I am honestly flattered by everyone's response to this story. It was originally going to be very short (about 10-15 chapters), but my mind had other plans. Thank goodness I went along with the other plans. I feel guilty for taking so long to update and making you all wait, but as stated in a previous chapter, I'd rather you all wait for a good chapter than read a bunch of bad ones. I think it's safe to say that this story will be done in a few more chapters, but I have another story along the way. There will be more information on it in the upcoming chapters, but that's all the details I'll reveal for now. I should warn that this chapter may get confusing due to the change in P.O.V Thanks for all your support guys! Don't forget to review!

Chapter 25: Getting Out Alive

"Eight trigrams 64 palm!"

"Heh! You're too slow little girl!"

"Then try this sharky!" Tenten threw a barrage of kunai at Kisame who easily dodged the attack.

"Is this all you've got?" Kisame taunted.

Shino's beetles crept up behind him, but failed to do any damage because Samehada absorbed the beetle's chakra. There wasn't much light for Shikamaru to use his jutsu either.

"Ninja art super beast scroll." Sai drew three tigers that were in battle with Kisame, distracting him enough for Hinata and Tenten to cause a little bit of damage.

"Damn it, he's not ever tired. Where is Kankuro?!" Tenten said frustrated of their slow progress.

"We didn't see him anywhere near our path, so we can only assume he's either on his way or already in here." Sai responded, drawing more animals

"I-if he were already here, wouldn't he be helping us?" Hinata said, dodging Samehada.

'No, he's already here, but fighting these guys off isn't his goal. If anything, us fighting this guy is great for him.' Shikamaru thought, looking over to Shino, who nodded his head as if confirming his theory. 'I just hope he gets the girl in time so we came leave this place. This guys' too strong for us, all of us combined don't have his amount of chakra. There's gotta be something we can do…'

"Gentle Step twin lion fists!" Hinata began getting ready to attack when Shikamaru got an idea.

'That's it!' "Guys stop your attacks! I have an idea!"

"Are you crazy?! If we don't attack, he'll turn us into shark food!" Tenten said.

"You know little girl, I don't appreciate the shark references you throw."

"Can in fishie!"

"T-Tenten please listen to Shikamaru's plan!" Hinata pleaded.

"We can't use much chakra because that sword absorbs it all, and he has an immense amount of chakra to begin with. My beetles can't go up against that sword."

"Which is why we're taking that sword away from him."

"Shikamaru, what do you have in mind?" Sai asked.

Meanwhile, Kankuro stealthily crawled through the vents of the cave. Why and how, this hideout managed to have air vents, he didn't understand. But he was grateful for them for not only giving him the perfect cover up, but also letting him see through the occasional holes that would be along the way if Chieko would be there.

As far as he was concerned, the enemy had no idea he was in their hideout. He was thankful for the leaf ninja coming in and taking care of Kisame. He was in there for about an hour unmoving before being able to make his way around until they showed up. He didn't expect the place to be as big as it was.

By now, with all the commotion, he knew Chieko had to have her anxiety levels sky rocketing, so if he wasn't against the clock before, he was really in for it now. He'd be going much faster if he weren't trying to not get caught. But it was either don't get caught, or get caught and waist time. He preferred to face the enemy later.

'What are you gonna do with yourself if you don't get to her in time?' His conscience argued.

'I won't let that happen. I've let her down too many times before, I can't, and don't intend to do that again.'

'She's a ninja, she'll probably die in battle eventually. Besides, she's not a sand shinobi anymore, she belongs in the leaf. What responsibility do you have to her?'

'She's miserable over there according to everyone. I have the responsibility of making things right.'

'Even if you do manage to save her, who's to say she wants anything to do with you?'

'It's not about me, it's about her and what she wants. Even if I'm pushed away again, I'll be fine if she is.'

'So she tells you to go fuck off and you're a piece of shit and aren't worth the air you breath and you'll be all dandy and happy again and you'll go back to doing missions instead of sulking your life away like you've been doing for the past few months?'

'Yeah, that's what I plan on doing.'

'Sheesh. The things others do in the name of love, if you can even call this love. Isn't this more like self-sacrifice?'

'That's what I define love as.'

As he crawled around, he could hear the fight with Kisame getting farther and farther. 'Just how far away is she?!' It was bad enough that he couldn't hear her.

'Damn, just what's with this girl?!' Itachi said, smacking Chieko for the umpteenth time with no reaction from the girl. She just stayed there with her head hung. He didn't know how to get her to react again. Whatever jutsu she was under, it was pretty powerful. His Sharingan had absolutely no effect on her. She was still conscious based on the rise and fall of her chest, but that was the only sign of life she gave.

Zetsu, who'd been in the room the whole time, could sense someone from above. "Itachi," began the black half.

"Yes I've known."

"What will you do?"

"Their main goal will be to get the girl, not to kill me. It won't take that long."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am."

"If you say so. Just don't overexert yourself. You'll go blind faster."

"Of course."

