Chapter 28 - Tick Tock

Satoshi hid the profit of the day under the seat of the wagon. The day couldn't have gone better, now he just needed his two helpers to show up so the empty crates could be packed up. Just as he'd had the thought, the two men came jogging leisurely down the street.

"I hope we're not late," Ieyasu said with a smile as they halted.

"No, right on time actually," he said frowning as he noticed the slight swelling on Takeshi's face, worried he asked; "you didn't get into a fight, did you?"

If they had, it could spell trouble for the old farmer.

"Nah, just the country lad over there too busy looking at the sights to notice where he's walking," the man said ignoring his partner's sullen glare.

Maybe the old man should have been more suspicious, but he wanted to believe nothing was wrong because the alternative wasn't bearable, and while he did see that shared serious look between them, he ignored it. Instead he optimistically focused on the things he knew about.

"I see you got yourself a bargain," he said indicating the heavy looking sack Takeshi was putting down into the wagon. There was another glance between them, that the old man stubbornly disregarded, before Takeshi responded with a smirk.

"Yeah, you could say it was the two for the price of one kind of deal."

That was the end of the conversation and the two men effortlessly started loading the crates. Satoshi felt a ripple of uncertainty. Usually people liked to brag about what exactly they'd gotten and how little they'd had to pay. He just needed to get home he decided, so that he could get these strangers out of his hair and it couldn't happen fast enough. For that at least he was glad for their effectivity; they were packed and moving in less than five minutes.

Oo o oO

A boy a single day from his twelfth birthday stood frozen in horror near the back of one of Konoha's most visited playgrounds. Had this been an ordinary child one would assume he had lost or broken some possession that would mean angry parents when he got home and that would be the reason why he was standing there instead of being home and eating dinner.

Itachi however was not a child by conventional standards and it took a whole lot more than angry parents to faze him. Fear was a familiar emotion to him, it was an emotion he'd learned to overcome and use constructively early in life; only the foolish had no fear. It had been a long time since he'd feared for his own life, but he would occasionally fear for the people in his care. Fear kept you in your toes.

What Itachi was feeling now however was not just fear, it was horror stumbling near the edge of full blown panic.

Black dilated pupils were fixed on the signs of scuffle, where someone had taken (hurt, killed?) his little brother. He could hear the blood pulsing rapidly through hus arteries, feel his heart threatening to both burst through his chest and implode on itself simultaneously,

How could this have happened? Konoha was supposed to be safe. It was home. It was peace. His trembling hands clenched so that nails dug into palms. How dare they... He took a shuddering breath and a jaw muscle jumped in agitation. Like a man drowning he latched onto his rising anger. Anger was an emotion of action and he needed to do something! Falling into despair would not solve anything.

It was not just Sasuke missing, it was Naruto too. There was no way to tell who had been the target, the Uchiha or the jinchuriki, either way the Hokage needed to be contacted. Chances were that they were alive. A search party had to be sent out , but time was also of essence; there were only a few hours until dark.

The tracks led into the city, Itachi wouldn't be able to follow, he was good at reading the signs, but too many people walked the streets. He needed a tracker.

Itachi's anger was of the freezing cold kind that cleared the panic from his mind, but it was still anger and as he brought his hands together in a ram seal he forced too much chakra into the jutsu, chakra that was simply wasted, and he swayed n his feet when his remaining chakra was split into three. One of the clones quickly steadied him.

Kage bunshin was a tremendously useful technique, but it was considered a forbidden jutsu for a good reason (not that the Uchiha clan cared) and two clones were his absolute maximum. He nodded that he was steady and they took off; one to inform the Hokage and one to find a tracker. The real Itachi had to stay to make sure nobody disturbed the tracks.

He felt a pang of regret that he had no way of contacting Sakura. Whatever awaited at the end of the trail having a healer along would be an immense relief, but there just wasn't time. Someone had to follow now while the scent was fresh and before it started to rain or something else that could mess with the tracks. The Sandaime would send a properly established team afterward.

Grinding his teeth he battled the instincts that told him to just leave and start looking everywhere; running around like a headless chicken would not help Sasuke. Urgency made his blood boil and frustration at doing nothing build. His little brother was counting on him!

