Hello again, everyone! Words cannot even begin to describe how sorry I am for not updating sooner. I realize it's been so long all of you were actually wondering whether or not I was continuing with the story, but the good news is, I am. I am starting my freshman year of college this year, so i was completely overwhelmed with everything i needed to do to prepare and i kind of forgot about this story for a while...sorry. So i wrote this next chapter with such speed I'm surprised my hands haven't succumbed to carpal tunnel. Since it has been massively too long since I last updated, I'm going to halt with this tomfoolery and let you read the next chapter. Enjoy!

Hidden Sword, present day:

Mariko Kichi grinned, ducking her head to step into the cave, oblivious to the awestruck stares of the three genin in front of her. She gave Sakura an affectionate one armed hug as she did so, managing to duck the slap the rosette sent her way. "Hey, babe. Sorry about the wait-there were thieves up the river; turns out they haven't learned by now not to play with fire-and it took a bit longer then I thought it was gonna. "

"You're Mariko Kichi!" Kai burst out, before the legendary kuniochi could say anything else. Kichi blinked, looking down at the blonde with a wicked smile.

"Guilty as charged, kid."

"You're a lot prettier than I was expecting," Suke piped up, blinking his cerulean eyes at her.

Kichi turned to him next. "Aren't you sweet?" Her smile turned to a full blown grin when Haruna smacked Suke over the head, causing him to glare at her in puzzlement. The young genin refused to look back at him while the fire user looked back at Sakura. "I gotta hand to it you, babe-looks like you picked up a couple of angels here."

The rosette just snorted. "Yeah, okay. They're about as angelic as I am." She looked out into the storm that raged beyond the cave's protection, interpreting some sign the others couldn't see. "Listen, I've got to go. You'll cover things here?"

Kichi nodded. Haruna frowned, voicing the question the other two genin had on their minds.

"What are you doing?"

Sakura just shrugged. "Like I said before, nothing of consequence. " She squatted down before the team, her jade green eyes serious. "Behave for Kichi, alright? I'll be back soon."

Suddenly, Haruna, Suke and Kai all threw their arms around her, taking the kuniochi completely by surprise. She blinked, hesitantly wrapping her arms around them.

"Come back really soon," Kai didn't say as much as command, as the three released her. "Okay?"

Sakura just nodded, her dark green eyes wide. With a small wave and a meaningful glance at Kichi, the rogue slipped out into the rage of the storm and was gone.

"Do you know what she's doing?" Kai demanded instantly, turning back to Kichi.

The fire user laughed. "Yeah-but I'm not going to tell you." She raised a brow at the expression on the blonde's face. "Oh, come on, angel, don't pout. It's unbecoming. Besides, aren't you in the middle of a story already?"

"Right!" Suke exclaimed, as though he had forgotten what he had spent the past three days listening to. "Sakura-chan said you were going to tell us the next part!"

Kichi settled back against the cave wall, wrapping her arms around her legs. She was just as outlandish and stunning as Sakura's descriptions, wearing a simple black dress with a silver sword embroidered over the breast, cut to show the tattoos that decorated her arms and back, with red leather boots that went up to mid-thigh. A katana was strapped in a leather sheath across her back, and no other weapons were visible upon her form. The katana was more than enough. "What part of the story are you up to?"

Haruna thought back. "You and Sakura-chan just left Spinner's house."

"Aaaah." The brunette's head thunked back against the cave, blue eyes wide with remembrance. "You're at that part of the story."

"What do you mean, that part of the story?" Kai's full attention snapped onto the fire user, and suddenly her entire face brightened. "Is this a good part of the story?"

Kichi grinned, showing her teeth.

"Oh, it's a good part of the story alright. If rogue had history books, this would have been a great time in it. Just you wait and see…"

Taken from Mariko Kichi's memories:

The field is drenched in red. Bodies pile on top of bodies as more red leaks from the grass, the soil soaked through with the substance. Rain washes down from the sky, but even that's not enough to wash away the blood. Rogue versus village, hatred blazing in every eye, and as swords plunge into flesh, spraying more crimson onto the deadly field, over the bodies of their fallen comrades, there's screaming.

And screaming.

And screaming.

"MOTHERFUCKER!"

As was rather normal, Kichi came out of the vision screaming curses.

Breathing heavily, the fire using kuniochi sat down on the edge of the road, putting her hands over her ears. There was still a faint buzz in them from time to time, even with the extra protection layered on them, and now was one of those moments.

"I. Hate. That. Vision," she growled vehemently, unable to articulate anything more elegant. She saw Sakura sit next to her out of the corner of her eye; felt the worry in those emerald eyes.

"As bad as before?" the rosette asked, voice tinged with concern.

Kichi took a breath. "Worse, babe. Worse." She stood, locking her hands behind her as she paced. "We've got to make that village before nightfall."

Sakura eyed the setting sun with no small trepidation. "Then we should probably have started moving about two seconds ago."

"Don't waste time with semantics, babe. Move that tight little ass," the brunette chided, and with that, the two kuniochi took to the trees.

"I still don't get why seeing this Samara person is so damn important," the rogue grumbled, leaping lithely through the branches.

Kichi cocked a brow. "She's one of the best spies among the rogue. If anyone would have information on why Itachi and a bunch of other hidden rogue have been suddenly revealed as living, it would be Samara."

"And why would she have access to that information?" Sakura asked.

The fire user swallowed a grin, feeling a bit of the fear that had slipped into her since her vision ease at the prospect of tormenting her beloved rosette. She knew it was probably among one of the many things that was going to send her to hell, but damn, was it fun to do. "Her day job. People tend to tell way more than they should to hookers."

Sakura nearly missed a branch, stumbling over her own feet. Her face was immediately suffused with a bright, fiery red blush. "I beg your pardon?"

"Sorry, I meant escort. That's the politically correct thing to say, right?" Kichi amended, pretending to misunderstand the reason behind the kuniochi's blush. "Well, technically she's an assassin and an escort. But it's probably the latter that gives her the most information. People tend to be more agreeable when you're getting them off then when you're offing them, you know?"

Oh, if only she had a camera. The expression on Sakura's face would have amused her for years to come.

"Do you-have-to say it like that?" the rosette sputtered, her face now cherry red to the roots of her hair.

Kichi snorted in amusement, her fear, for the moment, forgotten. "Damn, you're a prude. How have I not fixed that yet?"

"I'm not a prude," the rogue protested, her emerald eyes now narrowed in anger.

The brunette just looked at her for a moment, crystalline blue eyes void of emotion. Then she said, slowly and clearly, "Sex."

Sakura blushed brilliant red.

"Oh, shut up. Just shut up," she ordered, before the fire user could open her mouth. "Tell me more about Samara. She's a hooker and an assasin?"

"Yup," Kichi said cheerfully, content with her humiliation of Sakura. "Wouldn't you just love that job? Violence, danger, sex-combines everything you need in life into one, really." Noticing the sudden clenching of Sakura's fists, the fire user went on, "She's a few years older than me, babe; one of Spinner's first pupils. That's how we met-she showed up at the house one day when I was going for that bitch's throat and saved my ass. Didn't realize how important she was to the rogue until years later. She gets information no one else can get-which is why we're going to see her."

Sakura shook her head incredulously, short pink strands waving over her skin. "How could a hooker-"

"Her clients, babe," the rogue interrupted, anticipating the question. "She's really quite good at her job, and her clients are among the most influential people in the villages. Most of them don't realize what they're doing, talking to her; she's just sex, for them. And if anyone ever does realize what they're doing, Samara's as quick with a knife as she is with everything else. She's the best in the world with blades-that's where her true talent lies, if you ask me."

"Ah." Sakura was quiet, until they came to a break in the trees. The rosette visibly brightened. "Look! There's the village!"

Immediately, Kichi felt everything in the vision come flooding back. Her stomach tightened, and for a moment she could hear the screams of the dying dancing in her ears yet again. She took a deep breath, crystalline blue eyes narrowing.

"Finally."

The rogue moved towards the village of Star with stealth and quiet grace. Midway between Mist and Lightning, the village was small, and not populated by shinobi. Or at least, not by village shinobi. As Kichi had explained to Sakura on the journey over, rogue had built Star as a meeting place years ago. It still served that purpose, though others, including civilians and village shinobi, populated it now.

The two slowed as they entered Star, more from habit from anything else, as there weren't any guards to stop them. Still, a village was a village.

