Hope you enjoy this chapter. My beta was pretty shocked when I banished Hermione, but its all part of a grander plan! Let me know what you think.
"Well, this was to be expected", smirked Sasuke, his retribution on Hermione served far faster than he imagined, the meddling woman now well out of the way.
Kakashi couldn't bring himself to answer his charge, his mood bleak and his frustration almost too much to bear, another person in his life taken away just as he was getting close, irrespective of the worry he felt for Hermione. His worst fears shot through his mind, each scenario becoming more painful and the visions of the fate of the woman he was growing very attached to, more and more gruesome. The message from the Hokage, Sarutobi coming through for Hermione in spite of his role as the mouthpiece of Konoha's banishment of her, had come to nothing. Hermione hadn't appeared at the place she'd arranged to meet, although there were signs of her passing. Scuff marks on the ground indicated a swiftly ended struggle and there were the remnants of a campfire, where presumably she'd eaten. Kakashi had sent Pakkun, his ninja dog, to sniff her out, hoping his summon would be able to find the scent before it was too late.
"You're lost in thought, Kakashi-sensei", Sakura told him, the exercises he'd set her complete and the flushed girl breathing hard, her hands resting on her knees as she crouched down, trying to recover before he set her more.
He waved her away. "You have one day to prepare for the written section of the chunnin exams", he told her, giving her a stern look. "I suggest you finish your physical training and get some rest."
Kakashi knew the kunoichi would instead spend the next hours with her face buried in books and scrolls, looking for any information she could utilise in the test tomorrow. She had an excellent shot at passing the difficult paper, her knowledge easily at chunnin level already. That wasn't the problem. In the few days Hermione had spent with her, her aptitude for combat had increased exponentially, yet now that she was gone, Sakura's level had dropped off again in the face of Sasuke's renewed efforts to ignore her, her brittle confidence shattered time and again as she sought to impress her team member, who was focused on nothing but his personal progression. At least he wouldn't have to worry about Sasuke in the written test, the boy's talented eyes more than a match for the intentionally too difficult exam. The kid was born to cheat. Naruto, however….
"Kakashi-sensei!" the subject of his thoughts crowed. "What can you tell us about the chunnin exam? Why is it some big secret?"
His attention brought back to his team, their big day tomorrow pushing itself back to the forefront of his mind, Kakashi rubbed his face to try and shut Hermione out of his thoughts. Whatever had happened to her, she wouldn't forgive him for letting the kids down. Besides, there wasn't much more that he could do for her whilst Pakkun was off searching. "As I've told you on at least five occasions, Naruto, even if I did know what was on that paper, I wouldn't tell you. This is about measuring your skill and an unfair advantage at this stage would diminish the achievement of passing."
The genin looked as crestfallen as he had on the four previous attempts to extract some useful information, clearly worried about his chances.
Kakashi took pity on him. "Look, if you work together as a team, there's every chance you'll succeed. That's all I can tell you."
Naruto harrumphed, the hint clearly going straight over his head. Kakashi sighed and scratched his backside absent mindedly, wishing for a simpler life. One which utilised his skills rather than the impotence he felt around these young hopefuls. With a shake of his head, he told Sasuke and Naruto to take the rest of the day off, the pair immediately chasing after Sakura to try and glean some insight into her knowledge. He went back to dwelling on Hermione.
~oOo~
For her part, Hermione woke from her enforced slumber and, once she'd checked to see she still had all her limbs, realised that she actually felt reasonably comfortable. Well, as comfortable as one could feel when they were chained up. Her initial impression of her captors, almost always the way when you saw your friend cut down beside you, was negative. Yet now, in their company, she had begun to relax in spite of the tether around her ankle. They had placed her in a cozy, albeit old and dirty looking chair and propped her up with cushions. The large, leather chair looked completely out of place in the dank cave, no other furniture apparent and Itachi and Kisame knelt in the corner sharing a whispered conversation.
Why they'd felt the need to send her unconscious on her arrival, she still didn't know. She didn't hurt anywhere, nor had they violated her in any way, at least as far as she was aware.
"Hey, Itachi-san", she called over, the effort of speaking making her woozy, the drug they'd administered to her clearly not completely worn off.
He broke off his tête-à-tête with Kisame and they both looked over. In spite of Itachi's black eyes, she found him far more palatable to approach, his partner considering her as one might consider a juicy burger.
She tried to raise a smile, managing a weak, lopsided grin. It would do. "So, what can I do for you, gentlemen?"
Kisame laughed throatily, his mirth immediately cut off by a sharp hand gesture from Itachi, who answered her, his voice more quiet and considered than she remembered it from her earlier encounters, the man completely in control. "I'm sorry again for placing you under duress", he apologised. "I hope you appreciate we had little choice in the matter, under the circumstances of our earlier meeting?"
His words were fair enough and Hermione nodded. "This drug?" she asked.