"We should probably go check up on Kisame." Said the white half of Zetsu. He retreated underground. Itachi sighed. The girl would have to wait. He didn't continue his assaults on the girl, which was a good thing for his sake.

Inside Chieko's mind, it was a mess. She was freaking out. She could feel the fighting going on outside of her jail cell as well as who was inside the cave.

'Out of all the people in the Sand, why? Just WHY?!'

'Oh come one don't say you didn't wish for him to come and sweep you off your feet.'

'Shut up you! I don't need to be swept off my feet I need to get the hell out of here!'

'And what a better rescue story that-'

'I am NOT in the mood to daydream right now! I need to get out of here! I need to go back to my job away from all this! Stupid Kankuro get the hell over here already I can smell you from a mile away this Uchiha freak smacks hard and his attempts to probing my brain actually hurt when get the chance I'll rip his eyes out of his sockets and make him eat them with salt and pepper and I'll make him use the sharingan on his digestive system see how he-!'

'Calm down you'll detonate faster!'

'I can't calm down in this hell hole as long as this jerk is here!'

'You die and Kankuro dies with you! You think he'll be mentally stable when he finds out he didn't make it in time?!

'The hell should I know I haven't seen him in a while!'

'Why did I get stuck with the job of being your conscience you're so contradicting!'

'I didn't ask to be contradicted by my own thought you know!'

'You didn't ask for many things in your life but I'm sure you don't want to kill the guys soul so soon so stop being a little bitch for once in your life and actually try fighting this douchebag off?!'

Chieko was going to rebuttal the statement but felt an extremely familiar presence in the room she was in. She didn't know if she was excited, relieved, scared, worried, or what. The sensation of that familiar presence made her very alert, which did not help her anxiety.

'Tell me you have a plan! Don't go in this winging it.'

Kankuro put his puppet, the Crow in front of him to block Itachi's vision. 'I have no idea what to do. I have to think of something. I can't just hide behind the puppets without seeing my opponent. Damn I should've brought someone with genjutsu abilities or something. But that wouldn't been enough, even with this guy. What the hell do I do? I don't have much time!'

"Hiding behind that play toy won't save you or your little friend. You have to actually look at your opponent."

"The same goes to you. Your jutsu won't work on her so long as you can't make proper contact with her."

"Your comebacks are not helping you save the girl if those are your intentions. What makes you think you will actually succeed in killing me and taking the girl, alive?"

"I'm not going blind, unlike you."

Itachi's gaze sharpened on the puppet in front of him. He'd be melting the thing with his gaze if he could. He moved to throw a kunai to the puppet, which was easily dodged. Itachi jumped up to the ceiling.

'You're kidding right? He expects to fight in this tiny box?!' Kankuro thought as he moved his puppet to attack. 'Does he know how dangerous this is?! Doesn't he need her too?!' He unscrolled one of the scrolls on his back and summoned the Black Ant. Maybe he'd be able to do something with it if he could corner him or something, before getting caught in a genjutsu or something. 'You're such an idiot Kankuro! She's gonna kill you when… if… no WHEN she finds out you jumped in without a plan!'

Itachi had to admit, the boy was pretty good with his toys. Not as experienced as Sasori, but he could hold his own in battle, for now. He was keeping him at a distance and he assumed he was luring him to the big barrel-like puppet. A good plan for a child. He could sense the fight with Kisame still going on from what he could sense, though the leaf seemed to be more organized than they were before. They exchanged many blows to each other which were easily blocked in their own styles.

Chieko tried to calm down a bit now that Itachi wasn't paying much attention to her. It was difficult though because she could sense a fight forming around her. She could feel right a major migraine forming. She was gonna feel that for a few days.

Back near the entrance, Kisame was being bombarded with attack after attack. He had to stay alert. He had a huge amount of chakra that would take a while to get rid of, but these kids were better than he expected. One wrong move and he could be done.

'It's that boy, he must have thought of a strategy.' He had to find out what they were planning.

"Secret Technique, insect sphere."

"Rising twin dragons!"

Shino's bugs encased Kisame in a dome shape as Tenten unleashed a barrage of weapons to him, some managing to hit their intended target.

"Now!" Yelled Shikamaru.

After the barrage was over, the insects began to disappear. Kisame could feel his body has been a bit drained chakra. He'd have to keep Samehada closer to him. When the insects cleared, Hinata and Shikamaru charged at him to attack. Kisame swung his sword towards them to attack. When it made contact with the two, Hinata and Shikamaru along with Tenten turned into Shino's beetles.

'Clones?! When?' Kisame's face of shock turned into a smirk. Sai and Shino got ready for round 2.

"That was a nice diversion for a couple of brats. But now the real fight begins."

"You're no match for my beetles. Anything you try will not work. Sai."

"Right. Ninja art super beast scroll."

Shikamaru, Tenten and Hinata were running through the hideout following traces of Kankuro or Chieko.

"They're about two minutes away Kankuro's fighting… Itachi! He looks like he's holding his own well, but…" Hinata trailed.