"When are we meeting her?" Sakura asked gently, keeping her voice low as they crossed into the main street.

"Six, so in about an hour," the fire user replied, voice just as low. "Which reminds me…" she kept her tone light, like she had only just thought of it. "There's just one little thing we have to get settled before we meet her."

Sakura's emerald green eyes narrowed, zeroing in on her best friend. Kichi tried not to fidget.

"What little thing?"

"I am going to kill you," Sakura hissed at her, an hour later. "And I'm not going to be nice about it, either. As soon as we get out of here you better be prepared for hours-no, make that days-of sheer, bloody, never ending torture."

"Oh, come on," Nervous amusement filtered through her voice-she was rightfully wary of the killer intent that was emanating from the pink-haired rogue, but the situation just demanded laughter. "It's not that bad. Give it an hour, two hours-you'll be done in no time."

Sakura just shook her head, clearly seething. "I don't understand why I couldn't play the bodyguard. Maybe if you'd have chosen a more mature method of settling it-"

Kichi sniffed. "Rock paper scissors was a completely mature way to make this decision."

The rogue just clenched her teeth. "Dead," she promised, hair just barely ruffling with a small breeze. "Violently, irrevocably, unmercifully dead."

The brunette sighed. "Drama queen."

A burst of laughter overshadowed Sakura's retort, and the wind user glanced over, baring her teeth.

"I understand how you feel, babe," Kichi murmured underneath her breath, able to sympathize now that the death threats were out of the way. "Black tie isn't exactly my thing, either."

Both kuniochi sighed. They were in a large, circular ballroom in an inn called the Dancer; the place designated for them to meet Samara. The room was teeming with people, all dressed in their finest-a fact that would have made both rogue edgy all by itself, but when combined with the sea of bodyguards that were milling around their clients and the lack of readily available exits, the kuniochi were downright twitchy. However, it was probably the fact that she was in a dress that had pushed Sakura's temper so high.

Made of wisps of crimson silk, the dress covered Sakura's back and stomach completely, with a high collar and bell sleeves that hid her tattoos and a mass of concealed weaponry. The short hemline and the dress's tightness added a modern sexiness to the old-fashioned style, and the crisscrossing lines and swirls that folded along the front and back made it unique, as no one could duplicate that effect if they tried. The shapes were made where the fabric pulled across Sakura's scars. Kichi suspected it was that above all else that had put her best friend in such a terrible mood, and she did sympathize, but one of them had to pass for a lady, and that meant one of them had to be in the dress.

"How long are we going to have to wait here?" the rosette snapped, directing one searing glance at the rest of the guests, all of whom were giving her a wide berth. "I thought you said we were meeting Samara at six. It's after six."

"Oh, for Kami's sake, breathe," the fire-user rolled her crystalline eyes, leaning back against the wall. Her sympathy only extended so far. "It's only six fifteen. Besides, there's protocol that has to be followed here—Samara can't just up and walk over to us. Haven't you ever been a part of a secret tryst before?"

"And I suppose you have?" the rogue shot back, scuffing a foot against the floor. Minor cracks began to appear in the marble.

Kichi stared straight ahead, the smallest of sparks running down her chestnut hair. When she spoke, there was acid in her voice. "I think I've done it…once or twice in my time."

Sakura's head jerked up, wide emerald eyes meeting hers. Then she groaned, putting a hand to her head. "Oh, gods. I'm sorry, I didn't mean…look, I'm just cranky. I'm in a dress, my scars are showing, and I have no idea what I'm doing. Just erase that last comment, okay?"

The brunette sighed, tilting her head back. "You're forgiven, babe. We're all a bit on edge today."

"It doesn't help that the stupid bitch we're meeting is now a full fucking half hour late," Sakura grumbled, running an irked hand through her pink spikes.

"So sorry to keep you waiting," said a smooth, sensually accented voice, amused. Sakura whirled around, and Kichi grinned.

"Samara, my favorite little courtesan. It's been far too long."

When Kichi had first met her, Samara had been one of the loveliest women she had ever seen, and it was still true today. The rogue had skin the color of cappuccino and luminous eyes the color of dark chocolate, with pouty full lips curved into an alluring smile under a proud nose and sculpted cheekbones. Silky midnight hair fell in waves past her waist, artfully styled with jeweled silver clips. Her leggy, curvaceous form was draped regally in what it would be polite to call a dress. Silver bracelets jangled on her wrists and ankles.

"Still a flatterer after all these years, I see," Samara laughed as she gave Kichi a hug.

The fire user's grin widened. "You're the only one who ever appreciates my flattery, lovely. Take this one over here—" she jerked a thumb at Sakura, who was now bright red with embarrassment and clashing horribly with her hair. "I flatter her all the time and I barely even get a smile."

"You're lucky your flattery doesn't get you a kunai in the throat," Sakura snapped back, then colored even further.

"She's a feisty one," Samara commented, directing a brilliant smile at the rosette. "Don't worry, I'm not offended at the 'bitch' comment," she added. "I've been called worse in my time—and you didn't mean it, anyway. You're the elusive Haruno Sakura, aren't you? I've heard of you."

Sakura scowled, over her embarrassment. "You know, the most annoying thing about this world is that everyone's heard of me…and I've heard of absolutely nobody."

"You're new," the escort shrugged. "You'll either learn or die. In any case, who you know isn't important at the moment. We have business to discuss."

"Spinner notified you?" Kichi asked, one hand delicately resting on Kosuke. It soothed her somewhat to feel the metal underneath her fingertips, warm with the element it had gifted her.

Samara nodded. "She said you had a vision of warfare—between us and the villages. Tell me the message got scrambled."

"Sorry, lovely. It's true, and it's bad," Kichi sighed. "That's why we came to talk to you. Those rogue that were recently revealed are part of it, and we need to know who got that information out."

"I figured as much," the gorgeous rogue admitted. "I was the first to find out about the revealed shinobi, and I immediately sent a list to Spinner. It took a bit of digging and I had to call in almost every favor I had, but I know who's responsible. The Sound village."

Kichi glanced at Sakura, crystalline eyes sharp. "You were right, babe."

"That doesn't make me feel any better," the wind user muttered. Her hands tightened into fists, and suddenly she growled. "Damn it. How the fuck did they get the resources to assemble this information in the first place? They don't have any leadership!"

"They do," Something in Samara's soft voice made the two Sword wielders go quiet. Her next words filled Kichi with dread. "Orochimaru is alive. And he's not alone."

"What?" Sakura's voice was barely audible. "Orochimaru died years ago. Sasuke—" she swallowed hard and went on. "Uchiha Sasuke killed him."

"Just like he killed his brother, you mean?" Samara's gaze was penetrating. She pulled a paper from the very low neckline of her dress. "I'm not saying I know how he did it—even I don't have enough pull to find that out—but Orochimaru is alive, and he's working with a partner." She unfolded the paper and held it out to them.

It was unmistakably a photograph of Orochimaru, hustling along an unknown street. The date on the picture was also starkly clear—the photo had been taken one month previous.

Sakura's pale finger touched a part of the picture. "That boy next to him—that's Sasuke. Why would he be allied with the man he killed?"

Kichi peered down, noting the blank-faced teenager that stood by Orochimaru's side. Seething rage poured from the young Uchiha in waves, obvious even in the snapshot, and for a moment, the rogue felt a pang of pity for the child before she remembered. Then she frowned, crystalline eyes moving to a different part of the picture. She tapped the section with a finger. "Who is that?"

There was another man to Orochimaru's left, his face hidden as it turned towards the snake-like missing-nin. It was impossible to see his features clearly, and the body that was visible was well formed, but unremarkable, even the clothes carefully nondescript.

"That's his partner," Samara told them. "They call him 'C'—it was the only piece of information I could get on the man. Whoever he is, he's the only one who seemed to know anyone was watching him at the time. I haven't seen him since, but I'm pretty sure he's the one behind all this, not Orochimaru."

"Why him?" Sakura asked, puzzled. "Orochimaru's not one to share power, and he's clever enough to oust dead shinobi as living."

Even before the rosette finished speaking, Kichi was shaking her head. "Orochimaru's always been a missing-nin, never a rogue. It's true he could have found the shinobi on that list, but only because most of them were known publically as missing-nin, had reputations as missing-nin. But none of the shinobi on the list were actually missing-nin, and if Orochimaru was behind this, he would have found some ninja that were—there are real missing-nin that are pretending to be dead. The only way someone could have ousted all of the rogue on that list would be if they were watching rogue places, and only a rogue knows those exist."

