Chapter 25

We had spent most of the morning sitting in silence and waiting. Sasori and Deidara had to be close to the Akatsuki by now. Sasori hated to keep people waiting, or to wait, so it shouldn't be too long. It was now noon.

"It's time." Itachi spoke. He and Kisame sat down and did and hand sign.

"Well, what are we supposed to do until you guys are done?" Kikuhana asked.

"You can come if you want." Kisame said grinning. Kikuhana looked over at me.

"Ok," she said. We sat down and did the same hand sign. Everyone, except for Sasori and Deidara, appeared has holograms on top of a strange statue. Everyone stood on top of a fingertip of the statue. My sister and I stood on its shoulder. Pein, the leader, did a hand sign and the mouth of the statue opened.

"It will now take three days and nights, stay aware of your physical selves." Pein spoke.

My sister and I exchanged shocked looks.

"Three days and nights?" I whispered to her in surprise.

"Zetsu, have your physical body stand guard outside. Use the one with the greatest range." Pein ordered.

"Understood," Zetsu said.

"Three days? Don't you think it's possible it might take longer than that since we don't have Orochimaru with us?" Kisame asked.

"All the more reason to get started at once." Pein replied.

"That's true," Itachi added. I was a little surprised; Itachi normally didn't say anything during meetings. Just then, the tips of the statue's fingers glowed green, and the symbol on the member's ring appeared in the green spot on each finger tip.

"Sealing Jutsu: Nine Phantom Dragons!" Pein shouted as nine dragons made of chakra came out of the statues mouth and went down to Gaara's unconscious body. The chakra dragons went around Gaara, causing him to float up into mid air. Gaara, it's been over three years since my sister and I have last seen him. I always knew we'd see him again, just not like this.

One day had passed by. Everyone remained silent. The members were focusing on the extraction, while Kikuhana and I just watched. I felt horrendously bad for Gaara. He looked like he was in pain. Of course I wanted to help him, but the day Kiku and I left the Leaf Village was the day Gaara, and everyone else we used to know became our enemies. We had two choices: The Leaf Village, or the Akatsuki. We made that choice three years ago, and that was the Akatsuki.

"Our location has been discovered. The enemy approaches." Zetsu announced.

"Which enemy is that?" Deidara asked, looking at Zetsu.

"The very skilled and dangerous one." Zetsu replied. "His name is Might Guy." He added. Kikuhana and I gasped silently as our eyes grew large.

"Guy-sensei…." I whispered. He wasn't our sensei, but we still knew him.

"Might Guy? Who is he?" Pein asked.

"An elite Leaf shinobi. A master of taijutsu; don't underestimate him." Itachi responded.

"Ah, that strange beast again." Kisame said with amusement in his voice.

"We'll use that jutsu against him." Pein said.

"I'll go. Let me take care of him. It will give me a chance to make up for failing to find the tailed-beast host." Hidan said.

"No, leave him to me. You see I know him. I have a personal score to settle with him." Kisame said.

"Yes, as you have the most chakra out of all the Akatsuki. You're probably the most suitable to employ that jutsu." Pein agreed. "Very well Kisame. But I'll still require 30% of your chakra here." He added.

"Kisame? Kisame's going after Guy?" I exclaimed in a hushed voice to my sister.

"You don't think, the rest of his team is with him, do you?" Kiku whispered back to me.

"I… I don't know." I whispered, looking down.

"Kikuhana, Hatone, what are you two muttering about?" Pein questioned in a stern voice. Kiku and I both snapped our heads up.

"Nothing…it's just, the ninja, Guy, we know him. Well, we used to..." Kiku answered.

"Very well then; Kikuhana, since you claim to know him, you will assist Kisame in battle." Pein instructed.

"What?" I yelled.

"I will hear no objections." Pein said.

"Fine…" Kikuhana muttered and sent a small glare at the leader.

"Kiku…" I stared at her with great worry in my eyes.

"I'll be fine sis, don't worry about it." She assured me.

"Let's go, Kikuhana." Kisame said.

"Right." The eyes on Kikuhana's and Kisame's holograms shut.

"Finally; I've been waiting to pay him back for that kick he gave me." Kisame said with a grin.

Kikuhana and Kisame were out further in the canyon.

"Hey, Kisame?" Kiku called.

"What is it?" He asked.

"You wouldn't mind if I sit out on the fight, would you?" She asked, glancing up at him.

"No, not at all." Kisame answered with a smirk.