"Itachi?" A familiar voice asked uncertainly and he spun around in a flash. The relief at seeing Sakura, to have a healer on board, was so great and he was wound so tightly in the first place, that he could have done something uncharacteristically like give her a hug, but he reigned in his emotions; explaining the situation was priority.

Oo o oO

Sakura shook her head in disbelief; it just couldn't be true. Something like that was not supposed to happen, Naruto had never been kidnapped, or it would have said so in his file, and neither had Sasuke. It had to be some kind of mistake, yet the evidence was staring her straight in the face. Reading tracks wasn't Sakura's strongest suit and she mostly just saw random footprints, but she would be an idiot to second guess the doujutsu user.

Itachi was not joking, he was, for lack of a better expression, completely out of it. Deathly pale, shaking and with the red of his unconsciously activated sharingan nearly consumed by the dilated pupils it was obvious his sympathetic nervous system was running in overdrive.

Hopefully he would calm himself a but once they got underway or he would burn himself out from anger and anxiety alone. She had never seen Itachi this off balance before. Had he been anyone else she would probably have tried to calm him down, but he was like a volatile liquid and she feared the slightest disruption would make him explode. At this very moment and with his sharingan active she was quite sure his looks could kill and it would be much better to test out that hypothesis on the kidnappers.

As it was there was an odd sense of gratefulness towards Itachi at this moment. With her usually unfazeable friend off kilter she was forced to push her own emotions to the side. Emotions that were sure to have left her useless if not for the imminent need for someone calm.

She was a medic and the slightest waver in her chakra could undo what good she'd done. Learning how to shelf emotions had been the hardest part of medical training and it was something she'd never before been able to transfer to anything else before now. It was a fact that she'd mourned deeply when time and time again her emotions had gotten in the way mostly when the mission had been centered around Sasuke.

What exactly had made her succeed this time wasn't something she had time to analyze in depth, but she was grateful for it nonetheless, even when it meant she would be a mess later. Shelving emotions were only temporary and only lasted so long; once shelved they had a tendency to build, and the stronger emotion the faster it happened, until the shelf was no longer big enough and everything crashed down on you.

Oo o oO

Hana was just finishing up feeding the dogs in the kennel and starting to wonder what means she would have to go to make her mother's cooking safe for human digestion. A lot could be said about Tsume Inuzuka, like how steadfast, strong and proud she was or how extraordinary her connection with canines of any kind was, but cooking was not apart of her skill set. There was a saying that a mutt would follow whoever fed it and Hana did have a vague recollection of her father standing in the kitchen cooking food that smelled infinitely better to her sensitive nose than what she was scenting at the moment (it almost made her consider the dog food, she'd just distributed).

A few years after Kiba's birth however it seemed the novelty of having tamed the untameable had worn off and their father had had enough of the overpowering woman, who while she adored him never gave him space. He'd disappeared without a trace, which was a necessity to keep an Inuzuka from finding him. Hana really couldn't blame him, for he was after all the man who'd endured her mother for the longest. Tsume's capability for driving off suitors with the sheer force of her personality was legendary.

The sound of rushing feet in the distance drove her out of her musings and her nostrils flared as she caught the scent of Itachi borne to her by the wind. She had only a second to be surprised at him heading to her house, which he'd never done previously, when he was suddenly in front of her and all giddy thoughts were driven from her mind by the haunted look in his eyes.

"Hana, I need a tracker."

She hardly noticed that he'd said her name without any -san attached, but it was something she'd remember later and cherish, for now she whistled up the Haimaru brothers and followed no questions asked. Forgotten was the fact that she leaving poor Kiba to the uncertain fate of the Inuzuka matriarch's cooking.

Logic may argue that Hana wasn't the best choice for a tracker, she was just a genin and her dogs weren't much more than puppies, it wouldn't have taken more than a few minutes to fetch her mother, who was much more experienced.