"But all of the shinobi on the list are known to Orochimaru as missing-nin. So this C, whoever he is, knows about the rogue but isn't telling Orochimaru or anyone else in Sound," Sakura frowned, brow furrowing with the revelation. "C is letting him think he's finding missing-nin. But why? Why wouldn't he oust all of the rogue? For that matter, why would he only reveal certain shinobi—to the villages, no less? And why would Orochimaru go along with this plan in the first place if he's not the one in control?"

Samara and Kichi exchanged glances, startled by the questions. Kichi was about to say she had no fucking clue when Sakura smacked herself on the forehead.

"Of course," she breathed, thunking a hand against her temple. "It's so simple." The wind user turned to Kichi. "He's turning rogue into Sound ninja."

Kichi stared at her. Samara blinked.

Sakura made a noise of frustration. "By revealing only certain shinobi to the villages alone, C is pushing those shinobi back into the public eye. The reason most of the shinobi on the list pretended to be dead was so the villages would leave them alone and they could work on their own agendas in peace. Now, however, the villages will be coming for them—hard. C is going to offer them a way out by giving them a place as Sound shinobi."

"Which is why only the strongest of rogue that were mislabeled as missing-nin were on the list, and why Orochimaru is going along with the plan. He wants more high-class shinobi to control," It was Samara's turn to frown. "But why?"

"Does it really matter?" Sakura asked, sounding almost relieved. "This is good for us, isn't it? It means no one is really targeting the rogue."

Kichi's stomach rolled unpleasantly as another realization slammed into her. "No, it's not good for us at all. There's just one flaw in his plan—us."

Both Sakura and Samara looked confused, uncomprehending.

"I don't get it," the wind user said uneasily. "What's the problem?"

Kichi shook her head. "C and Orochimaru may not be actually targeting the rogue, but they're still putting us in jeopardy. The two of them aren't going to be content with all of the shinobi they just revealed—they're going to want more. And since C knows about the rogue…"

"Oh, Kami," Sakura whispered, emerald eyes widening with shock.

"He'll target us," Samara finished, her sensual voice hoarse with disbelief. "He'll use the same tactic as he did before—either the rogue he chooses become Sound shinobi , or they're revealed to the villages and hunted down. And since most rogue would rather be hunted than become village shinobi again, the other villages will learn about the rogue."

"And the villages will turn on us," Kichi's normally cheerful voice was quiet. "Just like in my vision."

Sakura was chalky white. "Maybe we're overreacting. This can't possibly be true…I mean, we got all that from a photograph, for Kami's sake!"

"No, it's true," Kichi said hollowly. She felt in her bones, with the secret sense that let her peer into the future, see the workings of fate. "It's true."

"We have to stop this," The wind user ran a hand through her pink spikes, fingers shaking. "We have to figure out Orochimaru's plan—why he wants these people, what he's using them for. How do we do that?"

"Well, there's only one option, isn't there?" Samara retorted, face grim. The Sword wielders turned to her, eyes hard and ready.

"The rogue will have to infiltrate Sound."

Hidden Sword, present day:

"Wait, wait, wait," Kai broke in, palms out. She waited until she had Kichi's attention. "What the fuck?"

The rogue laughed. "Now, some people would scold you for foul language, but me, I find it cute," she teased, the smile on her lips widening into her wild grin. "This kinda blows your mind, huh?"

"Yes," the exuberant blond burst out, flinging up her hands. "This is…I mean…shit, you guys have the worst luck in the world."

That startled another laugh out of Kichi. "I guess at this point that's how it seems."

"We need to ask you something," Haruna broke in, before Kai could start ranting again. She pointed to Kichi's ears, which were incased in the same odd metal contraptions Sakura had described when first telling of her best friend, plates of steel that conformed to the shell of her ear with rods sprouting up to attach to a small circle over the center. "You said your ears 'buzz' from time to time. Is that a side effect from those? Whatever they are?"

The fire user stared at her. "You have got to be kidding." The rogue swung around to look at the other two genin. "Sakura didn't tell you, did she?"

"Nope," Suke piped up. "She didn't tell us anything about you. She said that your past was your business and we would have to ask you about it."

Kichi groaned aloud, rubbing her forehead with the heel of one hand. "That little idiot. You'd think she'd realize that in order for the rest of the story to make any sense, my past would have to come out. It's really lucky she has me or we wouldn't get anything done. "

"So what happened?" Kai demanded, in a typically blunt fashion. "How did you become a rogue?"

"Okay," the kuniochi took a deep breath, blowing it out as a sigh. She straightened up, settling her hands on her knees. She opened her mouth, shut it again, then smiled sheepishly, looking up at the ceiling. "Fuck, this is hard."

The genin exchanged looks. "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," Suke offered tentatively.

Kichi shook her head. "Nah, it's something you need to hear. It's just…I haven't told someone this story in a long, long time…and it's hard to think about, still. Just give me a moment."

Silence reigned in the cave for a time, the three genin unusually quiet. Finally, the rogue met their gaze, took in a deep breath, and started to talk.

"It's like this. For most of my life, I lived as a normal civilian working in my father's store. No shinobi, no rogue ties…I don't think I was ever in a real fight. I was a bit of a sheltered child, believe it or not…the type of person that never got into trouble, never made a scene. Well, all of that changed when I went shopping one day and took a wrong turn. Of course I was soon hopelessly lost and wound up trying the back alleys to get home, when I rounded a corner and saw a knife slash across someone's throat. So I did what any sheltered, untrained young girl would do—screamed and whirled to run. The next thing I know, this boy is holding a knife to my throat. The thing is, he was the most beautiful boy I had ever seen, and just as I was about to cry for help, I got a good look at his face. His eyes…" Kichi trailed off, lost in the memory. "They were pure gold."

The rogue looked down, fingers picking at her clothing. Finally, Haruna delicately cleared her throat.

Kichi shook herself. "Anyway, I just froze. He stared back at me, and I think a good minute passed—felt like hours to me—with him just…just studying me. Finally, he looked down at me, the kunai still at my throat, and asked me what my name was."

Kai whistled. "Wow. So what happened next?"

Kichi actually chuckled a little. "After he spoke, I regained my senses and kicked him…in a certain area." Haruna and Kai both giggled as Suke turned pale. He glared at them. "He chocked and dropped the knife, which gave me the opportunity to run like hell back home. Like any normal, sheltered child, I was under the impression that even if I had seen this gorgeous boy murder someone, there was no way he would come looking for me. After all, he didn't know who I was, much less where I lived. What I had wrong was, he wasn't a boy."

"He was a shinobi," Haruna realized, gray eyes lighting up in understanding.

Kichi smiled, just a little sadly. "No, angel. He was a rogue, and trust me, we are much nastier than shinobi. He showed up in my room that very night which, naturally, scared the ever-living shit out of me—that and the fact that the first thing he said to me was subtly along the lines of, 'I'm here to kill you.' Even then I wasn't much for cowering in fear, so instead of begging for my life, I got pissed. I told him that I didn't damn care why he was there, it was still rude to break into a lady's bedroom uninvited."

Haruna snorted.

The rogue shook her head at the memory, a true grin on her face. "He looked at me for like three minutes and then burst out laughing. He took a seat next to my bed and said, 'If I promise not to kill you, Mariko Hisano Kichi, can I stay?' Even though I was panicking at the fact that there was a murderer in my room—one who suddenly knew my name—I said sure, if I got his name in return. 'Isamu', he told me. 'Just Isamu.' And then, as you've probably already guessed, we fell in love."

There was a heartbeat of silence. Then Kai breathed, "That's so damn romantic."

The fire user huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, it was. All the way to the end." She looked at her lap. "I wouldn't see him for months. He would come and go from the village, vanishing as suddenly as he appeared, but every time he came, he always found me—I don't know how he made sure nobody ever noticed. For a while I was still scared of him at first, never having met a shinobi before, much less a rogue shinobi, but Isa was patient. He courted me slowly, away from anyone's watch. I would find presents in my room, little things—a glass swan on my nightstand, a pendant on my dresser. He used to leave different flowers on my pillow—acacia, gladiolas, anemone, white roses. I hope at least one of you is versed in the language of flowers, but if you're not, believe me, all of them mean good things." She pulled back her hair, baring the back of her neck to their sight. A cluster of blue flowers combined with a trail of stars was tattooed there just beneath her right ear, the design ending just above the wings on her back. "These are forget-me-nots, the flowers of true love. They were the last flowers he ever gave me."