"It will wear off in a matter of minutes and then you will be back to normal, although some of your more exotic abilities have been… inhibited."
"How do you mean?" she enquired, knowing the answer before she'd asked the question.
This was also apparent to Itachi, who paused before continuing. "Your magic has been suppressed by a sealing technique", he told her, standing and walking over before rolling up the sleeve of her wand arm to reveal an unfamiliar mark on her skin. It looked like a tattoo, although the ink seemed to shift as she gazed at it.
"The magical currents in your body operate almost exactly the same as our chakra does", Itachi explained, his face emotionless and his tone unwavering. She found it quite unnerving. "This seal operates as a tap would. With training you can learn to control the release of your magic. In fact, you should be able to use it as you would your wand device, previously."
"Where is my wand, exactly?"
"It isn't your wand, now, is it? You're only borrowing it", Kisame interrupted, drawing Hermione's eyes long enough to see he was twirling it between his large fingers. The snapping sound as he broke the brittle wood in two echoed around the enclosed space.
Hermione cringed and closed her eyes tightly, the gesture from her captor causing her heart to skip a beat. "It seems that you have everything thought out", she said as she opened her eyes and shot Kisame an angry look, receiving a toothy smile in return. "So now that you have me unable to escape, perhaps you could remove my shackles? If I am your guest, of course."
Itachi complied, kneeling down behind her. "These aren't necessary and yes, you are our guest. In fact, we would be very interested in having you join our ranks, particularly considering your recent exit from Konoha."
"Without magic, I won't be very useful", she shot back, their knowledge about her banishment coming as a shock. Her challenging words had no visible effect on the impassive Uchiha, however.
"She really is a spunky one, Itachi-san", Kisame laughed, his words only antagonising Hermione until she realised it was actually a compliment. "Put her out of her misery."
His partner sighed. "Perhaps if people would stop interrupting me, I could finish my explanation."
Hermione lifted her knees to her chest and rubbed her free ankle. "Go on", she told him. "I'm listening."
"As I was saying, the seal we've placed on your arm serves to regulate the amount of magic you use. At the moment it is effectively turned off, so you are indeed powerless. However, with the training that we can and will offer you, you will be granted an increased reservoir of power."
Understanding crept across Hermione's face. "So, if I'm loyal, I get more and more powerful wandless magic?"
"Correct", he confirmed.
"Want to hear the good bit?" Kisame interrupted again, causing Itachi's left eye to twitch. Seeing Hermione's attention back on him, his expression became eager. This guy seriously had a monopoly on malevolent faces, she thought a little nervously, but nodded at him to explain, which he began to do. "Well, because you aren't using a tool, you can't be disarmed, short of someone chopping your arm off." The idea of spilt blood brought his second layer of teeth into view. "In addition, we can train you to increase your physical skills."
Both would be useful, if not game changing. She would have had the shinobi training from Kakashi in any case. However, whilst she was accepting what he said, she noticed the gleam in his eye. "There's more?" she asked.
"Much, much more", he added. "We took some of your blood and analysed it whilst you were having your little nap. Turns out it's a very close match for some we found in our vault. Think you can guess who it belonged to?"
It didn't take a genius to make the connection and Hermione had been called that by a number of people, much to her annoyance. She figured if people worked a bit harder and applied themselves to study, she was certain plenty of people would be considered 'geniuses'. In any case and trying not to think at some random tangent, she felt like she was getting closer and closer to the witch, no… Sorceress would be more accurate, in her dream.
"So, next question. What do you know about her?" she asked, not dignifying Kisame's teasing question with a simple 'yes' and directing her own enquiry toward Itachi, his colleague suddenly distracted by something in his teeth and trying to get at it with the sharp half of her wand.
After looking despairingly at Kisame, who muttered something under his breath in response and sidled over to the cave entrance to get some fresh air, Itachi began to fill her in.
~oOo~
Pakkun had, to all intents and purposes, lost the scent. He was embarrassed. This hardly ever happened and when it did, it was a sign that the quarry he was tracking really didn't want to be found. His loyalty to his master had kept him looking for the trail all over the immediate area, but the longer his educated nose went without finding anything, the less likely it was that he ever would.
It didn't help that he'd been followed all the way by some irritating bird, attempting to distract him from the mission at hand. It kept tweeting at him, gliding in spirals around his head and flying to get out of reach with an angry squark whenever his patience ran out and he leapt at it.
"Shoo!" Pakkun told it.
The bluebird cocked its head at him and whistled shrilly, as if to convey annoyance.
The grumpy pug turned around and was about to head back to Kakashi when he felt a sharp pain in his back. "Argh, get off me you crazy thing", he cursed as he attempted to shake the bird from his back, tiny claws pulling at the sensitive hair and skin on his rear and flapping its wings furiously, as if trying to lift Pakkun into the air. "Okay, okay, I get it. What do you want?"
