Lost and Found

Chapter Eleven

-Backfire-

Toshiro looked up at the gates to Konoha. He hadn't been here for a while, since he had taken up chasing around wild rumors about a mysterious pink haired woman. Unfortunately, he had come up with nothing. He felt somewhat foolish. There was no way Natsumi could still be alive. Not after so long. She hadn't ever been seen, not even the best ninja from Suna and Konoha could find her. His father had even failed. So what made him think he had a chance of finding her?

He let out a long sigh. He needed some comfort now, and the only one he found it from these days was Minako, his girlfriend for the past three years. He was tired of hunting through villages and trying to find something that concerned the gossip. But he always came to a dead end.

How was it possible that everyone could know about this woman, yet she was nowhere to be found? The two guards gave him a wave as he passed them. "Welcome back Toshiro-sama." They said, but he did nothing to acknowledge them. He just headed straight for Minako's house. When he reached the large abode he just walked in, having been there enough to earn the right.

Naruto was sitting in the living room, going over some scrolls and looking as if he were having a deep thought. "Hello Naruto. How is everything in Konoha? I hope the stress of being the Hokage is not getting to you." He gave the blonde a small smile.

"Oh same old stuff." Naruto said, looking up at the redhead with a smile. "Although there are rumors going around of some unrest in Sound, but then again, there's always unrest in Sound." He joked.

He laughed as well, "True. They just can't seem to settle down. Well my father sends his regards and hopes you can come visit soon. Since my mother won't stop complaining about how they always come to Konoha to visit you."

Naruto chuckled. "Well we were going to come up with Minako next time she came to visit you, which should be soon. You know how she hates going long periods of time between visits. Especially recently. I can't put my finger on it, but that girl seems different." He said, looking contemplative. "But it's probably nothing." He waved it off.

The redhead coughed, looking away nervously. "Yeah, uh, probably nothing." He said and then pointed up the stairs. "Is, um, Minako home?"

"Yeah. She's in her room." Then he looked pointedly at Toshiro. "And leave the door open. I don't care if you two are adults, while in my house you follow my rules." He said sternly.

Toshiro held up his hands in defense, palms out. "Naruto, sir, I promise I would never break your rules in your house." He gave him a reassuring smile. He wasn't lying, because every time he and Minako had gotten intimate they were indeed not in his house. The blonde smiled and nodded.

"I know, you're a good boy Toshiro. You always have been. Dinner will be at six, so you two shouldn't go off anywhere." He said returning to his work. The younger man nodded and headed up the steps, knocking on Minako's door lightly before walking in.

"Hey Minako." he said, shutting the door, only leaving a crack open.

She ran into his arms and hugged him tightly. "Shiro-kun! You're here!" she said, laying her head on his chest. Then she stiffened slightly and pulled away from him a bit. "What are you doing here?" she asked, looking slightly nervous.

He blinked, seeming confused. It was only then that Minako could tell just how similar the siblings were. They had the exact same facial expressions. "I wanted to see you. I can leave if you want me to." He frowned, pointing back at the door.

She shook her head vigorously. "Oh no, I'm happy you came. I was just surprised is all." She said, giving him a reassuring smile. He watched her warily, sensing that something was seriously off. He could tell, because he had known her their whole lives.

"Are you ok Minako?" he asked, stepping closer to her touching her cheek gently. "You seem…uptight."

"Oh, um…no…I mean yes, yes, I'm fine." She said, her nervousness seeping into her expression as she began to fidget. He gave her a knowing look.

"Minako…" he said in a low tone. "What's wrong? The last time you were like this was when you and Akito were trying to throw me a surprise birthday party. Are you hiding something?"

She put her hands on her cheeks, trying to cover her nervous blush. "I told him I'm a terrible liar!" she said, mostly to herself.

Toshiro arched a curious brow and took Minako by her shoulders, staring into her watering blue eyes. "Mina-chan," he said softly, using the name he only called her when they were in their most intimate moments. "Are you trying to hide something from the one you love?" he questioned, looking wounded.