"Not good let's hurry it up we can't waste any more time than we already have." Shikamaru said as Tenten reached for a kunai so she could be prepared for anything.

"What about Chieko?" Tenten asked.

"She's half conscious. Her chakra isn't circulating properly throughout her body, she's completely exhausted."

"When we go in we get Chieko, back-up Kankuro and run out. Do not engage."

"Right." The girls answered as they turned a corner and prepared for battle.

Hinata, leading the team, was first to attack Itachi, aiming for his head but missing and getting his neck. Tenten followed by throwing her kunai but she missed, surprisingly.

"You guys!" Kankuro yelled in relief while dodging Itachi.

Itachi looked over at the new comers, rubbing his neck slightly 'I can't fight much in this condition anymore. Damn. I should've waited a bit more before coming back to interrogate again.'

The room they were in was a blessing for Shikamaru because there was a decent amount of light to use his jutsu. "Ninja art shadow stitching jutsu." Itachi began to back up trying to avoid the shadow as Tenten threw random weapons at him. This distracted Itachi enough for Hinata and Kankuro to rush to Chieko.

"Chieko, its Kankuro. Can you hear me?"

She wasn't responding. Hinata looked at her chakra network for abnormalities. It was beginning to start flowing properly around her body with the exception of her brain and heart.

"The chakra flow around her heart and brain is very abnormal. If she calm down soon something bad is gonna happen, I can sense it."

'Damn it all! I wasted too much time fighting this guy!' "We have to get her out of here, but we have to be careful. It's dangerous moving her in this condition. Hinata, I need you to keep a very close eye on her and make sure her vitals don't escalate to the levels they're at now." He said as he removed the restraints and placed Chieko on his back.

"Of course Lord Kankuro."

"Kankuro's just fi- never mind let's go we don't have time for this."

"R-right. Tenten! Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru turned back to see they had the girl and went to give one final attempt at stabbing Itachi before running out of the room along with everyone else.

Itachi didn't try going after them, knowing full well he was in no condition to. He needed to rest his eyes. 'To hell with Leader. He needs me. He can't get rid of me.' After that thought he retreated to his quarters. With the girl gone, he'd be returning to his regular duties soon with Kisame.

Hinata had her work cut out for her, leading the way out while making sure Chieko didn't die. They managed to grab Shino and Sai on their way out with Kisame preoccupied with Shino's beetles. "The exit seems clear. There's no one around that might hinder our escape."

"When we resurface we get to the center of the forest as soon as possible. Chieko shouldn't be moving in her state." Kankuro informed the team. They nodded in agreement.

"How is she Hinata?" Tenten asked.

"She's not worse but she's not getting better either."

"It's not safe to talk here. Let's wait until we're in the forest." Shino advised. They didn't say anything else until they got out without any other roadblock, hoping the Akatsuki didn't send any other creeps behind them. Hinata led them to a safe location where they could rest and check Chieko properly.

"Gently." Warned Kankuro to Tenten and Hinata as they removed her off his back. Hinata used her Byakugan and little knowledge of medical ninjutsu to analyze her status.

"She's the same as when we left."

"Chieko, can you hear us?" Kankuro said as Hinata opened her eyes. Hinata was startled when she saw the color and backed away.

"What's wrong Hinata?" Shino asked.

"H-her eye color, i-it's different. It's brown."

"What?!"

Kankuro opened her eyes to confirm her statement. "This isn't right. The color change shouldn't be so drastic. What about her brain?"

"The chakra flow is concentrated in that area. She's not conscious, but she's not in danger of death. Still, her condition is severe. We have to take her to the village as soon as possible."

"Konoha is too far, we should go to Suna." Sai said. Everyone agreed.

"I'll send word to Lady Tsunade and Lord Kazekage." Shikamaru said. The team went on the move again, knowing full well it would be a while until they reached the Sand.

In Sunagakure, Gaara sat in his office going through paper work when Temari burst his door open like it was her room.

'Can't the Kazekage have some peace and quiet just for one day?'

"We just got news on Chieko! They're heading here. Seems like she's in bad condition. According to the Hyuga, her eyes are brown and her chakra-"

"Is concentrated around her brain and she's unconscious?"

"Yeah… How'd you know?!"

"It's a sign of intense interrogation. She'll be fine. She just has to get here and rest for observation. Anything on Kankuro?"

"Not really. Shikamaru says he's freaking out a bit on the outside. Can't imagine what he's like on the inside. Why are you so calm about all this? If she died or she gives out delicate information it'll set Suna and Konoha on edge."

"It's my job to be calm and collected during situations like this. And to have faith on our shinobi as well. Now if you don't mind I have work to do."

Temari was going to say something, but decided otherwise, seeing that Gaara was no longer paying attention to her. She huffed and turned to leave.

Gaara put his brush down. Although physically and mentally Chieko would be fine (thankfully), he didn't know how she'd be emotionally. She'd be waking up at a Suna hospital with Suna people, specifically Kankuro. He had no idea what would go down. Still, he was rather content with the past events.

'I'll have to send the Akatsuki my regards.' He joked.