Finders Keepers Chapter 21 The Enemy of My Enemy, a naruto fanfic

My thanks goes to Sakura's Indecision for yet another stellar editing job! I appreciate all your hard work.

I do not own Naruto…but this story is all from my own twisted brain. Enter at your own risk. R&R - K&K

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Finders Keepers

Chapter 21- The Enemy of My Enemy

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She shivered.

'Who is this person?' She had never felt a chakra so hideous and it absolutely scared the hell out of her. Not only that, the man half-strangling her had the same Kekkei Genkai of the supposedly wiped out Uchiha family. She tried to swallow, but her throat was blocked with fear and the man's large, grasping hand.

The man named Tobi caressed her cheek softly with his thumb, "My dear, sweet Sakura-chan, you have the honor of being the woman who will bring the Uchiha clan back to the glory it so richly deserves."

"H-h-honor?" Sakura's mouth was a desert, her throat clicked dryly when she tried to gulp.

"Yes," his deep voice hissed and Sakura's blood turned to ice. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes, burning as they fell gently to her cheek and over his thumb. He put a hand on her hip and pulled her closer, his hard body pressed firmly against her own. Sakura was paralyzed with fear and powerless to stop him. His rough, calloused hand absently stroked her hip.

'Sasuke said they were all dead,' her Inner's voice finally broke through her fear-wracked consciousness in seeming fascination.

"Tobi," another cold, emotionless, male voice spoke from behind them. Sakura wanted to feel relieved except the man interrupting didn't exactly bring her any happy thoughts. The masked man accosting the young kunoichi immediately arrested his wicked ministrations.

As suddenly as it appeared, the evil chakra receded and the ninja calling himself Tobi let go of Sakura with a childish laugh. "Gomen nasai, Sakura-chan! Tobi didn't mean to frighten Sakura-chan! You better hurry now," he pushed the vial into her hand, "Go shower and clean off the poison master Sasori got on you." He gave her a gentle push when she just stood staring at him wildly.

Sakura felt she must be losing her sanity.

"Sakura," Itachi's sharp call broke her out of her trance and she jumped, almost dropping the capped vial Tobi had put in her hand. Itachi pointed to the door on the far side of the room.

"Go now," he paused at her hesitance, "or do you require my assistance?" he questioned. She shook her head and scurried for what she assumed was the bath.

Thankfully, it was. She entered and closed the door, sliding down it and expelling the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in. She put one shaking hand to her head and tried to calm herself. She could still feel the effects of whatever they had given her earlier and the burning on her shoulder told her that the frightening masked man had been right; the poison was not yet neutralized.

Deciding to take care of the only thing she had any control of, she quickly stripped and showered, washing off all visible remnants of the toxin. She washed quickly, aware at all times that the door had no lock on it and she could be interrupted at any time by the Uchiha who had asked her if she needed assistance. And what the hell was this clan nonsense! Surely that man was joking about her being used to restore the clan. She was in deep trouble, she feared. This abduction went beyond some infatuation to steal her innocence, as Itachi had initially claimed.

She felt the brand Sasuke had burned into her skin with some hope. 'Please help Sasuke to find me quickly,' she prayed, 'I'm in trouble for real this time and I need him.' Now she was glad he'd taken her down for running from him and put the stupid thing there. She only hoped it worked over long distances because she had a feeling she was a long way from home.

That creepy, blonde nin, Deidara, had told her they were in Grass. Or had he said they were flying over Grass? The whole trip had felt so unreal. Her head had been full of strange things. She thought she'd even tried to kiss him at one point.

She used a little chakra to monitor the injections she'd received but could still only barely access it. Therefore, she deemed it necessary to save all that was left to try to heal the poison burn after cleaning and neutralizing the burns with the stuff given to her by the ninja named Tobi.

Turning off the water, she got out and grabbed a towel off the shelf behind the tub. She toweled off and wrapped the towel around herself, tucking it firmly before inspecting her shoulder. It was a nasty, growing, nearly fist-sized burn from a few drops of poison and she was beginning to feel the effects of whatever he had put in it eating down through her muscle. It might be better to just slice the infected skin off and heal a fresh, uninfected wound. Opening the vanity drawers, she found a straight-blade razor that the previous occupant must have used for shaving. Fortunately, it was still quite sharp. There was not enough chakra left in her body for a chakra scalpel and healing.

For an instant, she considered using it to slice her throat to keep the Akatsuki from succeeding in their plan, but she knew she had to try to find another way before she considered a simple death or her friends would never forgive her. She found a bottle of peroxide in the cabinet and poured it over the clean blade to sterilize it as much as possible. She grabbed a washcloth and rolled it up, placing it between her teeth to bite down on.

'No anesthesia and no chakra to numb myself. This is going to hurt like hell.' She braced herself and, using her left hand, she clumsily began to slice away the infected skin. "Couldn't have burned the other shoulder, could the little bastard?" she mumbled around the towel. "Then, at least, I'd have my regular cutting and sewing hand free."