Kichi raised her head to the ceiling, crystalline eyes lost in memory. "It was all coded love letters and midnight assignations at first. Even by rogue standards, he lived a dangerous life—the person I had seen him kill in the alley had belonged to a brutal group of rogue that had originally wanted him to join. He had refused because—as he put it—their methods were too brutal even for the rogue world. That group had been hunting him ever since that refusal, but now they also had a different motive—revenge. Between that and the age difference—I was fifteen at the time; he was twenty-six—there were enough reasons for us to meet in secret, behind watching eyes. But one day Isa got word that the rogue chasing him had found out he was in the area around my village, and were coming for him. Fast."

"So he left," Haruna surmised, her eyes already shadowed with sympathy for Kichi's loss.

"No." The one word was quiet, but said with a heat that made each genin flinch. "He stayed behind just a day too long." Kichi took a breath, orange sparks running over her hair as her eyes burned a hot, ethereal gold. "He stayed behind for me."

It was a long moment before the fire user could go on with the story, and then it came fast, the words tumbling over themselves at the rush to leave her lips.

"If the rogue had been coming only for him, Isamu would have just disappeared, knowing I'd understand. But when he found out they were coming, he also learned that, somehow or another, they had found out he had a girlfriend in the village. They knew about me. They knew who I was. If Isa went, the rogue would find me and try to torture me into telling them where he had gone. Even if they believed I didn't know where he was. And there was another reason the rogue would come after me as well—ever since I'd met Isamu, a Sword had been appearing to me. I didn't know exactly what it was at that time—Isamu just said it was important, that I should be grateful it was coming to me. It did pretty much the same thing that Sakura's did before she got it, only in my case it was a lot more dangerous. The rogue who were hunting for Isa knew what the Sword was and knew why it was coming to me. They wanted to make sure I never got it."

"Isa said he couldn't take that chance; couldn't leave me to them. He would be fine if they tortured him, he told me, but he couldn't let them hurt me. He begged me to leave with him, disappear into the country. It wouldn't be hard, he pleaded. He'd been teaching me the ninja arts—weapons, stealth, jutsu—since we met; I knew enough to stay in the rogue world without him, and together we would be untouchable. He was strong, he told me—he could protect me. He could make sure nothing ever hurt me again. It wasn't to save myself, but to save Isa that I agreed to leave. I knew if he stayed any longer, the rogue would definitely find him. So I left, but luck did not favor us. The rogue found us just outside the gates of my village. We had lingered behind just a day too long."

Haruna's hand whipped out and caught Suke's in a death grip. The boy squeezed her fingers, his face as white as hers and Kai's.

"Isamu fought—I fought, too, without much success—but there were just too many, and they were just too skilled. They went through my village, burning buildings and massacring people just for the fun of it. They burned my father's shop. We were dragged away to some building high in the hills, and in the end—I can't say what happened in that building, I will never say what happened in that building—in the end, I watched as Isa—my beautiful, golden-eyed Isa—was struck down by the leader of the group. They called him Kain. His men were holding me down and hitting me, cutting me, so all I could do was scream and watch past my own pain. He hit Isamu with a blow so severe he couldn't rise, and before he could recover, the man was already cutting him with poisoned blades. Over. And over. And over." With each word came a pulse of heat, and smoke was actually rising from Kichi's skin, curling around the cave like rising ashes. "He would use chakra to heal the worst of the gashes, so he could inflict even more pain, and he made his men force me to my knees over Isa's body, so by the time he was done his blood had washed over every inch of my skin. It took six hours for him to die. And even then it wasn't over."

"Oh, gods," Kai whispered. It was the first thing any of the genin had said in a while. They were all huddled in a pile at this point, and Haruna had hid her face against Suke's shoulder. Some of her shaking might have been from horror, but some of it was also from rage.

"As soon as Isamu was gone, the leader came over. I made myself forget so many details of that day, but I will never forget his eyes. Every day he had tortured me, I had sworn to myself that someday I would get free and take my revenge on that man. No one else could have eyes like him. They were just chips of gray ice. He knelt in front of me and made hand seals, too fast for me to follow, but I didn't need to see them to feel the effects of his jutsu. It was bad." Kichi shook her head, a shower of metallic sparks hitting the opposite wall with a hiss, each flickering into a miniature flame before flaring out. "I was assaulted by the sounds; they all I could hear. I heard each slice of the blade into Isamu's skin, every splatter of blood onto the walls, the floor, onto me, every low laugh of the leader, every thump Isa's body made as it jerked and twisted and writhed on the floor. I heard every one of his screams. The sounds of his death repeated, looped over each other, became louder and louder and louder, and it wouldn't stop."

There was silence.

"It was in this condition—beaten, broken, and dying—that the men threw me out; I ended up somewhere in the village, though I couldn't tell you where. All of this I heard from the twins later, as I don't remember any of it. At that point, I wouldn't have been able to tell you my own name—all I knew was Isa dying. Scorpio and Widow were village medical ninjas at that time, and they knew about my relationship with Isamu; they were his cousins. They came to heal me. The leader had tortured me physically as well as mentally, and I wasn't expected to survive without extensive healing, but the villagers…the villagers didn't want me to survive. They said it was my fault the village had been attacked by these people, my fault that their children, their husbands, their wives were dead. I had brought the rogue into the village—after all, why would they have taken me and that boy with them if I hadn't lead them here?—and for the deaths of their loved ones, I deserved to die. They threw me out of the village, and the twins as well, just for trying to help me, though I'm sure they would have been tossed out anyway if the villagers had known about Isamu."

Kichi took a deep breath. She looked a little calmer near the end of her tale; the oppressive heat that had pulsed in the room was gone, and the sparks had faded from her hair. Still, her hands were clenched tight in her lap, and her voice was quiet and hoarse with emotion as she continued.

"Because of their personal relationship to Isa, Scorpio and Widow knew a great deal about rogue secrets, and they brought me to Spinner, not that I noticed—I was completely crazy. I am not using an expression. All I heard was Isa dying, and the sights in front of my eyes wouldn't make sense. The one thing I knew other than death was pain, and for some reason, I kept smelling smoke."

Kichi shook her head again, rubbing a hand over her temple. "I don't have anything to tell after that point. I was completely detached from the world for a time, caught along with Isamu as the leader's jutsu imposed his death on me again and again. But one day, I was just sort of jump-started back into reality when the sounds of Isamu dying faded. For the first time in a long time, I heard silence, and I was able to discern my surroundings. I was in a little metal bed in a room filled with sunlight, and I was clenching something in my hand. I looked down and saw the tattoo blazing up my arm and the Sword in my hand. I don't remember grabbing her, but it must have happened at Spinner's place—the men would have killed me outright if it had come to me with them instead of just leaving me to die. 'That is Kosuke,' I heard someone say; the first human voice I had heard in what seemed like years. 'The Sword of Light.' I looked up and saw a guy sitting in a chair next to the bed. I asked him who he was—the first words, apparently, I had said in two weeks. He told me he was Uchiha Itachi, a rogue, and gave me the papers Spinner had on the Swords. The next time he came to visit me, he told me he had designed these." A hand went up to trace the metal that plated one of her ears. "After that, I started to come back to reality. Itachi helped me through it, teaching me the things I would need to know to survive as a kuniochi…and before long, I was making my new life as a rogue. " She gave a small little half-smile that didn't reach her eyes. "My first fight was with the only one of Kain's henchman that I managed to find, a rogue named Yasunari—remember him? I was trying to get information about Isa's death, so instead of killing him right off, I carved a K into his cheek. Then he used that chakra-sucking jutsu on me, and fled before I could finish the job. After that, with my chakra temporarily out of the way, I had my first vision. And then I really started to become the only living legendary Sword."

There was silence. Haruna couldn't bring herself to voice her original question, but the fire user explained anyway. "I know this is originally what you wanted to know, so here it devices around my ears are the only things that can prevent the leader's jutsu from taking effect. That jutsu is a genjutsu that plays on a particular sense of the victim, making them hear or see or feel things they actually don't."

"But what are those things, exactly?" Suke ventured to ask, as it appeared it was less painful for Kichi now that her story was over.

