himself from the compartment door he'd been thrown through, and he looked livid as he regained his equilibrium and approached the two.

Itachi gripped his right hand, the one holding his revolver, in his left and formed a cradle out of his arms; he swung to the left and then snapped his right elbow back around to drive it into Naruto's ribs with an incredible amount of force. Naruto gasped as he felt something crack, his grip loosening ever so slightly. The other man took the opportunity presented and scrambled free, hauling him upright after him; the cool barrel of his gun pressed to the hollow beneath the corner of his jaw.

"That's enough, Sasuke," Itachi said firmly, Sasuke coming to a halt barely two feet away, his hands clenching into fists that shook with rage. "I don't have time to deal with you right now. Go back to your compartment. Take the girl with you," he ordered.

"Let him go," Sasuke snarled. "This is between you and me!"

"Yes. It is. But as I said, I do not have time to deal with this properly right now. Do as I said, Sasuke," he replied calmly, thumbing the hammer on his gun. "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

The younger man's eyes widened slightly and he laughed, the sound tinged with hysteria.

"That's rich, coming from you, Itachi!"

Naruto struggled slightly and Itachi pressed the gun harder, his fingers wrapping around his throat a little tighter almost absently.

"Perhaps. But there is much you do not understand, little brother. Please, do as I said." His tone didn't change.

"No," he spat, glaring venomously.

Itachi cocked the gun.

"Please, Sasuke."

Naruto kicked feebly, his face slowly passing red and heading toward purple.

"Let him go and face me like a man," Sasuke demanded; his eyes flickered away from his brother's face and to Naruto's, the faintest hint of panic joining the mix of pained rage.

"Sasuke..." Itachi sighed, almost tiredly. "I didn't want to hurt you."

There was a sharp crack and a burst of light from the barrel, and Naruto flinched and Sasuke cried out, stepping forward. He froze, looking down at his suddenly on fire arm and the blood that was starting to well from the neat little hole in his shirt.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. But I did tell you."

Naruto went suddenly slack against his front and he released his grip, letting the unconscious blonde crumple to the floor. The hand holding his pistol came up, reversing his grip on the weapon easily to bring the butt down on Sasuke's neck.

His brow arched in surprise as a hand snapped up and caught his wrist.

"No...not again," Sasuke rasped, his left arm dangling loosely at his side; he was panting, probably from the shock of the wound and his rage.

"Stop getting in my way if you expect this to stop." Itachi brought his free hand around to drive into his kidney.

Sasuke choked but clung on tightly, even as he doubled forward slightly reflexively. Itachi stepped around him, wrapping his free arm around his neck and forcing Sasuke's arm to twist awkwardly to keep a hold on him.

"You killed them...why would you do that?" Sasuke gasped, struggling against his brother's iron grip.

"You assumed that I killed them," Itachi corrected, his voice barely a whisper. "As did everyone else."

Sasuke's eyes widened.

"What-what are you saying?!"

Itachi's arm constricted slightly around his neck.

"I-

And icy barrel pressed to the back of his neck.

"Let go of him."

The elder Uchiha sighed. This was getting really tiresome, and he was ten minutes behind schedule by now.


"Damn it," Kakashi growled, ducking and weaving around the man to avoid another couple of slashes aimed at cutting his throat and gutting him respectively.

Kisame laughed again.

"You are quick, aren't you? You really live up to your reputation, Hatake."

Kakashi aimed another shot at his heart and, for the third time, the man brought up his knife and deflected it.

"This is going to get boring quickly though, if all you're going to do is shoot at me and dodge," the big man smirked, slashing at him again. "And we're on a tight schedule. I'll have to kill you quickly."

Kakashi danced out of the way once again, grimacing; he was being forced back toward the populated side of the train now, and he didn't want to risk any of the other passengers getting involved. A small part of him was wondering why the kids hadn't come bursting into the hall when they heard the first gunshot, but as he was driven past their compartment, the reason became obvious; it was empty.

He cursed and drew the hefty field knife he kept on his belt; it wasn't as big as Kisame's, but it was sturdy and razor sharp. His gun went back into its holster as they reached the door between the cars.

Need more room...

"That's more like it," Kisame grinned as he parried and their hilts locked for a second.

With a monumental effort, he shoved the man back and then flung the door open and stepped out, jumping up to catch the rim of the carriage roof and scrabbling up onto it; he hissed as the man landed a shallow slash along the side of his leg just as he sprawled onto the roof, the wind whipping at his clothes and hair fiercely. He found his feet and his balance and took two steps away just in time for Kisame to appear over the edge.

"This is getting exciting," he smirked around the knife between his teeth, hauling his bulk up onto the roof with ease. His hand closed around the knife again and he licked the blood from the edge.

Kakashi rolled his eyes at the dramatics and got ready to counter his next blow.