Her eyes widened as guilt ripped through her, and she shook her head. But she was torn. She had promised Akito that she wouldn't tell, true, but she didn't think Toshiro would be so convincing in his want to know what was going on. "But…I promised Akito-kun I wouldn't say anything…" she murmured looking off. His gaze faltered, for only a moment. So it was Akito who was keeping secrets. But what could he possibly have to hide? He focused back on Minako and pulled her closer, pressing her body against his. He let one of his arms wrap around her waist and the other run through her long dark hair. He kissed her neck and whispered into her ear lovingly.

"Mina-chan…" he breathed. "You can't tell me? Why would you keep something from me?"

She whimpered and gripped his shirt. "Shiro-kun…" she said softly, shutting her eyes. She really wanted to tell him, it was physically hurting her not to. That was when she came to a decision. She opened her eyes and pulled away from him. "I will tell you." She said. He stared down at her, waiting.

"Well?"

Minako poked her fingers together in a similar manner her mother used to. "Well…there's a condition. You have to catch me first, that way I won't feel bad about breaking my promise to Akito-kun." She said, before disappearing through her window in a purple flash.

He blinked and stared at the spot she had recently been in. He sighed and opened up her window, jumping out into the village. He hated these games of hide and seek, but if he wanted to know he would have to find her and catch her. He dropped to the streets and felt around the area. When he caught a spark of her chakra he took off after her, running through the streets and taking shortcuts he knew about.

He spun around, feeling her disappear once more, this was so aggravating. He was about to disperse in his sand when he saw Akito. He stopped and then focused even more. There was a woman with him. She was attached to his arm, clinging to him as if they were lovers. He took a step closer, she had an extremely beautiful figure. She was dressed similar to him, in black, but wearing shorts instead of pants. She had a shawl covering her hair, but her face was in plain view. He got closer, and when her features became more defined he went wide eyed.

She looked up at Akito, smiling brightly. She looked just like his mother, aside from her eyes, which were the same shade of jade as his father's. "No way…" he breathed out, pushing past a few villagers who gave him irritated looks. His shocked stare turned into a vicious glare, but it was not on the woman, it was on Akito. The girl looked too similar to his sister to be a coincidence. "Akito!" Toshiro yelled, sounding absolutely infuriated.

Both Akito and Natsumi looked up, wide eyed. The Uchiha shoved Natsumi behind him and tried to brace himself for the sand that was already surging towards them. Natsumi grabbed Akito's arm and shoved him aside, holding her hands up and shutting her eyes tightly. She could feel her control spread and the sand in the air stopped.

Toshiro was wide eyed once more. In her action to protect Akito, her shawl had slipped off, revealing her beautiful pink hair. The redhead grew red with rage. "AKITO? YOU LOUSY PIECE OF SHIT!" he screamed.

"Damn." He muttered, quickly forming a few hand signs and grabbing Natsumi as they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

They reappeared in their bedroom, and Akito quickly went into his closet and pulled out two backpacks. "Hurry up and pack before your brother gets here." He ordered Natsumi, moving to open the dresser and toss clothes into the bags.

She just stared at him, shock all over her face. She couldn't even comprehend what was happening right now and had he just said her brother? She didn't move a muscle, trying to grasp onto what was going on. "What?"

"Your brother is going to kill me. And when your parents find out, things are only going to get worse." He said, stuffing clothes into the bag. His mind was whirring with the kinds of the repercussions of what would happen should Toshiro get here before they could leave.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." She held her hands up, getting an irritated look from him since she had made him stop.

"What?" he snapped, continuing his task.

"My parents? My brother?" she glared.

"Yeah, they live in Suna." He said without thinking. He froze then, as he felt a very large, very angry chakra presence enter the Uchiha District. "Crap." He said, picking up the bag and grabbing Natsumi's hand, leading her through the house and to the back door.

She jerked her hand away from him and backed up, actually glaring at him. "You're out of your mind if you think I'm going with you." She said seriously.

The front door slammed open and Toshiro appeared in the hallway. Natsumi looked back, going wide eyed. "You better keep your filthy lying hands off my sister you bastard!" he yelled, stomping up to the Uchiha. "You lied to my face! You had her the whole time! You sick asshole! What is wrong with you?" he pointed accusingly. "I thought we were friends!"

Akito returned his glare, but then looked at Natsumi, disbelief entering his eyes. "You…won't come with me?" he asked, not understanding her reasoning.