Yet Itachi had come for her, maybe part of it was because he wasn't thinking too clearly in his emotional turmoil, but the greatest reason was that Hana was familiar and he trusted her. She hadn't hesitated, hadn't needed him to explain the situation before joining, something Tsume would definitely have wanted before sprinting off with a half panicked chunin, Uchiha heir or not.

Oo o oO

Hana felt a small stab of disappointment and jealousy as she rushed into the playground and saw oh so perfect Sakura, the clone hadn't mentioned her when he explained the situation before disappearing, but she quickly pushed the petty feelings aside. Sasuke and another kid were missing. The thought of it having been her own little brother taken away made her blood run cold and she could only imagine how Itachi was feeling.

The pups knew what to do and they went directly to the site of scuffle with their noses to the ground. Young they might be, but they were breed for this purpose, and their blood called for them to find what their human searched for.

The girl met the eyes of the grim faced Uchiha and got a grateful nod in return. Her upbringing demanded she greet all the people present so next she looked upon the other girl expecting a glare; they hadn't exactly been nice to each other last they'd been face to face. She was understandably surprised when all she saw was relief and she felt a stab of guilt for readying her own nasty glare. It wasn't like she could help her emotions!

A yip from Shiru told her they had the scent and she gave them the go with a wave of her hand. Itachi nearly jumped when the puppies started to move to the exit and before Hana knew it she'd shared a worried glance with Sakura. It gave her this uncanny feeling of camaraderie, they were somehow in this mess together and medic girl had been relieved to see her even if it was just happiness at a tracker arriving. If she could put their differences aside so could Hana, she would not lose to her.

The scent lead them to the nearly empty marketplace, only a few stalls were still open. A spot where until recently a stall had been setup held her dogs attention. Hagane told her with a whine that the scent ended here.

"The kidnappers have boarded some kind of vehicle, a wagon most likely," Hana worriedly said to Itachi and she could practically see his shoulders tense up. She regretted that the trio weren't bigger; in a few years they'd be so big that they could easily follow airborne scents, but for now they were relegated to ground searches.

"I'll ask some of the other stall owners if they know who was in this spot," Sakura volunteered.

She had only just returned with the message, that it was an old man who lived in a village some hours to the west and he'd left with two huge guys approximately one hour ago, when there was a triumphant howl from Tatsu. He stood on his hind legs a few meters away on the road leading to the western gate. His small black nose vibrated excitedly from as high into the air as his small body could lift it; just enough for him to catch a whiff of the scent.

Hana's eyes went wide, of course! She was beside her puppy in an instant sweeping it into her arms. Tatsu barely noticed the action, the only thing in his head being his hunt, he just knew the scent was suddenly stronger than before and he struggled in the grip holding him. A paw kicked Hana rather painfully in the stomach. She clicked disapprovingly with her tongue and he instantly relaxed, his ears flattening in apology.

"It's okay, let me be your legs for a bit."

Itachi was striding down the street as fast as he could go without outright running and the Inuzuka couldn't help but think Tatsu wasn't the only who needed a reminder that getting overexcited wouldn't help in the long run. Sakura had followed the Uchiha but wasn't walking nearly as fast as him and the result was that their team was still somewhat together even if Hana was lagging behind by standing still. Well, not for long, she thought as she ran to catch up. Her new discovery would allow them to go faster.

When Hana caught up with the other kunoichi they shared a glance and emerald eyes lit up in understanding.

"Good idea, can I?" she asked holding out her arms. Hana had a moment of doubt when her jealousy reared its ugly head again, then she nodded and called Shiru who jumped into the waiting arms. They ate up the ground between them and Itachi in seconds now that they were running.

"Hagane," she called and the puppy sprinted ahead so that she could easily scoop him up in one arm and thrust him at a surprised Itachi. She grinned at him.

"This will go faster and they have the scent better up here."

Oo o oO

She didn't have to say that twice. Itachi knew that he was probably setting the pace a bit too high, but he was restless. A lot could have happened in an hour. The memories from his second clone returned with the chakra and he suddenly felt he wasn't expending energy in finding his brother.

The Hokage knew now. Itachi had received permission to follow and an assurance that a backup team would be assembled as fast as possible. He'd also been forbidden to engage the enemy with just a genin as help, good thing Sakura had shown up then, for he had no intention of obeying that order.