"Shields," the rogue replied, almost in her normal cheerful tone. She tapped the part of the device just over her ear, and a small blue dome flared up before fading into invisibility. "Itachi's creations are imbibed with another genjutsu that confines the one previously laid on me. They would do the same to any jutsu or physical attack on any part of the body, and can at times be broadened into shields for my entire person, if the need ever arose. If that need occurs, I would need to remove them from my ears, put them in front of me and then broaden the shield, which would leave me once again vulnerable to the leader's genjutsu."

The four lapsed into silence, and this time, it was Kai who broke it. "Know what's funny?"

Her teammates just stared at her.

Kai turned to Kichi. "You never really belonged to a village at all, did you? I mean, there are tons of things you could have done to end up as a village shinobi, but you didn't."

"That's true," the fire user acknowledged. "I've been rogue since the beginning. It comes in handy—no village can ever trace you, no village shinobi can ever really know your history, and you can assume affiliation with whatever suits you. It's also true that I could have done a lot of things to make my life different, but now, I wouldn't change any of my decisions. In the end, I became the legend that I am completely from choice."

The genin's eyes flickered to her Sword, strapped in deceptively common black leather just as Sakura's was.

"Are we going to hear the rest of the story now?" Suke asked. "You know, with Sakura and the Swords and all?"

Kichi stretched, cracking the stiff joints of her back. "Not yet. Amuse yourselves for a little while, alright, angel?"

"Isn't telling that story the only reason you came here?" Kai asked.

"This is also true," Kichi replied. "However, as I believe I just demonstrated, the events in that story are events that actually occured in the real lives of Sakura, myself, and all the others, and while they may not be recent, they are still very much a part of all the parties involved—just as all your memories are a part of you. So while it's perfectly reasonable that you want to hear more of said story, the people telling it may not necessarily be ready to continue. Therefore, sometimes, you're all just going to have to give us a damn moment."

Somewhere in the Hidden Sword, present day:

Genma was not happy.

He was sitting under an extremely pitiable excuse for a tent—really just the remarkably thin sheet that passed as his Konoha-issue sleeping bag propped on two sticks; was it really so hard for them to make it of thicker material, say, not threadbare cotton?—that was un-freakin'-fortunately not waterproof, which meant he was still soaked to the bone, and because of the (hateful, despicable, obviously sent by demons to torture him further in the hopes he would kill himself and let his spirit be torn to shreds in hell by their sharp, unmerciful claws) storm that had stolen away his tent before he could secure it with help from its tree-whipping winds and forced him to use the pathetically thin Konoha-sheet (sleeping bag his admittedly gorgeously formed ass!) as a means of shelter, he couldn't see more than three inches in front of his face because he had only managed to conjure a ridiculously small fire that he could not, by normal means or ninjutsu, get to grow any bigger to rectify this problem. Added to the fact that he was out of food, his genin charges were out fending for themselves somewhere in this hellhole, and he had lost his beloved senbon, and Genma was most decidedly not happy.

He was also steadfastly refusing to think of home, for whatever he was facing in the Hidden Sword he was sure to remember with the utmost fondness when contrasted against the combined wrath of Naruto, Hinata, Kakashi, Ino, Shikamaru, and Anko. That was, if he survived to get home.

"You just never know with this place," Genma grumbled, wishing he had his senbon to chew on. Then, musing on what had happened to create the Hidden Sword, added, "Never know with anything, I s'pose."

"Thinking of the past?" asked a soft voice.

A lesser shinobi might have jumped out of his skin. As it was, Genma felt he appeared only mildly startled, most befitting a jounin of his caliber. When he had untwisted himself from his tent, picked himself off of the ground, and found at least some of the weapons that had flown out of his sleeves and pockets, he grabbed a kunai and said firmly, "Who's there? Come out so I can see you!"

A shadow moved in the corner of his vision. Purely by instinct, Genma whirled and flung the kunai in his hand, palming another when the shadow twisted deftly to avoid the missile. He had already thrown the second kunai when Haruno Sakura stepped out into the light.

She gave a small half-smile as one pale hand whipped out to catch it. "Hello, Genma."

For a moment he just stared at her, rage filling every corner of his body. "What are you doing here?" he practically snarled.

Sakura practically snarled back, rolling her eyes to the darkened sky. "Why the hell does everyone ask me that? For Kami's sake, this is my land—where else am I supposed to be, squatting under a rock? I'm not the trespasser here; you are. You—" She shot to the side before the third kunai could make contact with her, back flipping into the darkness to avoid the shruiken he sent spinning after it.

Silence.

Genma turned in a slow circle, sliding senbon into the spaces between his fingers. He sent his senses out, alive for any wisp of movement in the black night, the metal glitter of a weapon, the slightest pulse of chakra. He was unprepared for the whoosh of wind that swept him off his feet, slamming into a tree with a force that made the breath leave his lungs.

He clenched his teeth as he fought for air, hands fisting with anger. Of course she wouldn't have fought honorably, he thought bitterly. He should have remembered what she was.

"That wasn't wise," called Sakura's disembodied voice. He let her talk, tracking the sound of her voice. "Were I in a less charitable mood, I would have taken that attack as a declaration of war—" The senbon left his hand and her aerial twist to avoid them had her passing through the circle of light caused by his meager fire, where he was there with a foot already spinning out in a kick that caught her neatly in the ribs. Instead of stumbling as he expected her too she dropped, and before he could react she slid between his legs with her signature speed, a fist on the back throwing him off-balance as her foot tripped his ankle. He fell but managed to send the second handful of senbon after her, each attached to a small, thin chakra wire. She nearly cart-wheeled over the weapons, small chakra scalpels cutting through the wires neatly from the hand she used for leverage. He cursed under his breath as she disappeared back into the storm.

"Be reasonable, Genma," Sakura said calmly, through the roar of the raging storm. "We all know how well the first war worked out; I don't want a repeat of it."

"So if you aren't here for a fight, then why are you here?" the Konoha nin shot back, hands tightening into fists.

"I'm here as an ambassador of the Hidden Sword," the missing-nin answered him, raising her voice above a crackle of blue lightning. "Our sentries informed us when you entered the territory, but we assumed you were just passing through, probably trying to take a shortcut back home, so we were going to leave you alone."

"So why talk to me now?" Genma straightened out of his attack stance, crossing his arms over his chest. His voice went back to its normal drawl. "Is it the storm?"

"I knew you were smart," she mocked, staying hidden in the night. "Yes, as it matter of fact, it is the storm. You're obviously not very prepared for it, and it would look very bad if a Konoha shinobi inexplicably died in our borders. We want to avoid war at all possible costs."

"I suppose you 'Sword' people are more prepared than I am?" he asked, still suspicious.

"Oh, definitely," Sakura replied. "Storms of this caliber are fairly common here. But you; you're lucky you haven't died. I'm here to take you to a safe house and make sure that doesn't happen."

"And when the storm ends?" Genma challenged.

The woman stepped into the light, rolling her eyes. This time Genma just watched her. "You'll be safely returned to Konoha to face the wrath of your Hokage, which is no doubt absolutely terrifying. You can either take the offer, or stay here to die. Really makes no difference to me besides averting war."

Still the shinobi hesitated. "There were genin who came with me," he said finally. "My team. Are they…"

"Nara Kaida, Hatake Haruna, and Uzumaki Daisuke," she recited, shifting her weight. "I know who they are. They'll probably grow up to be as impressive as their parentage."

Genma's vision went red. "If you've hurt them—"

"Don't insult me," Sakura snapped. "I would never hurt a child. We're searching for them, too. When we find them we'll bring them to the closest safe house—it probably won't be the one you're going to, as we still don't know their location. Then when the storm ends, we'll escort you all out of Sword territory and you can go on your merry way back to Konoha." She half-turned, looking out into the rain. "Now, are you coming or not?"

Genma shifted, glaring at the kuniochi as she waited in silence. At last he growled and moved forward, picking up his bag of meager supplies. "Fine."

Sakura gave a terse nod, and he followed her out into the night.

"This doesn't change what you are, you know," he added a heartbeat later.

Silence stretched out after the statement so long Genma wasn't sure the missing nin had heard him.

"I know," Sakura answered quietly, raising her face to the rain. "Nothing will ever change that."

Hidden Sword, present day:

"Okay," Kichi gave a loud yawn, stretching her arms over her head. "Are we about ready to continue with the story?" She grinned wickedly. "Then again, the three of you do look kinda tired. Maybe I should let you rest a little bit more…"

"Oh, don't even try," Kai snapped peevishly. "We have been waiting forever—you are telling us the next damn part of the story right now!"

