"Was it really necessary to blindfold me?" Mar was scowling, but since she couldn't see who she was attempting to scowl at it just came off as ridiculous. "Couldn't have our prisoner seeing the secret entrance, not could we?" Kisame was leading the way, or at least his voice was coming from in front of her. Itachi had decided to bring up the rear, and he was guiding Mar with a hand on her shoulder. "Not like I would tell anyone about it." Mar complained. Not being able to see was irksome.
A few turns later, Mar was told to remove her blindfold which she did. Then she promptly glared at the first person she saw. "So hostile." Kisame teased, grinning. Mar stuck her tongue out at them. "We are the only people here, right?"
"There is us and-"
"Hello, Mar." A voice from the room's entrance interrupted Itachi, and Mar spun around to see who had appeared. "Pein! Not that it isn't marvelous to see you, but I must admit to being a bit surprised that you remember me."
"It would appear that not only the Sharingan is connected to our memories." Pein turned to look behind himself, eyes narrowing at what he saw. "Itachi, Kisame. You need to start on your next mission. It seems that Hidan and Kakuzu have finished their business early." Itachi nodded exiting the room, Kisame grinning and waving at Mar as he followed behind. Mar waved back lazily, still watching Pein. "What now?"
"What do you mean?" Pein turned back to Mar, face as blank as ever. Mar rolled her eyes, smiling as she spread her hands out palms up. "Me. What's going to happen to me?" Pein nodded his understanding, "Most of the teams are out for the next few days. Hidan and Kakuzu were not meant to return for another few days, however it would seem they have finished up early." The sounds of someone walking closer accentuated this statement. "You may use one of the absent members' room until something more permanent can be provided."
"About that... is there a way to get all my Sharingan brats in one place?" Mar fidgeted under Pein's suddenly intense stare. "I'm given to believe that the Konoha half of your 'brats' are already on their way to find you." Pein turned to leave as silver hair appeared in their corridor. "When they appear I'll be sure to make Itachi and Tobi available to you."
Mar was still thanking Pein as he vanished only to be replaced with a very familiar face. "Who the fuck are you?" Oh yeah, she'd recognize that cussing anywhere.
-3-
"Are you sure they went this way?" Sasuke and Kakashi had just set out to find where Itachi had stashed Mar. Thankfully, the Third had been persuaded to order Naruto to accompany Jiraiya on his Tsunade hunt. Sakura had been harder to dissuade. Finally, Sasuke had been forced to cruelly point out just how useless the girl is at this point in time. Sakura got the wake up call she'd missed in the Forest this time around.
"Yes, I'm sure they went this way!" Pakkun was getting irritated with the younger Uchiha, who insisted on questioning his sense of direction. "If you don't believe me then why don't you get down here and try sniffing them out yourself?" Sasuke snorted, shaking his head as he followed the small dog. "Relax Sasuke, Itachi will look after her." Kakashi soothed, ruffling his hair. Sasuke ducked and tried to smooth his hair back out. When the unruly spikes refused to obey he gave it up as a lost cause.
"Trust the man who ruined my life in a single night. No problem, I'll get right on that." There were times like this when Kakashi missed the brooding emo Sasuke. The Mar-esque sarcasm Sasuke tended to be more irritating than any angsty silence. "Just keep up, brat." Pakkun grunted as he pulled ahead of them.
"Here, this is where they stopped for the night." Pakkun announced an hour later. Kakashi jumped down into the clearing, observing the scuffed dirt. "They didn't bother disguising their campsite." Sasuke observed, standing in the center of the clearing and looking around himself. "They must have known it would be us that tracked them." Kakashi said idly, studying the perimeter for the direction they had taken after resting.
Sasuke ignored Kakashi, still looking around the ground. There was something there, a pattern of some type that Sasuke felt he should recognize. Just as he was about to dismiss it as his imagination, which may or may not still exist, Sasuke remembered where he'd seen that pattern before.
Feeling rather foolish, Sasuke activated his Sharingan and read the message left behind. "Kakashi."
"Sensei." Kakashi interrupted in a sing song voice. "Yeah, whatever, look at this." Sasuke pointed at the ground directly in front of him. "You might want to use your Sharingan." He added with a slight smirk. Kakashi walked up behind his student and read what was scrawled across the ground. "What a pain."
A/N What a pain indeed. This was supposed to be longer, but my notepad decided to hit me with a word limit. Expect part two shortly. On another note, I got bite by the Death Note bug. . There will be a story as soon as I finish up with this one.