Akanishi-san: Weelll Here is chapter 14. It took me a long time to lay this out. > Sorry everyone. So please review

Ch14

The group jumped from tree to tree in an understandable pace, not too fast and not too slow. The group was lead by Neji who actually have seen the dreams, followed by Sasuke behind him. Next to Sasuke was Naruto, and they were closely followed by Gai and Lee. The rear was brought by Kakashi, looking alert as ever.

"We are getting close!" Neji yelled so everyone could hear. "I saw this place in my dreams." He said. "It wasn't a happy one though." He looked down to see the place where Izaki was practicing ninjutsu while the Akatsuki members watched.

Sasuke growled. "Izaki…" He said, looking straight ahead of them. "I'm coming."

Izaki

Izaki looked around herself feeling someone calling her. She frowned, and scanned on where she was. She was placed inside of bars, shackles on her as well. The shackles also had some kind of ninjutsu on them so Izaki could not mold her chakra. She sighed and looked at the ground.

"What am I thinking?" She asked herself as she shivered from the cold. Where she was placed was the stone room that came into Neji's dream. The place was surrounded by stone only, thus, no light came in, keeping the room dark and cold. Also, the fact that she hadn't eaten properly since she was brought back didn't help the matter at all, just made it worse. "They wouldn't be around here…Why would they? They probably won't know where this place is anyway…Plus…I doubt they would risk their lives just to save me." She looked at the bars that were forbidding her to leave. She was in middle of the stone room, inside a cage-ish thing.

"You never know." Someone said as a man walked in front of her barred room. "They might risk anything for you."

Izaki looked up and smiled crookedly. "Right and pigs fly." She snorted. "What good will it do to them to have me back?" She shrugged.

Itachi looked at his sister with eyes that were filled with worry. "I brought food, I'm sure you didn't have proper meal until today." He said, opening a small gate for food. "I also brought water and blankets.

Izaki frowned, but walked over to the food and blanket gratefully. "Won't they get mad at you for doing this? And did they find out that you got me out of here?" She asked, taking a bite of a roll on the plate she was given.

Itachi shrugged. "I'm sure they know that I would care for my sister, and…I believe they don't know." He sat down in front of her, bars between them. "If they did, they aren't showing they do. And Akatsuki aren't some group of people who just lets things slide along." He shrugged once more. "But I will tell you to be careful."

Izaki nodded as she gulped down water. "I will. But, when I merge with that stupid fur ball, I don't know what I will do." She looked at her food. "What's that new thing you were talking about?" She asked her brother. "The leash and collar thing?"

Itachi looked at her, and then away. "It's this drink that takes out any thoughts. So, what you will become is a monster that takes orders and does things as it's told. The negative point on this is that it's brainless, so if anyone else orders something and if you think, well if you can, it's reasonable, you will answer to it. I'm afraid when you take it and merge with it…You will think it will be great to kill…" He looked away in disgust.

Izaki looked at her food and found out that the food that looked appetizing earlier weren't looking so great anymore. "Well…" She trailed off, thinking on what to say. "Well, you said the negative thing was, so is there a positive?" She asked, hope in her voice.

Itachi looked up and nodded. "Like I said earlier, if you think it's reasonable, you will obey other's orders, even if it will be an enemy of Akatsuki, say…this Hyuuga Neji for instance." He raised an eyebrow.

Soon as he said that name, her face turned crimson. "You heard me!" She narrowed her eyes. "Itachi-Oniichan!" She glared at him.

Itachi chuckled. "Well, I am your brother; I am supposed to be protecting you, right? And I will see who is good for you or not."

Izaki rolled her eyes. "Even if you do approve, I won't be seeing him anymore." She said, looking gloomy.

Itachi's chuckle stopped, and was looking at Izaki sadly. "Well," He said, standing up. "I have to go up before anyone comes in here to see me like this." He smiled at her one last time and left her.

Silence followed as Izaki saw her brother leave, and looked up into the ceiling with a sigh. "Eveyone…" She whispered. "I wish I could see you guys again…" She closed her eyes as a tear fell. "Hyuuga-san…"

Neji

Neji stopped abruptly as he looked around wildly. "Izaki?" He asked into the woods.

The others stopped behind him, looking cautious. "What's wrong?" Naruto asked. "Did you say Izaki-chan's name?"

