A/N: Oh, the suspense! The drama! The… Um… The whatever!

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Various places in the cave began to fall apart. Trees were growing in the cracks, ink animals were attacking the walls, and explosive notes were bombing everywhere. Yes, the hideout was being destroyed quite nicely.

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"How many are in here?" Naruto asked Sasuke quietly as they planted more tags around weaker areas of the cave.

"There should be at least two…" the Uchiha answered just as quietly. There really wasn't a reason to be whispering. The noises of the cave collapsing were enough to alert anyone who was their enemy. But the two of them were still talking quietly.

---

"Not here…" Sai rolled up the scroll. With another hand seals, various ink animals ran back into the nearly empty bottle of ink and it became full again.

Sakura nodded and ran back toward the tunnel in which they just entered from.

---

Yamato shook his head slightly and unclasped his hands, the trees that had made the rocks crumble into dust retreated. Kakashi glanced over the dust and backed away, running into another tunnel.

Where are they?

---

Sharp vicious teeth shone in the dark light. "Which ones should we go for first…?"

Dark black eyes glittered dangerously as they smiled with malicious laughter.

---

"Tsunade-sama!"

The Hokage's head turned quickly when she heard her name being called. Shizune was running rapidly at her. Her hands were trembling as she brought out a barely decoded message to her.

She read it quickly and her hands tightened around the flimsy paper when she finished it. Her pupils were dilated in fear when she looked up. Tsunade's eyelids closed halfway and her shoulders drooped.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered to herself more than to anyone else.

"Tsunade-sama… We still have to hurry…" Shizune shook her lightly on the shoulder and made her snap out of her daze.

She nodded briskly and crumpled up the paper, reverting back to her unbreakable self and walked out of the office briskly.

The chilly winds made them both shiver when they ran out. Everyone in Konoha was awake, save a few smaller children and babies. Torches were placed in irregular intervals, but they still made it possible for everyone to see.

Tsunade bit her lower lip nervously. She wasn't pleased that it already took them nearly two weeks to get ready for evacuation. They didn't have enough time. Or at least, they didn't have enough time until Tsunade received the message.

Her eyes glanced over the huge crowd and nodded quickly. Everyone was ready. She looked at Konoha one last time lovingly. She feared that it would be the last time they could see their village again, but there was no choice. There was too much danger if they stayed… Even… Even if…

She clenched her fist and brought her hand up, silencing the crowd. She lowered her eyes for a second before looking up again. A fierce fire burned and danced in her eyes as she turned around and brought her hand down. They began moving.

---

"Naruto!" Sasuke cried out hoarsely as he watched the boy slip and fall on a patch of ice. It had begun snowing all of a sudden, and it wasn't pretty and soft either. The first snow of the year and it was hard and vicious. His voice was torn away from his lips as the wind howled angrily.

The dark haired boy ran back and picked up the other. Their breaths came out raggedly. They didn't have enough clothing on in this weather, but they had more worries than that right now.

Naruto stood up haphazardly and shook his head roughly. Keep going, keep running! his eyes indicated, wide and full of fear. He shivered in the cold and felt Sasuke's hand tighten around his own.

"Little ones…" a soft voice swirled around them as the wind danced crazily. It was a voice both of them were familiar with. "How long has it been since we last saw each other? Are you going to come to nii-san and give him a hug?" A rough laugh mingled in with the mocking and gentle voice.

The two of them shuddered at the voice and the laugh. They released their grip on each other's hands and stood back to back with each other, weapons out and ready. The snowstorm that pushed them around wasn't helping them at all.

Sasuke's eyes turned red as he activated his Sharingan. His body began to tense as they stood motionless, waiting for them to attack.

"Aww… Doesn't my little brother look so cute, Kisame?" the taunting voice rang out again.

"You scare me with that girlish voice you're using," another deep voice blatantly stated. There was a long silence that filled the cold snowflakes.

The younger Uchiha could hear, barely hear, Naruto's breath stop momentarily when two dark figures materialized in with the falling snowflakes that nearly obscured their view completely.

Kisame was leaning on Samehada and grinning at them, his sharp teeth slick with saliva. Itachi smirked at them, his eyes just as red as Sasuke's.

