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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I own my OCs.
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Thoughts of a Broken Family, Chapter 20
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Ino + Shikamaru: Toshi, now 13 (almost 14). Satoru, now 6 and a half years old.
Sakura + Sasuke: Saeko, now 14 and a half
Kiba + Temari: Kiyoshi, 15.
Hinata + Naruto: Kohana (F), and Atsuhiro (M), 11 and a half. Twins.
Tenten + Neji: Hikari, 17. Hiroshi, almost 12 years old.
Kakashi + Kurenai: Ayami, now 17 and a half.
Gaara and Crazy Lady (Grace/GaaraCutie): Hajime (M) and Mamoru (M), 8 months old. Twins.
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"Saeko, get out of here!"
My dad's voice startled me. I turned wide-eyed to him, and he was looking back at me, the seriousness that I had heard in his voice reflected on his face. I noticed in a split second how out of breath and beaten up he was.
"But-"
"NOW!"
"Too late."
All of a sudden the world began to spin before my eyes. I saw my mom's worried face, the shock and anger on my dad's face, and I felt a kunai against my throat once again, but that was all I could take in before everything faded into black.
X-X-X-X-X-X-XPOV: Sakura
It happened exactly the way it had the first time; Itachi appeared behind Saeko and held a kunai against her throat, and then she was unconscious. Sasuke and I were glaring at him in shock and anger, and I could feel the hatred flowing throughout Sasuke.
Our logical guess for Itachi attacking Saeko was that he knew neither of us would attack him if he was holding Saeko hostage. Both this time and the previous time he had done this, he had obviously wanted us to leave him and the rest of the Akatsuki alone. And the only way we would be willing to do that would be if he had Saeko.
Though I tried hard not to, I couldn't help but think back to the first time the three of us had encountered Itachi as a group. That time, Itachi had taken Sae and ran, and Sasuke, being Sasuke, chased after him. Ino and Shikamaru had done everything they could just to keep me from going after them. Sasuke had left at around midnight, but it wasn't until hours later, when the sun was beginning to rise over the village, that he appeared, an unconscious Saeko in his arms. He had barely laid her down on the couch in our living room before collapsing.
But this time… would we be able to get her back? No. Not getting her back wasn't an option. Besides, Sasuke, being Sasuke, would never let anything happen to her.
So why are these tears rolling down my cheeks? Why am I suddenly standing next to Sasuke and staring at Itachi pleadingly? Why does the world seem to stop all around me?
And why didn't I see the next movement? Why was Itachi suddenly out of sight, and Sasuke chasing after him, looking over his shoulder and telling me to stay where I was. Why, why, why…
And then Naruto and Hinata were there, and my tears blinded me as I collapsed to the ground.
Sasuke's POV'Why me?' is what I'm thinking as I jump from rooftop to burning rooftop. Itachi is far ahead of me, Saeko with him, and I'm doing everything in my power to keep on my feet. Why did I have to be the one born with an older, physco-maniac brother who would hurt his own niece without a second thought?
No, scratch that. His own would-be niece.
Someone once asked me 'if you could have one wish come true, what would you wish for?' I had stared at the man in silence for a long time until he finally gave up and walked away. But even after he was gone, I gave the question a lot of thought. One wish. Of course, at that point in time, I didn't believe in wishes coming true. That was before I married Sakura. Before Saeko was born. And at that point in time, my one wish would have had to been 'I wish I was in a position where I could kill him'.
If not for the situation at hand, I would have laughed out loud at my next thought. Almost two decades ago, I was a cold-hearted person who didn't care about anything other than revenge. And now, after all those years have passed, I stand a different person; someone who didn't care about their own needs, but focused completely on his family's safety and needs. If someone asked me the same 'wish' question now, I would say 'I wish that they had nothing to do with Itachi.'
Somehow, we had come to the edge of town. I hoped down over the tall wooden fence surrounding the city. Itachi was far ahead of me, Saeko in his arms and still unconscious. And sure enough, the rest of the Akatsuki were there too.
