Chapter 8

Kagome was at her place at the mouth of the cave when the messenger arrived. She knew him. They had worked together once. It had been some time ago but she knew his mask and knew that Tsunade had sent him to make sure she was alright. As much as she wanted the Akatsuki on their side, Tsunade knew not to trust them yet. Kagome rose to meet him Nagato not far behind her as a way of showing the other anbu she was fine. She could see the tension lessen as she approached.

"Shuyaku-san, Lady Tsunade has ordered the Akatsuki to be brought to the village." The Anbu said.

"Oh, so we finally get in on this little-" Kisame quipped.

"Thank you," Kagome said. "You may return to her. We will be on our way soon."

The man hesitated but gave a nod. He was gone in a moment. Unlike Fujio this Anbu didn't question the orders of those placed above him. Even if the one above him was just a child in comparison. Behind her Nagato was ordering his remaining subordinates to pack up their small hide out. Deciding not to get in their way Kagome merely leaned against the entrance of the cave and watched quietly. There wasn't much. As she stood there watching an oddly familiar presence appeared behind her. She turned to look as a red haired boy approached the cave. He looked so much like…..but he wasn't.

"Hey, the kid's back." Kisame said.

"Where are you going?" The kid asked.

"The Leaf village." Nagato responded. "Their leader has made us an offer. Pardon for our crimes in the event that we help them fight Orochimaru. This young woman is going to lead us there."

The boy's green eyes turned to her. Oh, gods, they were just like….He looked her over for a few minutes, his eyes lingering on her mask. It was unique for an Anbu mask not that this boy seemed to notice or care. It was plain white with purple lines near the eyes. There was no animal shape to it which made it different than even her teammates. The mask had been a sort of gift, like many things, from Hiruzen after the Chunin exams.

"What's with the mask?"

"I'm an anbu, a member of an elite group that answers directly to the Hokage, the leader of the Leaf." Kagome responded.

The boy grunted. "So your village is fighting Orochimaru? Why?"

"He was a member of the village, he betrayed us and attacked us. In the attack he attempted to kill the former leader of our village."

"Apparently not hard enough. I heard some little girl stopped him. She's the one who took out his arms." Konan sneered.

Itachi stared Kagome down for a moment. "It was you wasn't it. You saved Hiruzen Sarutobi. That's why you're called Shuyaku, hero. You saved him and in part the morale of thee village."

"Whatever you say, Uchiha." She responded with a shrug.

The boy stood beside her mulling it all over in silence. Kagome watched her out of the corner of her eye. The more she looked at him the more she was sure he looked exactly what he would have looked like if he had grown to this age. Her heart ached to even think about it. That life had ended a long time ago. Ended with everyone in it. Her fists tightened. She needed these people to help her stop that from happening here to this life. If this boy tried to stop them from coming she would…Then those green eyes turned to her and her thought died. He was too much like Shi…..she couldn't hurt him.

"I'll come with you."

Kagome's heart stopped. She had almost forgotten the boy was so close. For a moment she worked to calm her heart rate. The Akatsuki had stopped moving as well at the boy's comment. The stillness was unnerving but she caught sight of the small smiles on their faces. It seemed that they were found of the boy. Nagato came over and clapped him on the shoulder. So the boy was coming with them. She wondered what his motive for tagging along was.

"Are you ready then?" Kagome asked.

The group nodded in unison and Kagome turned on her heel. She wasn't sure what had turned her so cold so suddenly but she had decided to get the group back to the village out of her hands as soon as possible. She set a relatively harsh pace. It didn't take her long to slow down when she noticed Nagato struggling. As they began to follow the road that eventually lead to the village she began to notice a presence also heading toward the village. She searched it and immediately recognized it. Sasuke was heading back to the village. Great, it seemed all of her past was deciding to haunt her today.

"Our path is about to converge with an enemy." Kagome stated simply.

"Who?" Nagato asked.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Uchiha, any relation?" The boy asked Itachi.

"His brother." Kagome responded before the others. "Don't worry, I'll him. All Leaf shinobihave been given orders to bring him in at all cost."

"You won't kill him." Itachi stated coldly.

"No."

As they continued to move she could feel the tension rolling off of the older Uchiha. He had practically sold his soul, had given up all chances of happiness to protect Sasuke. It did not matter that Sasuke was now a traitor or that he was working for the man that they were teaming up to fight. Itachi would not see his brother harmed. The closer they got to the point where they would converge Kagome couldn't help wondering if Itachi would jump in to stop her from hurting Sasuke if he thought it would happen. She pushed the thought away. It wouldn't do to concern herself with Itachi's reaction. Right now she needed to worry about Sasuke. They had not spared nor had she seen him since after the Chunin exam. She needed to plan her moves.

Suddenly they met up with Sasuke. For a moment the shock of seeing him again made her hear jump. The last moment they had shared was their kiss in the hospital. He was older now, hardened by his time with Orochimmaru. She was breaking her promise to him. She wouldn't kill him now. It went against her orders from the Hokage. Which meant she would have to hold herself back but she would still over power him. His first move was to draw his sword which she copied. She used one hand to wield her sword to deflect him and used her other formed had signs. Ice formed and thickened along his arms and legs until it incased his entire body. She jumped away before the ice could jump from his sword to her.

"Happy?" Kagome asked Itachi who merely grunted at her.

"The Leaf and the Akatsuki? You don't appear to be arresting them so you must be working together. Why?" Sasuke asked.

"None of your concern." Kagome stated coldly.

"So how do plan on transporting the boy?" Nagato asked.

She didn't answer. Instead she stepped forward and looked Sasuke in the eyes. "Don't think about using the Sharingan on me, Uchiha, it will only make things worse." He glared and his eyes began to turn red. Before he could use them she had performed multiple hand signs and a mark had formed on his neck near his curse mark. "That is a Soul Seal. You won't be able to move or use your chakra until it is released."

The ice melted and Sasuke fell to the ground before her. He was still glaring as she stepped back. "Who will carry him back?" Nagato finally asked.

When no one spoke Kisame glanced at Itachi. "Fine, I will." The blue man said with a shrug.

"Then let's go." Kagome said.