Sakura's voice was like ice, her grip on her gun perfectly steady.

"Let him go, now."

"Or you'll shoot me?" She almost thought he sounded bored.

Sakura cocked her gun in response.

Itachi sighed.

"If you shoot me now, your bullet will go straight through me and impact Sasuke as well. Put the gun down, Sakura."

She bit her lip, realizing that he was right; the shot might be fatal to him, but it would almost definitely be fatal to Sasuke as well.

"Put the gun down and back away. I'm not going to kill him."

"Don't, Sakura," Sasuke croaked.

"Do as I said, Sakura. No further injuries need be sustained."

Sakura hesitated; she knew she wouldn't shoot, especially if it threatened Sasuke's life so directly, but following Itachi's orders felt like giving up.

"It's the wise thing to do. No one will fault you for it," Itachi said smoothly.

Sasuke choked slightly as his arm tightened again, kicking weakly.

Sakura started to lower the gun slowly, and then she brought it whipping around towards his temple with all the strength she could muster.

Itachi let go of Sasuke to duck, apparently anticipating her move, his arm twisting free of his brother's grip and his leg coming back and around to sweep her feet out from under her; he pounced on her, wrestling for control of the gun and steadily overpowering her with his superior weight. He'd just pried the pistol from her fingers when Sasuke kicked it out of his hand again.

He grunted and brought his other fist around to connect with Sakura's temple, stunning her temporarily as he rolled once away from his brother's next kick; he rolled to his feet and latched onto the doorframe with his hands, swinging back and then forward to drive his feet into his brother's stomach powerfully. Sasuke choked and landed on his back, winded.

Itachi took the opportunity clamber lithely onto the roof before any of the teens could attack him further. His eyes caught the two fighting figures near the end of the train and he sighed again.

This isn't good...

He glanced back to check on Sasuke and company and found his brother struggling over the edge of the roof, his face still slightly red from being choked and then winded.

"Well, you are persistent, I'll give you that," he muttered, finding his center in preparation for his brother's assault; it was too late now to worry about keeping to the schedule. The gunshots would have woken the train's passengers anyways.

Sasuke growled and charged at him in response.


Tobi and Deidara were looting rooms opposite each other when the first gunshot rang out. The snoring old man in Deidara's compartment didn't even twitch, though the couple in Tobi's jerked awake; he knocked them both out before they could scream.

"Should we go help, Deidara?" he asked casually as he reemerged into the hall; the bag over his shoulder was already fairly heavy with loot.

Deidara grunted, glancing up and down the hall.

"I think we need to abort. The marshals will have heard that, and I'm sure they'll swarm the train soon enough, yeah."

"Isn't that part of the plan?" Tobi questioned, cocking his head.

"Yeah, but getting caught isn't."

"What about Itachi and Kisame?"

Deidara snorted.

"They're the ones who broke protocol. They can get themselves out of this, yeah." He hefted the bag and headed down the hall, peering out the door to the next car. "We're in Suna territory. If we get off now, we can find Sasori's marshal man and be back in time for breakfast."

"Tobi still thinks Deidara is 'whimping out', but Tobi does like Miss Konan's breakfast." He swung up onto the roof past Deidara. "Let's go then, Deidara."

The blonde man growled and followed him up, and together they leapt off the train, rolling and tumbling until they came to a halt in the sand.

Let's see you get out of this one, Uchiha.


"What did you mean?" Sasuke snarled as he swung at his brother. "We 'assumed'? You were standing there with the gun that killed them!"

"Sasuke, this really isn't the time," Itachi replied.

"Shut up! You killed them! I know you did!" He threw himself forward and landed a glancing blow on his brother's shoulder.

"You know many things, little brother, but that doesn't mean all of them are true," Itachi said, catching his next swing. "Everything is as it is for a reason, however. Which is precisely what you don't understand."

"Enlighten me," he hissed, bringing his left hand around to bury into his gut, ignoring the screaming agony that came from the bullet wound.

Itachi coughed slightly but kept his footing, grabbing Sasuke's left hand with his right.

"I cannot."

"Bull shit!" he almost screamed; he was on the edge of hysteria at this point, driven further and further by the things his brother kept hinting. "I'm your brother! What are you not telling me?!"

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment, and he opened his mouth to speak just in time for Naruto to tackle them both off the edge of the train, Sakura leaping after them.


Kakashi cursed to himself as his peripherals caught sight of the four bodies leaving the train, parrying Kisame's attempt to stab him and returning his full attention to the fight hastily.

"Looks like your buddies have all abandoned ship," he remarked as they fought; he was still holding his own, but he was doing a lot more defending than he was attacking, and he was tiring quickly.

"Is that so?" He swung his empty fist at Kakashi's right and feinted at his left with the knife, earning him a shallow cut across the front of his chest when he didn't react in time. "Well, plans do change, after all."