Ino's POVChoji had shown up halfway through the battle, but I had sent him into the city to search for missing citizens when the Akatsuki member we had been fighting ran off.
"Should we go after him?" I asked, looking over at Shikamaru.
He shook his head. "No. We're both nearly out of charka now, neither one of us would stand a chance against him. Now we need to go find the others."
I nodded, knowing he was right. Of course he was right. He always was. I couldn't help but notice the deep wound on his shoulder. Smiling sadly, I walked over and placed my hand on the gash, beginning to heal it. "Where's Toshi?"
He reached up and grabbed my hand, pulling it away from the bleeding wound.
"What are you-"
"Don't waste your chakra," he said, his eyes coming to meet mine. I sighed, and then we began walking towards the city.
The minutes passed. Buildings, buildings, red dirt… Nobody. But finally we came to a group of people, only to find that Toshi wasn't there. Naruto and Hinata were there, though. Naruto was standing a few feet away from Hinata, who was down on her knees. Someone was sobbing and as I got closer, I realized that it was Sakura.
Hinata stood up and I kneeled before my best friend, whose tears continued to fall.
"What's wrong with her?" I heard Shikamaru ask.
Naruto shrugged. "I don't know; we can't get her to say anything."
Hearing this, I placed my hands on Sakura's shoulders, knowing that, if anyone could get something out of her it would be me. "Sakura, what's wrong?"
She said something, but her voice was soft and masked by tears and I couldn't understand her. The way she mumbled made me think back to a day, so many years ago…
"Who are you?" asked a sobbing pink-headed girl who I had discovered on a cobbled path, crying her eyes out.
"Who, me? Oh, that's easy. I'm Ino Yamanaka. What's your name?"
"Sa-u-wa."
"Hello, I can't hear you!"
"My name is Sakura!" she yelled, and I smiled.
"That's better."
"Sakura, I can't hear you."
"Akatsuki… Saeko."
I sighed. "Ok, so, something about the Akatsuki and something about Saeko, right? Speak more clearly."
"They took her, Ino."
"What? Again? Which way did they go?"
She pointed behind me, but before I could say anything, and before Shikamaru could come up with a strategy, Naruto took off running. Letting out a sigh of aggravation, Shikamaru started to chase after him. I hugged Sakura and she cried into my shoulder.
Shikamaru's POVTroublesome… Stupid Naruto, always one to rush into the battlefield without first analyzing everything carefully. I yell after him, but he, being Naruto, doesn't listen. He's fuming, and I know that he's not going to stop anytime soon.
So I continue chasing after him, though it's hard to breathe. He has to be in pain, too, but he's not showing it. And neither can I. We keep running and running until finally, we've reached the edge of the town. There's not a trace of Saeko or the Akatsuki, but Sasuke is lying on the ground far below us.
Kiyoshi's POVThe Akatsuki member that mom, Toshi and I were facing off against ran off, and I was watching as Toshi coughed up a fit of blood. Mom appeared to be fine, and, the deep cut on my right side set aside, I was fine, too.
"You ok?" I asked Toshi, and he nodded. "Okay, so… now what?"
"We have to find the others," mom said, and as I nodded the three of us began walking. We had barely been walking two minutes, though, when we emerged from a narrow alley, that we saw a group of our people. Naruto, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru, and Sakura were there, and I could hear their conversation from where I was standing.
"Sakura, I can't hear you."
"Akatsuki… Saeko."
Ino sighed. "Ok, so, something about the Akatsuki and something about Saeko, right? Speak more clearly."
"They took her, Ino."
And then Naruto had run off, and Shikamaru had chased after him, and I stood there digesting this latest piece of information. The Akatsuki had taken her? Saeko… I started to run after Shikamaru and Naruto, but Toshi and mom held me back. And then, a few minutes later, they appeared again, both of them supporting an unconscious Sasuke. Saeko was nowhere to be seen.
Note: Ok, well, this one isn't very long, but I've used quite a few POVs. So, yeah….