The kuniochi eyed her. "You're a little spitfire, aren't you?"

The blonde growled.

"Okay, okay," Kichi laughed. "So we left off where? Still at the party?"

"Yup," Suke told her as he nudged a sleeping Haruna awake. She groaned and rubbed her eyes, nestling against his shoulder, and a pink tinge hit the boy's cheeks. "You and Sakura were still talking to Samara."

"Right," The brunette nodded, pillowing her chin on her upraised knee. "Alright. So Samara had just told us we were going to have to infiltrate Sound…"

Taken from Mariko Kichi's memories:

"Are you insane?" Sakura hissed, emerald eyes wide as she glared at Samara. "That's the worst idea I've ever heard! There's no way we could infiltrate Sound."

"I didn't say it was the best way; I said it was the only way," Samara retorted hotly, propping her hands on her hips. "We need to figure out what Orochimaru and C are planning, and it's not like they're just going to waltz up and give it to us. The only place we're going to be able to find their plans is their base of operations."

"And just how do you propose the rogue break into a village, huh?" the rosette demanded. "Technically, we don't exist. We don't have the resources of villages or even missing-nin to take on an operation of this size without risking exposure. And even assuming it could be done, who's going to do it?"

"What do you mean, who?" Samara's chocolate eyes narrowed. "It obviously has to be you two. You're the Swords, aren't you? It's your job to protect the rogue, and, clearly, we need the protection here—even if you are just a child."

Sakura bared her teeth. A small breeze ruffled her hair.

"Okay, okay, just cool it, will you two?" Kichi interrupted quickly, stepping between them with hands outstretched. "We're not going to solve anything by arguing, alright? Let's work out a plan." She looked at Sakura. "Samara's right, it is the only way—and it's gotta be us, babe. This is why we're here."

The wind user made a strangled noise, then sighed. "Fine," she acquiesced. "But how the hell are we going to do it?"

"With a damn good strategy, that's how," The kuniochi turned to Samara. "Where's your client, lovely?"

The escort shrugged impassively. "He's around here somewhere. We split up to avoid notice…ah. There he is—he's coming to us right now."

All three women followed her finger. Sakura's emerald eyes went wide.

"Oh…my…" the rosette's voice trailed off.

Uchiha Itachi was walking towards them.

Dressed all in black, the hard, lean body of the shinobi showed to clear advantage, the catlike grace of his movements turning heads all over the room as he maneuvered through the crowd. His tight black shirt was unbuttoned slightly to reveal a V of golden skin, the silver of a chain disappearing into his shirt. He wore his hair in a loose ponytail, the ebony locks tossed over one shoulder, and a silver earring caught the light on the top of his one exposed ear.

As gorgeous as the sight was, it was the awestruck look on Sakura's face that caught Kichi's very cunning, very dangerous attention. Naturally, Itachi stopped right in front of the pink-haired kuniochi.

"Hello," he said, in that calm, smooth Uchiha baritone.

"U-um…" Sakura stuttered, a brilliant red blush crawling up her cheeks. "You-you have an earring?"

"As do you," Itachi pointed out, one hand gesturing to the pearl and silver drops that dangled from her ears. "Two, if you'd like to be precise."

"That's not…I didn't mean…" The wind user's face was now a bright, fiery red. "It's good to see you," she finished weakly.

Kichi and Samara coughed in unison to muffle their laughter.

Itachi's eyes gleamed as they traveled down her form. "You as well, Sakura. Your dress is quite…unique."

Sakura's blush worsened. "Thank you. You look…" she shook her head. "Black definitely suits you."

"Okay!" Kichi said brightly, causing Sakura to jump. Itachi, for his part, just inclined his head towards her. "We need to come up with a plan, so here's what we're going to do. Me and Samara are going to stay here and come up with a list of people we could use to back us up on the job, and Sakura, you and Itachi are going to go dance and come up with a strategy for the break-in. Alright?"

"Wouldn't it be faster if Itachi and I stayed here and all four of us discussed the plan?" Sakura wanted to know.

"Nope," the brunette said decisively. She grabbed Sakura and Itachi's hand and towed them forward; shoving them into the dance floor and slipping back out before the two could react. It was, to Kichi's great enjoyment, a slow song. "Now get to fraternizing—I mean strategizing!"

Samara raised her brows as Kichi returned, leaning against the wall next to her. "It seems to me like someone's playing matchmaker," the assassin teased.

"Damn straight it does," Kichi retorted, her famous wicked grin blooming on her lips. "You know how much I enjoy it. Besides, the two of them have a thing going already—they just need a little gigantic push in the right direction."

"Right." Samara chuckled. "You know, if you really want them together, you're going to have to try being a little more subtle about it."

"I am being subtle," the fire user protested, affronted. "The two of them are expecting me to be openly scheming about getting them together, so I am openly scheming about getting them together, and that way, they won't be suspicious enough to catch all of the subtle and devious things I'm doing to really get them together."

Samara blinked. "My head hurts."

"It's classic misdirection techniques," Kichi huffed.

The escort shrugged, looking at the dancing couple. "Whatever. Lucky bitch—now there's a man. She's a strong kid; feisty. A good match for Nariko." The kuniochi studied the two a bit more, brows furrowing. "Does she know?"

"Not yet."

Samara glanced at her sharply. "Does he know?"

"No; it doesn't work that way. If he knew, it would cancel out the effect and power of the event in the first place. Besides, how do you tell someone something like that?" the brunette shook her head. "Even I don't know, not really. I just know it's going to happen—don't know the where, don't know the when."

"Useful," Samara commented dryly.

"Uh-huh," Kichi replied, rolling her eyes. "Damn pain in my ass is what it is. Stupid visions never tell me anything I can use." Her eyes locked onto the figures of Sakura and Itachi, swaying in the middle of the dance floor. She tugged on Samara's arm. "Come on. Let's go somewhere we can read their lips."

"Why, Kichi!" The escort gasped in mock horror, a hand against her chest. "What a devious and underhanded suggestion!" Samara grinned. "I don't know why I didn't think of it myself. But aren't we supposed to be coming up with a list of help?"

The fire user waved a hand. "Oh, please, we know who's helping us. You, Whisper, Spinner, unfortunately, Scorpio and Widow; all the usual people. Kisame and some of that crowd might join in, if they're up to it. Oooh, this spot is perfect—I can practically hear their conversation. Shut up and let me concentrate."

"—have not seen you in quite some time," Itachi was saying, his face as seemingly blank as always. Sakura's was still cherry red as she swayed back and forth in the shinobi's arms. "Though I have heard of your exploits. Spinner has been training you well."

"She's been keeping me busy," Sakura acknowledged with a small smile. "I've learned so much from her it's hard to believe she only trained me for a year. What about the famous Uchiha Itachi? What have you been up to?"

"It has been an…interesting year for me thus far," he replied. "I did not expect to be thrown back into the world of the hunted so quickly."

"Right, the villages," the rosette realized. "Speaking of, shouldn't you be wearing a disguise or something? There are guards all over this place."

"I am under a henge," he said calmly. "It is layered to cloak me from the guards and others who would attempt to bring me to the villages while enabling my true face to be seen to those who need to."

Sakura's brows drew together. "I've never heard of a henge like that. Plus, isn't this place warded against genjutsu?"

Itachi smirked. "Not against genjutsu of mine. This henge is one of my own creation. I suspect it will continue to be useful in the coming months."

"It'll definitely come in handy when we infiltrate Sound," the girl mused. She bit her lip, looking up at the rogue. "I should probably bring you up to speed on all that, huh?"

Itachi shook his head as they turned in a slow circle. "There is no need. I am aware of why we need to find a way to infiltrate the Sound village. I read your lips," he clarified before the kuniochi could ask. Sakura's mouth dropped open.

"You read lips?" she demanded, emerald eyes narrowing. "Is this another one of those rogue tricks I need to pick up?"

The shinobi's mouth twitched. "Perhaps."

"Well, who else can do it?"

Itachi considered that. "Kichi, naturally—" here Kichi grinned "—the twins, Kisame, Spinner the Untouchable and her daughter, and the other former members of the Akatsuki."

"So, everyone," Sakura growled.

"Precisely," the Uchiha said dryly.

"Dammit," the girl muttered in annoyance. "How is it that everybody knows these things but me?"

"You are very young," Itachi pointed out. "There are some things that only come with experience."