The bird, apparently satisfied with this response, hopped off down the branch they were perched on, then relocated to another, a particularly vigorous tweet aimed towards the dog.
"Do you want me to follow?"
Another tweet, this one accompanied by a whistle which sounded suspiciously like one of command from Kakashi, then the bird flew to a branch further away, still looking back. As Pakkun followed, deciding that whatever had happened to Hermione's scent, this bird was determined to show him something and he'd be damned if he was going to let the little creature attack him again. For all his ninja-dog training, he just didn't seem able to lay a paw on the tenacious thing.
Two hours of swooping and chirruping followed, his ears becoming used to the sound and now that the pug was following, a distinct decrease in the amount of attacks. The bird had buzzed him a couple of times out of playfulness and possibly to check that he was still behind it, but beyond that it seemed focused, leading him unfailingly in one direction. A direction that suddenly brought a huge dose of Hermione's smell, all in one go.
Nearly falling off the tree he'd landed on, Pakkun scrabbled to a halt in surprise and tried to blend into his surroundings, a feat which always proved quite difficult for someone who didn't exactly resemble a squirrel. The people below him, however, were too distracted with the attentions of a certain bird, who was clearly delighted to see the young woman stood at the entrance to a cave. His nose confirmed she was the witch Kakashi had sent him after, so he decided to settle down, ready to reappear at Kakashi's side instantaneously but knowing his master would appreciate as much information as he could acquire.
"Satchimo!"Hermione called out gleefully, the new arrival a tiny bundle of noise and motion as he landed on her shoulder.
Itachi didn't look impressed and Kisame didn't even look over, his attention focused solely on a message he'd received. "Satchimo?" the Uchiha asked.
"Oh, he's my pet. He's harmless incidentally, before you get any ideas about putting him under one of your nasty jutsu", she told him.
Itachi snorted. "He's too small to be a threat and believe me, if I thought he was dangerous my friend over there would soon be cooking him up."
"No need to be nasty", Hermione admonished him as Satchimo gave him his best glare. "He's a sweetie, aren't you?"
This affection clearly put the small creature at ease, although he chirruped loudly when Itachi looked in his direction. The shinobi gave him an inscrutable look in response.
"I think he likes you", the witch joked, doing her best to bring a smile. She failed.
Itachi sat down on a nearby rock and indicated she do the same. As she found herself a fallen branch, starting to enjoy the sunshine in spite of her situation, she tried to get a grip on what he had told her earlier. "So, my magical… sister, I suppose the best way to describe her is as my sister…. She worked for Akatsuki?"
"She did. The tales you've been told of her death are correct, as far as I know. However, the reasons she was outside Konoha were not down to the Village of Sand. Our organisation had its own agenda and the Sand operatives were in the wrong place at the right time. It made things very easy for us to orchestrate blame."
Hermione nodded. "I guess that's why you know so much about my skills. There must be records of all her missions"
"Indeed", Itachi answered. "We couldn't get a handle on you and you surprised us with your speed the first time we encountered you, but once we disarmed you, it was simple enough to bring you here."
Hermione had originally felt annoyed with herself for being captured so easily, but this was a very different world to the one she'd previously inhabited and she was going to have to increase her skill if she was to even survive, let alone prosper. She figured it was a little late to find a small hut and farm rice.
"I'd be very interested to see anything you have on her. Now I'm at your disposal and especially considering you've left me with very little choice, I'd like to begin as soon as possible", she told him.
Itachi sighed, slouching on his rock. He fixed her with an appraising look. "Choice, Hermione-san, is something very few of us are given."
The conversation over, Pakkun decided he'd outstayed his welcome. It would be counter-productive to have the two missing-nin discover a spy in the trees above them, so he released his own summon, returning back to Kakashi in a moment.
He found the jounin sat in the corner of the Hokage's office, a foul look on his face. As he registered the dog's presence, his expression changed to one of hope. The senior shinobi looked on in interest.
"Pakkun, what news?" Kakashi asked, interrupting the dog, who already had his mouth open. He got a grumpy look for his trouble.
"I found her with two Akatsuki about twenty miles to the West. She is unharmed and apparently in no immediate danger, although I got the impression she was being kept there against her will, with the intention to recruit her into their organisation."
Kakashi stood and glared at his superior. "Happy now?" he asked, the subject of their discussion prior to Pakkun's arrival very obvious to the ninja dog, who decided it was time to leave, doing so in a small puff of smoke.
Sarutobi was unmoved. "Kakashi, I forbid you to go after her. She is no longer a concern of Konoha."
His subordinate clenched his fists tightly and immediately stormed out of the office, his shoulder slamming through the door and leaving a dent in the newly repaired wood.
The Hokage sighed. "Why do people insist on destroying my office?" he asked to himself. "Damn youngsters never see further than in front of their nose."
Realising he was talking to himself, he summoned an aide from outside. "I want a meeting with the council and the elders immediately. Tell them its regarding our second fly in the ointment."
Please review :)