Their grip on their kunai tightened as the two figures grinned at them. Naruto's usually soft and gentle eyes were crazed and serious. Sasuke had his teeth bared unconsciously, like a cat that was cornered.

Kisame suddenly darted in front of Naruto and leaned in closely. "Cute fox demon… Do you want to play with me?" he laughed and grabbed him by the collar, pulling him away from Sasuke before he could react.

"Naru—!" Sasuke's desperate cry was cut short as his brother suddenly appeared in front of him. Even his Sharingan could barely see the quick moments. He quickly took a step back. Three years of training with Orochimaru was not going to waste.

"What is this? My little brother had grown weaker… You still don't have enough hate in your eyes…" Itachi smiled at him. It was such a sick sardonic smile. So fake… So sweet… It made Sasuke want to vomit.

"You're wrong…" he whispered, half expecting Itachi not to hear because the wind was so strong.

"Oh?" Itachi's smile didn't fade as he leaned in and clutched his little brother's shoulder, immobilizing him momentarily. Sasuke could feel his breath swirl around his ear. "Why am I wrong, little one?"

Blood splattered onto the readily piling snow when Sasuke darted back. His cheek was cut. Itachi laughed sadistically as he looked at the bloody kunai in his hand.

"Hate doesn't make one strong. It makes one weak…" his voice shattered as he spoke.

"Really?" Itachi looked to his left when a shrill but hoarse scream broke through the wind barriers and reached them. "Look who's talking, little one…"

Sasuke's eyes widened as he heard Naruto's weak yell. They immediately narrowed again. "You can only hate someone so much before that limit is reached… But your love for someone is never-ending…" this time his voice had a sharp edge to it.

Itachi smiled at him gently and shifted his weight a bit as his little brother charged at him, his war cry ripping through the cold wind and snow.

"Foolish little brother of mine…"

---

Tsunade looked behind her nervously. She shook her head lightly and continued walking. There was nothing to worry about. The top ninjas were set around the perimeter of the huge group and even a giant genjutsu had been placed around them so that no one could have seen them.

Even so, she was jittery and nervous. Something kept churning in her stomach, making her feel nauseous. The words of the message kept running through her mind.

"Tsunade-sama…" Shizune looked at her worriedly. "… They're going to be fine…"

Sadness filled her eyes as she nodded and wearily continued leading the entire village out of harm. Even with so many people moving at once, the entire village was quiet. There were a few wails from small children and babies, but the forest was otherwise quiet. Animals that lived near there had run away long ago, leaving the trail clear for them to pass by.

There was a temporary evacuation area for them, but it would take them a day or so to reach. Everyone was tired and sleep deprived right now, but no one complained. They knew the dangers. The world was silent for them as they trudged ahead tiredly.

Tsunade had kept careful track of their remaining days. Once the sun rose, it would be the fourteenth day since the six of them had left. Fourteen days. Two weeks…

---

"What's wrong, little fox demon? Aren't you strong enough to beat me?" Kisame looked down, amused, at Naruto's hunched over figure. He prodded him with his chakra devouring sword and chuckled.

"… I'm not as weak as you think I am!" he suddenly roared, springing up from his position and bringing a kunai up.

"Feisty demon!" he laughed and jumped back with ease. "Where's your precious Kyuubi now? Why aren't you using his chakra, hm?" he teased. That only succeeded in making Naruto even angrier.

"Shut up!" he screamed, his eyes threatening to turn red. Naruto closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. When he opened them again, they were blue. The wound on his shoulder was healing quickly, but it still wasn't fast enough.

"It's been fun playing with you, fox demon…"

---

"Hokage-sama,

We are hoping desperately that you will receive this quickly. Our spies have discovered something more important now. Two days ago, we received information that almost all of Akatsuki have gathered into the cave in which they were in several months ago. There are only two that are missing. Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame.

Our suspicions are not yet confirmed, but we believe that the two of them are hiding out in the area in which we gave to you some time ago. We think that they are only there to distract and abduct Uzumaki Naruto. There are no evidence of this whatsoever, but we cannot be too careless.

There is a high chance that the team that you sent out will die. There does not seem to be a valid reason for Akatsuki to be inside the cave physically, but we will research it as quickly as possible. We suspect that Konoha will not be attacked after Kyuubi is extracted, however, it is still better to be on the safe side.

-Sunagakure"