"I'm not that young," Sakura retorted, stung. "I'm seventeen—for a kuniochi, that's not too bad. How old are you, oh wise one?"

He just looked at her for a moment, dark eyes glittering with slight amusement. "Twenty-two."

"Ancient," she mocked.

"I did not say it was about age," he said smoothly as the song switched to a more traditional waltz. He took Sakura's hand in his, guiding the other to his shoulder before grasping her lightly around the waist. Her cheeks flamed red as he brought their faces close. "I said it was about experience, and it is fair to say that I am definitely more…experienced than you are."

"Damn," Samara whispered to Kichi, whistling low under her breath. "They do have a thing going on, don't they?"

"I told you so," Kichi smirked back, crystalline eyes dancing

The wind user's face instantly went tomato red, and she visibly struggled to speak. Finally, the blush receded from her cheeks and a cunning light came into her eyes. She moved the hand that was resting on Itachi's shoulder up, until it lay on the back of his neck, and used that leverage to hook a stiletto-encased leg around his waist just as he pulled her into a twirl. She leaned in close to his ear.

"Do you think so?" she whispered breathlessly.

"Oh, brava," Samara chuckled. "She may be young, but your girl knows a few tricks of my trade, huh?"

Sakura's leg slid back down, very slowly, as Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Impressive," the ebony-haired shinobi drawled, expressionless as always, but his dark eyes glittered with just a hint of amusement—and maybe a little of something more predatory.

"Hell yeah," the rosette retorted. "I may not be as experienced as Samara, but I know what I'm doing. Tell me, what do you pay to be a client of hers?"

Itachi's brow rose a fraction higher. "I would not know. It is only the alias I am using in this instance."

Sakura sniffed. "I'm sure."

Samara smiled. "Your little one doesn't like me," she commented.

Kichi shook her head, the same smile on her lips. "No, she likes you fine." She nodded at Itachi. "Just not near him." Suddenly she grinned. "This is the most fun I've had in a while."

Itachi titled his head. "Are you jealous, Sakura?"

The rosette sputtered. "Wha—no, I am not jealous! How could you even—what makes you think—shut up," she hissed as Itachi looked at her. "Let's just focus on business. How are we going to sneak into Sound?"

"And our entertainment is over," the fire user sighed. "Well, it was good while it lasted. I just wish I had some idea of how their future was going to go."

"Are you saying you don't?" the assassin challenged with a silky laugh.

"I'm saying I'm getting bits and pieces, and it depends on the path our lives take," Kichi shot back, sticking out her tongue at the willowy escort. "Nothing about fate is set in stone."

The two looked back at the dance floor as the music ended…straight at the empty space where Itachi and Sakura had been standing.

"We're going to have to force them together a whole lot more to get a wedding, aren't we?" Samara sighed in exasperation. "I suggest the whole 'locked in a closet together' situation, though it is terribly cliché."

"Wow," Kichi said dryly, cocking a brow. "Someone's sure getting into the matchmaking spirit, aren't they?"

"Oh, shut up; they're cute together," the escort snapped. "I see them; they're coming back this way."

"Yeah, what time is it? About eight?" Kichi glanced up at the clock. "We need to disappear. You and Itachi leave first; Sakura and I'll slip out a bit later."

"Fair enough." Samara gave a dazzling smile as the other two rogue joined them, taking Itachi's arm. She nodded to Sakura. "It has been a true pleasure, Haruno Sakura of the Storm. I would very much like to meet you again, hopefully under better circumstances." Her eyes moved over to Kichi, twinkling slightly. "Always good to see you, Kichi."

"Safe journey, my friend," the brunette replied. "See you."

Itachi inclined his head to the Swords, and then he and Samara slipped out of sight.

Taken from Mariko Kichi's memories:

"We waited around for about a half hour after that, and then we left the party as well—I think Sakura probably tore that dress into shreds when she took it off; in any case I never saw it again. We were traveling back to Spinner's to set up all the details for the inflitration, but we got…let's say sidetracked…on the way there. You're going to have to pay attention to this part; here, things really get interesting…"

"I still don't understand why you just won't tell me what else the two of you talked about," Kichi complained as she jumped from branch to branch. She had already admitted to reading their lips, so she figured she might as well go in for the kill. "What are best friends for, if not to discuss the intimate details of your relationship with a smokin' hot man?"

"For the last time, we don't have a relationship," Sakura told her, just a bit snippily. "And even if we did have a relationship—which we do not," she added quickly when Kichi opened her mouth. "You would still not hear the kind of details that you want to hear."

The fire user cocked a brow. "You know, babe, there are times when your anger makes me sad inside."

"Tough shit," the rosette was snarling, when a huge, deafening, spectacular crash cut off her sentence, and suddenly both of them were ducking as a wave of uprooted trees and dirt and boulders flew over their heads, and the acrid smell of smoke drifted through the sky.

BANG.

Kichi straightened as a rock crashed into the ground behind her, eyes burning gold and every inch of skin alive with blue and orange flame. As the power inside her rose and coursed through her body, the merest hint of fate skittered over her consciousness—

—sheltering fire, befriending water, reaching for the sky; the bedrock, the teacher, the protector—

—and she gasped, inhaling a lungful of smoke. She coughed, eyes watering, and nearly hacked up a lung when a strong hand hit her back, expelling the smoke from her chest.

Oh, of course, she thought sardonically, giving her psychic gift the mental finger as she realized what had happened. Of course this had to happen now?

"Are you alright?" Sakura demanded, jerking them to the side as a tree hit the space where they had been standing. Barely waiting for Kichi's nod, she let out a curse. "Whatever's happening it can't be good. We need to get out of here before…" she rambled on, but the fire user was no longer listening.

"Babe," Kichi rasped weakly. She took in a gulp of air and tried again. "Babe, wait."

"…and this smoke…what?" the rosette looked down at her, brows drawing together over worried emerald eyes. "What, Kichi?"

The rogue straightened, trying not to breathe too deeply. She pointed north towards the site of the crash. "We need to get over there—we need to get over there now." She looked up, catching Sakura's gaze. "It's a Sword, Sakura."

Sakura's eyes widened and for a moment she just stared at her best friend. Whatever she saw in Kichi's wild eyes vanished her protests, and her mouth tightened into a grim, determined line. "Okay. How do we get over there?"

The brunette pushed a lock of hair out of her face, crystalline eyes darting over the scene in front of them, narrowing as flames and trees and boulders continued to smash into the forest ground. "I'll have to burn us a path through. You keep tight to my side; use your wind to push anything I can't burn out of our way. We have to get to that Sword right now."

The younger rogue nodded, winds already swirling around her form, emerald eyes hard and serious. "Alright. Ready when you are."

Kichi closed her eyes, reaching inward for that line of unique power that laced through her. She took a deep breath, and her body once again burst into flame. She opened her glowing gold eyes. "Follow me."

The two raced forward. Any tree, debris, even a couple of boulders that came their way were obliterated from the heat of the flames that Kichi sent out all around them, and anything that didn't perish beneath her fire went spiraling from the force of Sakura's winds. Though both were exceptionally fast, even for kuniochi, there was still a lot of ground to cover, and before they had gotten halfway there another explosion had rocked the forest.

BANG.

"Goddammit," Kichi hissed as her flames roared higher to protect them from the second wave of shrapnel. "What the hell is going on over there?"

"You're the psychic; you tell me," Sakura snapped back as they trudged forward, the winds around her form increasing. She was edged all around in a faint purple light.

"Smartass," the brunette muttered cantankerously. "Come on."

The two increased their speed. Finally, the two of them burst into the place the twin crashes had originated, a clearing that now looked a lot more like a war zone. There were craters punched into the earth, trees bent sideways, and smoke was rising from the ground in black, billowing waves.

Sakura lifted her arms and sent wind fanning out over the field, cutting through the smoke to expose two crumpled figures splayed in the middle of the wreckage. As the winds pushed the smoke further back, the pale evening light was just strong enough to let them see the bulky shape and light blue skin of the first body, the dark ebony hair fanned out from the second, and, more importantly, the metal glint of the Sword he was clutching in the second's hand.

Kichi had just started to run towards them when Sakura's hand whipped out, faster than lightning, to grab her wrist. The brunette winced internally, knowing what was coming.

"Oh, my gods," the rosette breathed, the words a bit strangled. "Oh… my… gods."

Sakura turned to Kichi. She looked absolutely pissed.

"Kichi," she said, too calmly. "That's Kisame. And the one holding the Sword is Uchiha Itachi."