At the gate Itachi knew he should stop to inquire about the merchant, any an all information was necessary when facing an unknown enemy, but stopping was physically impossible for him right know. One hour, if they were traveling in a wagon he could catch up in a half.

"Go ahead," Sakura yelled as if reading his mind, "I'll check with the guards."

His need for a team had been the reason he hadn't gone off on his own in the first place. He couldn't risk neither Sasuke nor Naruto because the kidnappers happened to be too much for him alone. If he wasn't careful he could even run into an ambush. It was that reasoning that allowed him to slow down so much that he wasn't running Hana into exhaustion, it had the added bonus of making it possible for Sakura to catch up as well.

Unconsciously he hugged the puppy closer to himself. I'm coming Sasuke.

Oo o oO

The ride back towards the village was a much too quiet affair for Satoshi's tastes. It gave him time to really think about that uneasiness he'd felt since Konoha. All that tension wasn't good for his back.

Suddenly he heard a quiet pained moan. He stiffened half a second, it had come from the sack his two helpers had bought, the one placed right behind his seat. Swift from the built up tension he spun around in his seat and tore open the pack.

A pair of disoriented blue met his own eyes that were rapidly widening in horrification. He caught the outline of another small body in there.

"No," he didn't want to believe it, but he couldn't deny what he was seeing. With shaking hands he let go of the fabric. They looked to be the age of his own Hisoka. He looked up to the two men he'd hired as helpers, they had abducted these children. There was no way they hadn't known. Two for the price of one they'd said.

Worse, Satoshi realized, they had stolen these kids from a shinobi village and he had helped them get in. He scrambled backwards and feel off the moving cart.

"You shouldn't have seen that, old man," Ieyasu said ominously and Takeshi drew one of those ninja knives out of nowhere before they both jumped off the cart. The ox no longer having anyone to urge it on had stopped.

"Please," he begged, "I won't say a word. I have grandchildren at home."

He got no reply but those cold indifferent eyes as they approached him. They didn't care the least. Desperately he searched his surroundings for anything that could save him. That was when he saw the two children. One light, one dark, they were both awake know. To think he would have promised not to say a word.

I'm sorry Hisoka, Grandpa won't be going home, he thought tears filling his eyes before locking his gaze on the two brutes. They halted uncertainly at his change in demeanor, then he threw himself at them. Locking his surprisingly strong hands around whatever parts of their bodies he could get at he struggled to keep them still.

"Run!" he screamed brokenly at the boys.

The blonde didn't make a move frozen in complete horror at the sight taking place in front of him.

"Come on, Naruto," the other boy yelled and tugged at his friend sending them both tumbling over the edge. That seemed to jostle the Naruto boy and he quickly got to his feet, dragging the not so quickly recovering raven along. The old man could only marvel at how neither was willing to leave the other behind and he was glad at least that... He never managed to finish the thought because suddenly pain ripped through his stomach. A scream left him together with all the air in his lungs.

The kids stopped and turned to look. No, he thought as he fell to the ground, run! Ieyasu and Takeshi started after them, he wouldn't let it happen. With power lent to him by desperation he dragged his open stomach across the ground and flung his right arm after their legs. He caught a hold of an ankle and he didn't care whom it belonged to, only that he tripped him.

It was the last act of old Satoshi the farmer.

Author's note:

I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am for not updating and then giving you such a short chapter. It's just that killing off Satoshi made me rather morose. So even though I wanted to finish this whole kidnapping affair in this chapter, the death of my hastily made OC demanded some respect, if not for Satoshi himself then his youngest grandchild whom I made the mistake of naming. I just know Hisoka adored his granddad and I feel like I was the one to personally kill him, so that now out there somewhere there's a six year old who'll never see his grandfather again because of me. It's a bit silly because they're all figments of my imagination, but it still makes me sad.

I'll spare you of anymore of my author issues and instead tell you how awesome you all are for sticking around! I really will update some more this month, just a few chapters more and I'll be able to use a lot of the already written stuff.