"Fuck," she ground through the towel as the blade sliced off the top layer of the skin along with a thin layer of muscle underneath it. She got about half way and had to stop. She was shaking so hard, eyes tearing and marring her sight as black spots crossed her vision in warning. Her body was threatening to make her unconscious if she kept assaulting it so drastically. The door opened behind her and, in the mirror, she saw Itachi come in and step toward her. Through the haze of pain and on the edge of shock, Sakura's heavy lids opened to look in the mirror at the man walking toward her. Her conscious self was not even registering that this man was her enemy and the biggest threat to her beloved teammate and friend. She was panting, tears running freely down her face. Biting down once more, she hurriedly finished slicing through her skin. She let out a guttural grunt as she cut out the worst of the toxin-infused skin before she could pass out or he tried to stop her.

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Itachi came behind the young woman and held her up, supporting her from behind when he saw she wasn't trying to kill herself. His arm slipped around her waist, under her breasts and pulled her against his chest. He could feel her heart racing against him and knew it wouldn't be long before she collapsed. The only thing holding the girl up was sheer will.

Sakura dropped the blade on the counter; copious amounts of copper-scented blood flowed freely down her arm now. Hand shaking, she popped the lid off the vial Tobi had given her and poured it over the wound. A minute later, satisfied there was no viable toxin from Sasori left in her system, the med-nin picked up the peroxide and dumped the whole of it onto her shoulder. She jerked hard in Itachi's arms, screaming through the washcloth in her mouth as the liquid burned and sterilized her wound. Her knees buckled under her when she almost fainted from the searing pain, but Itachi held her steady. Panting harshly, the girl placed her hand on the bloody shoulder which was still foaming with disinfectant. Sakura used what little chakra she had to start healing the wound.

Itachi could tell she had almost no chakra and he believed she would pass out from pain and blood loss before she finished healing herself. So, he placed his hand over hers and deftly sent his chakra into her body to aid her. He was amazed how much control she had even over his chakra placed inside her. She took it and wove it effortlessly into hers and the wound quickly healed over, knitting a fragile new skin over rebuilt muscle.

By the time she finished, she was breathing heavily and could no longer stand up without aid. Her head lolled to the side. Itachi gently took the washcloth from her lips, turned on the tap, wet it and used it to wipe some of the blood off her arm.

"Tell me what you need," he calmly ordered her.

"Blood replenishing pills, fluids, and rest," she gasped, leaning boneless against him. She panted with the effort to stay conscious after slicing off a large portion of skin from her own arm. He'd seen grown men faint at less. She went on, "…and possibly an antidote to whatever the fish, the flytrap and the girl on the bird stuck me with. Four injections, it's probably an overdose. My chakra systems are shutting down," she told him. "It's dangerously low from too many closed tenketsu. It's likely I will go into complete shock soon and maybe die." She started to fade but shook her head, fighting to stay awake and give the instructions for saving herself. "If you know how to reverse the Gentle Fist technique that the Hyuuga use to close tenketsu, it might help if there's no antidote. Or you could take me back to Konoha and Tsunade…" Her head sagged before she could finish.

He chuckled inwardly at her description of Kisame, Zetsu and Deidara as he slid her onto his shoulder. He took his other arm and slid it down her body, hooked it under her knees, and picked her up as she let go of consciousness. He brought her back into the outer room, where Madara was waiting.

"How is she?" Madara asked, curious when he saw her bloody arm and towel.

"She's fine. She cut out the infected area and healed herself with practically no chakra, even after she'd received four doses of that chakra-inhibiting drug. She has simply exhausted herself. She'll likely be unconscious for the next few days."

Madara laughed darkly. "I told you she was perfect. Power enough to kill and heal with her bare hands, fiercely protective, loyal to a fault, and beautiful. She'll make the perfect matriarch for our clan. A woman like this comes along once in a generation…only then if you're lucky. And she was trained by the previous one." The masked ninja was practically crowing with the pride of his find. "Too bad your younger brother was so intent on avenging our clan instead of rebuilding. It could have already been started and I'd have my choice of the Uchiha children…like I did before you so selfishly removed my supply."

"I will tend to her," Itachi told him coldly. "You can leave now."

"Already becoming possessive?" Madara chuckled. "Good, very good. She will make an exceptional mate," he added slyly.

Itachi ignored him as he cleaned her skin and checked the wound making sure it was fully healed.

The elder Uchiha paused at the door.

"Just make sure you impregnate her as quickly as possible. Or I will take matters into my own hands."

Itachi closed his eyes and sighed when he heard the door click shut.

"Foolish little brother. I warned you, and still, you couldn't keep her safe." Itachi removed the bloody towel and tucked the kunoichi into the sheets so he could retrieve the items she had asked for.

