Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot and original characters!
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Chapter 11
Back in Konoha heads are apparently rolling... no, not because of death but because of the chaos.
Tsunade has been barking orders to every ANBU available, ordering them to search the borders for anyone or anything that is a further threat to the village. Neji lead a search party to search for their missing kunoichi, Michiko.
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Sasuke was forced, along with Naruto, Hinata and Sakura to stay in the village. They were restricted from the search party; they were still emotionally unstable…that wouldn't serve well for the team.
"Tsunade-shishou, we have to go!" Sakura pleaded her former mentor. Tsunade looked haggard; her office was empty aside from her, papers, sake and the four seriously emotional unstable ninjas.
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Hinata was on one of the chairs, she was still in deep thought about the sudden events. Sasuke was leaning on a wall, his arms folded and was also in deep thought; he was thinking of reasons as to why Itachi would kidnap Michiko.
Naruto was in a corner sulking, his persistence led him to having a big lump on his head, courtesy of Tsunade. Sakura had both her hands on her former mentor's desk. Her eyes were watery and her face was a dark shade of pink, her frustration and trying to stop her tears not helping her state.
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"You know very well, Sakura, that I cannot do that," Tsunade replied firmly, intertwining her fingers together and professionally placing her chin above her hands. The blonde Hokage closed her eyes for a moment, opening them again when Sakura spoke up again but was cut off by Hinata.
"W-we just w-want t-to help," Hinata said shakily, her head still down, with her bangs covering her eyes. Sasuke and Naruto looked up and Sakura turned to look at her fellow kunoichi.
Tsunade sighed exasperatedly, "In that state," she said as she leaned back on her chair, "You'll just prolong the time allotted for the search," she continued as she got a bottle of sake and drank it in one gulp.
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Before anyone could object a medic nin came in a puff of smoke, holding a clipboard with at least ten pages in it. The ninja's attention turned from their village leader to the newly arrived medic nin.
"Hokage-sama, we took a sample of a blood drop from Michiko-san's room," the medic nin said handing the clipboard to the blonde leader, "And we confirmed that it belongs to no one in the village; and it definitely doesn't belong to Michiko-san's."
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There was silence as Tsunade flipped through the pages of the clipboard. Suddenly tension filled the room and Tsunade's eyes went wide. Naruto and the others noticed this, "Baa-chan/Tsunade-sama?"
Tsunade didn't reply but instead, "Naruto, Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke, leave the room," she ordered rather urgently. The four ninjas didn't complain but hesitated to leave the room.
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Once outside Naruto stuck his ear on the wall, Sakura, Hinata and Sasuke did nothing to stop the blonde. They knew that Tsunade already put up a genjutsu around the room to prevent Naruto from hearing anything.
"What would make Tsunade-shishou order us out of the room if the information is concerning Michiko-chan?" Sakura can't help but ask out. Sasuke kept quiet. "Maybe it's too confidential for us to know about it," Hinata reasoned.
"But it concerns Michiko-chan! She has to tell us! We have to know!" Naruto pointed out frustrated. Hinata jumped at the sound of Naruto's voice. Sakura gave Hinata a comforting pat on the back, signaling her that she got the wrong idea.
"I can't hear anything!" Naruto shouted as he withdrew from his place from the wall. Sakura sighed, "Naruto, you should know by now that Shishou set up a genjustu," she said. Naruto frowned and sat with his legs crossed and started thinking.
About what; nobody knows and I doubt that Sasuke, Sakura and Hinata would want to know.
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Neji stopped, causing the team to also stop. "Hey! Why'd we stop?" Ino called out as she halted as well.
The Hyuuga prodigy activated his bloodline technique and scanned the area. He held out three fingers and pointed to the west, signaling that there were three unknown people to that direction. "They must be on a lookout because they're not moving," Neji announced. After five minutes though, they headed out once again.
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"I can't sense her presence anywhere," Ino and Tenten irritably said. "This is troublesome," Shikamaru added.
"We mustn't give up! We must find Michiko-chan's youthfulness and bring her back to our youthful Konoha safely!" Lee energetically said. Everybody, except Neji groaned. "Why is he here again?" Ino whispered to Tenten, "He wanted to come along," the weapons mistress shrugged it off, since Lee was her teammate she was used to Lee's…weird…choice for words.
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Apparently, Neji's team, consisting of him, Shikamaru, Sai, Ryosei, Tenten and Ino has been travelling for about eight hours now. They were assigned to find Michiko or at least find out her whereabouts.
And they weren't progressing, they still haven't found Michiko or any leads about to where she might be.
They were given the time of 48 hours to search around and find any leads there might be on to where Michiko could be or could have been. Luckily for them, they found a camping site and it was positive, according to Ryosei that his teammate has been here not too long ago.
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Michiko's P.O.V
It's been almost 16 hours since I was abducted.