"I'll at least give you some advice." Kiku began. "Guy-sensei is a master of taijutsu, and Lee is training to be exactly like him. Neji is a part of the Hyuga clan. His Kekki Genkai allows him to drain his opponents' chakra, so watch out for that. And the girl, Ten-Ten, mainly uses weapons." She explained.

"Got it," Kisame replied. Just then, they spotted four people running through the canyon.

"Looks like your friends are here." Kisame said with a smirk. Kisame jumped down into the canyon behind the group. He went under the ground and stuck his sword out of the ground, like a shark's fin in the ocean. He destroyed a large boulder in front of Guy's team, causing dust and rocks to fly everywhere. When the dust cleared, Kisame stood on the shattered boulder with his sword slung over his shoulder. Guy, Lee, Neji and Ten-Ten stared at him in battle stance.

"Wait a minuet," Guy started to speak.

"You know this person Guy-sensei?" Lee asked with his eyes still fixed on Kisame.

"Who are you?" Guy asked. Kisame had an offended look on his face.

"More intruders." Zetsu spoke.

"You didn't cover your tracks very well, did you Deidara?" Pein asked, glancing over at Deidara.

"Well—as I said. The tailed-beast host proved to be more powerful than we thought, hmm." Deidara said hesitantly.

"You're a bumbler and a fool." Sasori growled at Deidara. "Your methods are too crude for any sort of secret operation." He added.

"Crude?" Deidara laughed humorlessly. "Those clumsy traps of yours were hardly settle my friend, hmm!" Deidara argued.

"Why you—!"

"Stop bickering amongst yourselves." Pein ordered. "Focus on the jutsu." He commanded. "Now then, who to send this time?" Pein asked out loud.

"Me, this time it must be me." Hidan said with eagerness in his voice.

"This time a Leaf shinobi should go." Zetsu suggested. Itachi and I snapped our heads over to Zetsu.

"Very well, it's decided then." Pein said. "Itachi will go and Hatone will go with him."

My eyes went wide.
"Why do I have to go?" I asked nervously.

"These are Leaf ninja also, aren't they? You most likely know them, so you will go." Pein answered. I kept my head low and didn't answer. Why were we getting sucked into this? Itachi sent a glare at the leader.

"Let's go," Itachi said before his eyes on his hologram shut. I did the same.

Itachi and I were just outside of a forest in an open field.

"I'm sorry you had to get dragged into this." Itachi said to me while keeping his eyes on the forest. I looked up at him and then to the floor.

"It's not your fault." I said quietly. Itachi turned around to face me and locked his eyes on me. I looked up at him and blushed a little.

"I don't want you to get hurt." He said placing a hand on my cheek. "It would be best if you go hide in the forest until the battle is over with." He told me, staring into my eyes. I really didn't want to fight, especially if whoever was coming were people I used to know.

"But, I can't let you fight everyone by yourself." I said.

"I'll be fine." Itachi assured me with a little smile. The smiled faded in an instant. "They're here." He said looking at the forest. "Go," Itachi said to me as the activated his Sharingan.

"Please be careful." I said quietly as I ran to the east side of the forest and hid behind a tree far enough so I wouldn't be spotted but close enough so that I could still see and hear what was going on. Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and an old woman came running out of the forest.

"Everybody stop!" Kakashi yelled as he stuck his arms out so no one could pass him. I gasped silently and I felt my heart jump. I couldn't believe it. It had been three years since I last saw Kakashi-sensei, Naruto or Sakura.

"Who's that?" Sakura asked while keeping her eyes on Itachi.

"So soon…" Kakashi whispered to himself.

"Those eyes…could it be?" The old woman wondered to herself.

"I know you!" Naruto growled.

Guy's team was still staring down Kisame.

"Unreal…" Neji said out loud. "His chakra level is off the charts!" He said with a stunned look. "I've never seen anyone but Naruto with that much chakra." Neji added.

"That much..?" Lee said in surprise.

"You're memory is as bad as your haircut." Kisame mocked Guy. Guy's eyes grew large as he remembered something.

"Could it be that you're…" He said starting to remember.

"You finally remembered, have you?" Kisame said smirking.

"You've met me somewhere before?" Guy asked.

"It's no wonder you're called a beast, your intelligence is certainly subhuman." Kisame said as he started leaning forward. "Well, don't worry, I'll refresh your memory soon enough."

A breeze blew across the field as Kakashi and his team continued to stare down Itachi.

"Itachi Uchiha…" Naruto said out loud. Sakura's eyes grew wide.

T-that's, that's him. Sakura said mentally. That's Itachi Uchiha.