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Sasuke suddenly stopped talking to Kakashi and sat up in bed.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi asked worriedly when he noticed how pale Sasuke's face had become.

"I can't feel her anymore." Sasuke's voice was filled with concern.

Naruto jumped up from his chair and climbed into his face. "No way! Is she dead?"

Sasuke punched him on the top of his head. "She's not dead, Dobe!" he growled, "She's probably unconscious."

"Can you feel her if she's sleeping?" Kakashi asked.

"Sometimes, if she's dreaming."

"So, she might just be sleeping."

Sasuke's look said he didn't believe it to be true. The silver-haired nin thought Sasuke was probably right; Sakura had to be physically exhausted by this time. Hopefully, she wouldn't be harmed, but it was more likely than not that she was injured somehow. She would never go down without a fight against the Akatsuki and the aftermath of their battleground had pointed to a ferocious clash. Kakashi wanted to punch something.

"Let's go over what Itachi told you again."

"Why? It won't help bring her back. Truth or lies, it makes no sense!"

"Traitor, this seal you put on Ugly, this was a life force jutsu?"

"What's that got to do with anything, asshole?" Naruto asked Sai.

"I wondered why he would choose a jutsu like that. I've read scrolls on the subject." Sai turned his blank stare toward Sasuke. "There are other kinds of tracking jutsu you could have used. Did you know when you did it that Ugly would be attached to you for life?"

"Life!" Naruto wailed, "Teme! Does Sakura-chan know?"

Sasuke glared at Sai. "Mind your own business, you freak."

"Generally, it was only used in the early days of Konoha," Sai continued unaffected, "by clansmen who wanted to keep track of their wives' loyalty to their new family."

"Bastard! You don't trust our Sakura-chan?"

"Shut up! I trust Sakura or I never would have put the seal on her in the first place."

"So," Sai needled, "you planned all along to marry the hag?"

Sasuke's Sharingan burned hot and Kakashi got between him and Sai, holding the invalid to keep him from reinjuring himself.

"Naruto, get Sai out of here!"

"But I wanna hear the bastard's answer!"

"Naruto!" Kakashi warned.

"Sasuke!" Naruto argued.

"Naruto, take Sai for some dinner," Kakashi ordered, "Hey, I hear they're serving ramen tonight as an appetizer in the main dining hall, but the chef told me they only made one pot. If you don't hurry, there won't be much left."

"Oi, come on, asshole." He dragged Sai by his arm to the door. "I want to get there before it's gone." He paused at the doorway, "And don't think that I don't want the answer to that question later, Teme!"

When they were gone, Sasuke pushed Kakashi off him, crossed his arms, and turned towards the wall to sulk.

"I understand what you did was to protect Sakura," Kakashi told his ill-tempered student, "and right now, I'm kind of glad you did." There was a gleam in his visible eye. "But you better treat her well or you'll have the best ninja in the whole Fire nation to answer to if you hurt her, and…if she accepts your proposal, I get to give her away." Kakashi's mask stretched in a wide grin.

Sasuke smirked at the ridiculous jest. "First, we have to get her back."

"We will. Now, while it's quiet in here for a few minutes, let's go over again everything we know. Start with what Itachi told Sakura the first time she encountered him."

Sasuke growled.

"We have to look deeper Sasuke. We have to consider all the possibilities."

"Itachi just wants to hurt her to get to me."

"If that was completely true, why not injure her the first time he caught her? Or take her then instead of kissing her. Why do you think he did that?"

"To make me hate him more."

"I don't think that was everything. Would he want to make you jealous? I don't know why, but I think he might have wanted you to protect Sakura from something. Something even more dangerous than himself."

"Why Sakura? He doesn't care for her. He doesn't even know her."

Kakashi shrugged and sighed. Only two things came to mind and he dare not say them to the overprotective and overstressed ninja sitting before him, lest he lose all semblance of control and injure his body permanently in an attempt to get to Sakura.

Either Itachi was trying to draw Sasuke out to his preferred fighting grounds after his last failure to win against his younger brother, and he thought dragging the girl along would make Sasuke follow and give Itachi the advantage with Sasuke distracted…or…he really was trying to get Sasuke to protect his teammate from a worse fate. Something so ominous, a callous, unfeeling clan murderer would go to great lengths to try to prevent it.

And Sasuke had already failed to keep her safe. Kakashi could see the guilt eating at the young man in the bed. He knew all too well the feeling of letting down someone close to you. It must be even worse when it was someone you loved.

'The enemy of my enemy is my friend,' Kakashi thought, 'but who was Itachi's enemy this time…Sasuke or someone else?

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Things you might already know:

Tenketsu-chakra points, or literally, pressure points. There are 361 tenketsu on the human body, each one a checkpoint on the chakra pathway system. Not even the Hyuga close down them all when they attack.

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So…

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Thanks

K&K