"What are you doing to do about it?"

Kakashi's boot, soaked with the blood from the wound on his leg, slipped and he tumbled backwards to avoid being eviscerated for it, panting lightly now.

"This," the man shrugged, sheathing his knife and leaping almost gracefully off the edge of the roof; he rolled to a halt in the sand.

Kakashi blinked.

Oh Christ. The kids.

Swearing fluently, he dove off after Kisame.


They broke apart as they hit the ground, Sasuke and Itachi slipping out of Naruto's grip at the jarring thud of impact; he forced himself into a roll in an attempt to dissipate some of it, but it still hurt like a bitch (just as he'd predicted).

When he finally stopped rolling, he was mildly dizzy and disoriented and covered in bruises and his cracked ribs felt like a knife in his side, but he struggled to his knees anyway, peering around for the others.

Sakura was just picking herself up from the sand about a yard back from him, Itachi and Sasuke visible as a couple of dark shapes on the ground a few yards in the opposite direction; as he watched, Itachi started to push himself to his feet.

Naruto groaned; what was this guy made of? He staggered upright and found his footing and then started over to them, fist clenching and drawing back as he prepared to attack.

"Stop," Itachi said suddenly without looking at him, making his way to the still unmoving Sasuke's side and kneeling down again beside him.

"Get away from him," Naruto growled, his voice hoarse from being choked; he didn't even slow down.

Itachi ignored him completely, leaning down to press his ear to Sasuke's chest as though listening for...

Naruto staggered to a halt, his eyes wide, just in time to trip over the two men and land sprawled half on top of them; he hastily scrambled off and situated himself at Sasuke's side, placing the back of his hand in front of his friend's mouth and nose. He gave a slight sigh of relief when he felt his breath start to pick up again.

Itachi straightened up at about that time, seeming perhaps very faintly relieved himself as he climbed to his feet.

"You need to get him to a hospital."

"Oh yeah, and how am I supposed to do that?" Naruto snapped, glaring at him and scrambling to his feet as well.

Itachi arched a brow, and for a second, his resemblance to Sasuke was nearly off-putting.

"You're the one who threw us off the train." He turned and started walking away. "I'm sure your marshal friends will be by to pick you up soon enough."

"Where do you think you're going?!" Naruto snarled, throwing himself at him; Itachi was ready for him this time, however, and he sidestepped out of his path.

"That is not your concern."

"Keep walking and I'll put a bullet in your back," Sakura gritted; she'd drawn her second pistol and it was trained steadily on the Uchiha.

Itachi took several slow breaths, almost as though calming himself.

"You won't kill me, Sakura."

"No. But I'll shoot your kneecaps out so fast you won't even have time to blink. Let's see you walk away then."

Itachi looked skyward. Slowly, his hands rose and rested on the back of his head, and he turned to face her.

"Put the knife down, Kisame. We're going with them quietly."

The hulking shadow that had been steadily creeping nearer to the girl came to a halt, but he didn't put down his knife.

"You sure about this, Itachi?"

Itachi sighed.

"Just do it."

Kisame huffed a disgruntled sigh of his own and dropped his blade, mirroring Itachi's position.

Kakashi staggered over to them just as one of the marshals appeared on horseback, approaching fast from the direction the train had been traveling. Itachi and Kisame were kneeling in the sand near an unconscious Sasuke, their hands bound behind their backs while Naruto and Sakura sat guard.

"...well. Damn it," he muttered, holstering his gun. "You three are impossible, you know that?"

Sakura and Naruto shrugged.

"Tell me about it," Itachi said tiredly.


A/N: So it's here…I'm not sure how I feel about it yet.

-Fight scenes are exhausting to write. Sigh.

-Yeah. I had Itachi basically give in in the end. Here's my thinking: there's a good chance that he'd get picked up by the marshals anyways if he just wandered off into the desert. He's a bit battered and tired at this point, and he's let more slip to Sasuke than he'd intended. Aside from that, I have a few extra little twists that contributed to his decision that you'll all find out about soon.

-Kisame listens to Itachi unconditionally because I like Kisame and Itachi's partnership. I always had this vibe of loyalty between the two of them, and so that's what I've got going here. I mean, the last person Kisame thought about before he died in canon was Itachi. So…bleargh.

-Tobi and Deidara ran away. Partly because Deidara wants to see Itachi fail. Partly because they don't want to get caught. And partly because I have other plans for them, especially "Tobi".

-Agh. This chapter is freaking long. I hope it didn't drag on too much.

-Writing Playlist: Nameless Heroes – Audiomachine; Archangel – Two Steps From Hell; Make it Hurt – Epic Score; The Protector – James Paget; The Way of Honor – Marcus Warner

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Please review. I need the feedback on this one.

P.S. – For real this time, the next update will probs take a little while. I have school to think about.