Now Kichi winced externally. "Babe—"

"Did you know it would be him?" Sakura demanded.

The kuniochi hesitated.

"Did you?"

"Yes, I knew!" Kichi shouted, fed up. "I had a vision about it almost six months ago, but I couldn't tell you about it! Even Itachi didn't know, and he's the one who got the Sword!"

"What the fuck do you mean, you couldn't tell me?" Sakura yelled back. "You're not the only one with a Sword anymore—didn't you think I had the right to know this was coming?"

"Look," the brunette dropped her voice down to a low hiss. "We can't discuss this now. I know you're pissed at me, but we need to get over there and help, because I can guarantee they need it. I swear to you I will answer every single question you have about this, but right now, we do not have the time."

Sakura stared at her for a moment, eyes glowing purple with the force of her rage as winds whipped around her, lifting her hair, her clothes, as lightning coiled over her skin.

"The Sword," she said softly. "What is his element?"

Kichi met her eyes steadily. "Itachi is the wielder of Ichiko—the Sword of Stone."

There was another long stretch of silence. Finally, the violet glow faded from Sakura's determined jade eyes.

"Then we better go save him," she said finally.

Kichi let out a relieved sigh. "Come on."

In a matter of minutes, the kuniochi were at the rogue's side. He and Kisame lay shoulder to shoulder, neither of them conscious and both of them covered with blood. By silent agreement, Kichi broke to examine Kisame while Sakura knelt by Itachi. Crimson trickled from a gash on the Uchiha's forehead, and when Sakura placed a hand on his chest her fingers came away stained red.

"This is not good," the rosette muttered to herself. She grabbed a kunai from her belt and with one smooth motion sliced off his clothes, jerking them off his lean frame. His skin was black with blood.

"What is it?" Kichi called, in the process of removing Kisame's shirt.

"Blunt force trauma to the skull, and the shoulder and wrist are broken, badly." Her hands fluttered over his chest, alight with healing green chakra. "Three cracked ribs, none broken thank the gods, and right here, it looks like someone punched a hole in his chest, right below the heart—these are burn marks." Fingers traced over the injuries as her brow furrowed. "What about Kisame?"

"There are bones sticking out of both his legs," Kichi told her, seriously for once. "I think it's safe to say those are broken. He's got slash marks all over his body, and…oh. Oh, Sakura, he just coughed up blood."

"Oh, no." The rosette darted to Kisame's side as the shark-nin groaned again, spitting red onto the sand next to him. "Shit, he's got broken ribs, and this time one of them punctured a lung. I'm re-inflating it now but it's not going to hold up for long. And he's been poisoned—I have a serum that can help with that, the one I use in my food, but the poison has already done damage to his organs." Sakura looked up, jade eyes wide and determined. "We have to get him to a rogue hospital fast; otherwise he's not going to make it."

"Who the hell did this to them?" Kichi breathed, from where she was bent over Itachi's motionless form.

"I think I have an idea," Sakura said grimly. "I'm more interested in how they got away…Kisame's broken legs, Itachi's broken arm—those aren't battle injuries. They broke those falling from a very large height, which probably made the craters both of them are in. The huge, smoking, six feet deep craters, I might add."

"Well, that I already figured out," the fire user passed her a scroll. "Take a look at that."

One hand still healing Kisame, the medic nin unfurled the scroll. "A transportation jutsu?" Her eyes flicked to Kichi, then back at the scroll. "Handy, except for the damaging landings. Itachi must have used this on himself and then Kisame, my guess is after he got a hole ripped in his chest…it explains some of his injuries."

"But not who gave the rest of them," Kichi commented, eyeing Sakura as he bent back over the ex-Akatsuki members. " 'Fess up, baby."

"He's stable…at the moment," the wind user announced, moving from Kisame back to Itachi. "I've seen these types of injuries before…on people back in Konoha. And the poison inside Kisame is snake venom."

There was a heartbeat of silence before Kichi's eyes narrowed. "This was Orochimaru."

"Not just Orochimaru," Sakura murmured, so quietly the fire user wasn't sure she was supposed to hear it. "It was Orochimaru and one of his very best students."

"And who is that?" Kichi prodded.

Sakura was just about to answer when suddenly Kichi stiffened. "Do you sense that?" she asked the younger rogue.

Sakura froze as the chakra senses washed over her, too. Slowly she stood, one hand still gripping the kunai she had used to remove Itachi's shirt.

"Two from the west…and two from the east," the girl listed the approaching ninja blankly, her voice flat though her eyes blazed. "And I know almost all of them."

"Who?" Kichi kept her voice low.

Sakura turned to face her best friend, a sardonic smile twisting her lips. "It seems I'm about to have a team reunion." She looked out over the field.

"The ninja from the west are the only two of my old teammates who are still loyal to Konoha, Uzumaki Naruto and the Copy-nin himself, Hatake Kakashi. And the one leading from the east is Orochimaru's best student…Uchiha Sasuke."

Hidden Sword, present day:

"Damn," Haruna whistled, leaning forward to brace her elbows on her knees. "The two of you can get a lot done in a day."

Kichi laughed out loud. "Well, not exactly the response I was expecting, angel, but okay. I guess it's not as bad as some of the other things you've heard about our lives."

"Uh-oh," drawled a light, somewhat amused voice from the cave entrance. "What part of this are we up to? Kichi, tell me you kept it clean."

"I resent the implication," Kichi sniffed. "Even after twenty years, babe, you're still bad at casual greetings."

"You're one to talk," Sakura retorted as she came into the cave.

"SAKURA!" The genin scrambled towards the entrance, latching onto Sakura and nearly knocking her onto the floor.

The legendary rogue laughed. "Okay, okay, jeez. I was only gone for like three hours, no need to squeeze me that hard."

"Suck it up and deal," Kai snapped, in her customarily blunt manner.

From her position on the floor, Kichi grinned. "I like them," she observed. "They have a good sense of justice."

In the midst of her genin pile, Sakura glared at her best friend. "Help."

Kichi's wicked smile widened. "Alright, kiddies, come on. Give our girl a chance to take a breath—you've punished her enough for now."

"Fine," Haruna grumbled. Sulkily, the three of them climbed off the rosette and settled back against the wall.

Sakura hopped up from the floor and stretched, cracking her back. "Oooh, that's much better," she sighed, making her way to her normal place besides Haruna and Kichi. "It's good to be back here."

"So," Kai drew out the word shrewdly. "Where'd you go?"

The rogue titled her head, resting her chin on her upturned knee. "Nowhere." She grinned at the groans. "Come on, enough of this whining. Don't we have a story to get back to?" She looked at all of them. "How far did you get, anyway?"

"Itachi just got his Sword and you guys just sensed our parents," Suke told her. "And Uchiha Sasuke," she added as an afterthought.

"That's it?" Sakura demanded incredulously. She turned to Kichi in exasperation. "That's as far as you got? Are you kidding me?"

"Don't look at me like that; it's not my fault," the fire user said in indignation. "I had to tell them about my past since someone got all honorable and refused to share it. That took up a little time."

"What I don't understand is how our parents got there," Haruna interjected, already used to breaking up these kinds of useless fights amongst her own team. Though it wasn't saying much, she was the mature one. "Weren't they supposed to be looking for you in Mist?"

"Well…" This time it was Sakura who drew out the word. She held up Ino's journal. "Let's find out, shall we?"

She passed the book to Kichi. "Here. You do the honors."

Kichi raised a brow, and started to read.

"Kakashi-sensei and I had only been in Mist for about two months when we got an emergency, black-level message from Old Lady Tsunade. Missing-nins known to be dead, missing-nins killed years ago, had been seen walking around alive. That bastard Uchiha Itachi was alive. That pissed me off, but I was also kinda excited. I mean, if Itachi was alive, then it was pretty much a sure thing Sasuke would be hunting him, and then I would have a chance to bring him back to Konoha again. Our previous mission was null and void, and now, we had to try to find out how these missing-nin had hidden from us this long. Our best chance to do that was to find Itachi, and all available ninja were to search for him. That meant us. About a week after we received the Hokage's message, we got a tip about Itachi's location…"

I realize that i promised some face time between Sakura and the members of her old team in this chapter, but it was way too long for me to include that in here, so its going to have to be in the next chapter. I also realize that this means im leaving you on the edge of yet another cliff-hanger. What can i say, i like them. Please, please, please review; tell me what you think. Thank you!