It was freezing cold, not to mention I wanted to just go home. I can't help but to crawl into a ball under the thin sheet of cloth in the bed in my "chamber".
There weren't any windows so I wondered how this room would become cold. There was only one door, with a vent. The only light there was in here was just a candle on an end table near her bed.
The candle gave out an eerie glow around the room as to why I keep trying to hide myself deeper into the bed.
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I was, and still am, scared like hell. I have no idea where I am, I guessed it was probably Akatsuki headquarters and in realization as to where I'm most probably am, I'm most probably in the same area in which the most wanted and most dangerous ninjas are at. Now, I'm scared like hell.
"I have to get outta here," I whispered to myself. I tried to think positive, "The others must be on their way."
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I sensed an incoming presence, even though it was professionally hidden. I closed my eyes and performed a jutsu to myself, making me feel nothing; or rather I made myself fall asleep, very fast. Just in time too, because the person, who or whatever it is, just entered the room.
"Psh. I can't believe Itachi-san went through all the trouble for this kid," I heard a feminine voice say. It must be Konan, the only female member of the Akatsuki. She must be good if she was able to be a member of the Akatsuki. I felt her gaze on me, as if she was checking to see if I'm still alive. I heard the door close and her footsteps fading away.
I released the jutsu and sat up, though my presence is quite faint around here, with all the strong chakra waves emitting from the members of the Akatsuki I bet they could hear my heart beating; it was practically going through the roof!
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I tried to stay calm and think of positive things but there was absolutely nothing about this situation that I could think of that would be classified as possitive. "Where are they?" I asked sharply to myself as I looked at the door where Konan came in and out of.
I also can't help but imagining the rescue team bursting through the door and sweeping me off the bed, running as fast they can to go back to Konoha with me in their possession.
A sigh escaped my lips as my eyes roamed around the confined room I was held in. Then I noticed something from the corner of my eyes and I can't help but gasp…
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With Neji and the rescue team
The team was hopping from one tree to another, very cautiously. They just found the Akatsuki hide-out. Though they hid their presence skillfully, they knew that the Akatsuki members would still be able to sense them.
Ryosei confirmed that he could sense Michiko's presence inside the hide-out but apparently, it was faint. Neji's guess was that with all the Akatsuki members with their strong chakra waves, Michiko's chakra got covered with the members'.
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Sai sent out an ink made eagle and had it scout the area of which the hide-out was at. Shikamaru on the other hand was beginning to plan out what they could do in order to save Michiko. Neji was busy making a brief message addressed to the Hokage to let her know that they were able to find Michiko and that they're in the process of saving her.
Neji's eagle, a real one, was summoned and was ordered to go straight for Konoha, specifically the Hokage Tower. As soon as Neji's eagle was airborne, Sai's eagle came back and the ink used for the eagle turned into a map when it touched Sai's scroll.
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Sai, Shikamaru and Neji began planning on their tactics for the rescue while Ryosei was looking towards the sky, his mind deep in thought. Ino and Tenten began double-checking the materials like their weaponry and medicines.
While Ino and Tenten fix their things and made sure that their hair was in order, they talked for a while, "I bet Ryosei-san is thinking about how Michiko-chan is doing," Ino commented. "Well he is Michiko-chan's teammate; besides, I think he and Michiko-chan are close," Tenten replied. Ino rolled her eyes, "Michiko-chan's close with everybody."
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Tenten shrugged then noticed a light coming from a small hole in a wall on the Akatsuki's headquarters. Tenten informed Ino and the others about her discovery but Neji strictly told the rest that it isn't safe and that they shouldn't do anything than might give them away. Tenten and Ino sighed but followed orders.
"I wonder how Sakura-chan and the rest are doing back home," Ino can't help but wonder aloud. Nobody got to comment or say anything because all of the sudden Shikamaru faced the team and discussed the plan he, Sai and Neji were able to come up with. Everybody listened carefully and nodded their heads in agreement and understanding.
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At Konoha; at the Hokage Tower
Tsunade was about to take a sip of her sake when she heard a tapping on her window. Shizune, being closest to the windows opened the window and let the eagle in. Tsunade recognized it as Neji's eagle. She read the small paper message attached to the bird's leg and was half surprised. The message said:
Hokage-sama,
We found Michiko, as suspected, we found her at the inner part of the Akatsuki's base.
We're here right now and are planning on how to rescue Michiko.
-Neji
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A/N: I am uber (super..said in a cute way :) sorry for not being able to update for a very, very long time.
I know you might've heard this excuse before but you know, being a student…with exams coming up (I just wanted to finish at least one chapter on one story before I study 24/7).
Again, I'm sorry for this. But in a good way, I made this chapter longer than the usual so that..well as a goodie..I didn't want the chapter to end yet so..yeah… I would hopefully update next week..hopefully also the other stories too.
Read and Review to make the author want to update more!! ;