She looked absolutely broken, but only backed away from him. "You…you lied to me. You said my parents were dead. You…you…" she stopped and looked over at Toshiro, who was acting as a barrier between them. She had liked his hair when she saw him the first time, and his smile had tugged at something inside her. "You're my brother?" she asked, sounding scared.

The redhead turned around looking at her, eyes full of concern and care. "Natsumi." He spoke her name, making her go wide eyed. How did he know her name? He offered a hand to her. His eyes looked familiar, actually, everything about him seemed familiar. But mostly his face. "I am your brother. My name is Toshiro. My parents are Sabaku no Gaara and Sakura. And so are yours. You have to trust me. You can control sand and so can I." he said softly, trying not to frighten her. He let the golden grains swirl around them, caressing her cheek in a loving manner. "You were stolen from us when you were just one. I'm going to take you home. I promise." He assured her.

She glanced back at Akito, trying to make sense of the situation. "He's telling the truth." She said, knowing in her gut this was her flesh and blood. "You lied to me." She said again, feeling the tears spill from her eyes. "Why did you lie to me? I thought…" she stopped herself before she could utter a word that would only shatter her world if it weren't true. "I trusted you." She finally sobbed out. "But you were lying to me the whole time, just to keep me to yourself. So you could use my body." She backed away again, shaking her head. She needed to stay calm, none of this made any sense. She couldn't understand.

"What did you do to her?" Toshiro glared back at Akito, hate the only evident emotion on his face.

He glared back at the redhead. "I didn't do anything, she came on to me! I lied so that she wouldn't leave me, because I knew you'd take her away when you found out." He said, pointing at his friend hatefully. "Clearly your family couldn't take care of her properly, so I did. I took her out of that hellhole and showed her what real living is. Sue me."

Minako appeared then, standing behind Toshiro and next to Natsumi. She had felt the surges of chakra coming from the Uchiha prefecture, and had grown curious. It didn't take her long to figure out what had happened. "Natsumi-chan…" She said softly, her eyes sad as she placed a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder. They had become good friends over the past week, and she felt strongly for the woman.

Akito turned his glare on the ebony haired woman. "You! What did you do!" he yelled, pointing then at her. Her eyes widened.

In his moment of distraction, Toshiro stormed up to the Uchiha and pulled his fist back, socking him right in the face and making Natsumi yell for him. Akito collapsed against the wall from the sheer force, holding his now broken jaw. He steadied himself with the wall, not willing to fall from the blow. He felt the blood dripping from his nose and cursed. The pink haired woman stopped herself in her advance and backed away once more. She just couldn't believe why he would lie to her. She didn't want to think he was just like the men who had kidnapped her and kept her prisoner. But as she thought about it, some of his actions were suspicious. "Why?" she finally asked, making everyone else fall silent.

Akito looked over at her. He knew what it was she was asking, he just didn't know how to answer. Why did he lie to her? He knew it was because he didn't want her to leave, but he wasn't sure if there was a deeper meaning, or why exactly he didn't want her to leave. So that was all he told her. "I didn't want you to leave me." He got out, although it pained him to move his jaw in order to speak.

Her lip trembled and another wave of tears fell. "So you lied to me…and told me my family was dead…" she said. There was a long silence and when he said nothing more she choked out a sob. "I don't want to be with you." She managed out through her crying. "You lied to me…you betrayed me. I don't ever want to see you again!" she yelled, covering her eyes with her hands and trying to wipe away her tears.

Toshiro was beside her in an instant, pulling her into a tight embrace. She hugged him back, actually feeling safe. This house felt like a prison now, and she wanted to be out. He led her away and looked back over his shoulder at Akito. "If you ever come near her again, I will kill you." He said darkly, he glanced at Minako and frowned. "You weren't even going to tell me." He glared slightly, leading Natsumi out the door. He was going to get her home as soon as possible.

"Shiro-kun, let me at least grab some of her things." Minako said, following after them.

Soon after everyone was gone, and his house felt eerily empty. Akito stayed against the wall and stared at the last place he had seen Natsumi. She had looked so broken, and he could still see the betrayal and accusation in her eyes. Letting out a sigh, he left and made his way to the hospital in order to get his jaw fixed. He didn't want it to be permanently damaged, after all.