Neji didn't say anything, but to look around with a frown. Sasuke eyed him with interest. "Hey Neji." Sasuke asked, stepping closer to him. Neji turned to him as soon as he looked around him once more. "I have a question." Sasuke continued. "What did…Izaki say that day she left?" He asked, his eyes on him, calculating eye as he carefully studied Neji.

Neji frowned, unable to think what was interesting the young Uchiha, but soon as Neji knew, he turned into a tomato in a flash. "N…Nothing!" Neji stuttered, suddenly embarrassed as he turned away from him.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, getting the hint, but said no more. Gai and Kakashi seemed to be interested. "So, would you like to tell us the details?" Gai asked. "We weren't there that day."

Lee nodded. He didn't really know why Neji turned red, but wanted to know what happened on that day. "Yes, do tell please Neji!" He said, looking eager.

Neji turned even redder if possible, and jumped off into a tree. "Let's get moving." He mumbled and jumped into another tree, with the others following.

Kakashi shrugged with a smile under his mask when Gai raised a thumb up to him with a grin. Naruto was clueless as ever, and so was Lee, they kept quiet, wondering what was going on. Sasuke however was curious even more. He was actually, grinning.

He respected Neji in his own way though he doesn't really show it, and he knew he wouldn't let her get hurt if he still has breath left in his body. Sasuke made a mental note of that and left it so he can think on this matter sometime later. Now, he wanted to concentrate on finding Izaki and rescuing her at once.

After an hour or so of running and jumping, Neji came to a halt. He lifted his hand to signal the others, to halt as well. The others landed beside him noiselessly and looked where Neji was looking at.

It was a lake, a beautiful blue one. It spread out pretty far, but not big enough that you couldn't see across it. The lake was blue, the ripples were there, but there was something wrong with it.

Kakashi answered what was on everyone's mind. "There are no lives in the water, yet there are rippling where there are no winds."

Neji nodded, looking at the lake carefully. What secrets did this hold? He certainly doesn't remember anything like this place before. "Well, I never saw this place at all, but…I don't know, this place looks suspicious." He looked around himself.

Gai nodded. "There is something really fishy going on here." He murmured.

Naruto frowned. "Wait, there are no fish in the water!" He said to Gai accusingly.

Everyone rolled their eyes and ignored Naruto's comment and continued with their own thoughts.

After a while, Sasuke spoke up. "Is there a possibility that the lake is an illusion?" He asked, studying the lake. "A very good illusion?"

Kakashi brought his hand to his chin and thought on what he said. "Well…" He looked at the lake, studying it with his eye that was visible. "If this is an illusion, it's very well made. But then again, we are searching for Akatsuki, I'm sure their territory is well hidden." He shrugged and stepped forward. "I'll check." He said as he brought his hands up in front of him. Then, he made hand seals that was unknown to his team mates, and when he finished his last seal, his eyes grew wide as he was thrown backwards with an unknown force.

"Kakashi!-sensei!" Naruto yelled as he jumped and caught Kakashi before he went tumbling down to the ground. "What happened?" He asked, but Kakashi was already standing and taking his sharingan out.

Kakashi looked around where they were, his red eye scanning thoroughly. "That place is defiantly their hideout." He said to his team mates, who were staring at him. "It's no illusion, it's real. Neji, will you look underwater?" He asked as he kept looking around for enemies. "Everyone else, guard Neji as he looks, I think there are guards here…But I'm sure you guys figured that out, no?" He asked.

Everyone nodded and got in a circle around Neji, all ready for battle. Sasuke had activated his Sharingan and was now, looking around with them, trying to figure out where the enemy was.

Neji, also had activated his Byakugan. He closed his eyes after another look at his comrades, concentrating on the task before him.

His vision carried him below the surface of the water, down and down he went. All he saw for a while was the blue water, and nothing else. Yet he knew there was something different about the lake, and he had to find it. He looked to his left, right, above, and below, still he only saw water. His vision went deeper into the water, looking for anything, anything that might give any hint to the place they are heading for.

Just when he was about to go down deeper into the water, a misty voice echoed through the water. "Look ahead of you." The voice said, echoing in Neji's head. Neji winced from some pain in his head with the echoing, but did as he was told. All he saw was a stone wall, indicating that that was one end of a lake. "The wall ahead of you is an illusion. When you take the illusion off, you will see a cave. Go through it. After a while of walking, you will be lead into a big dome. This is where your precious one is kept." The misty voice chuckled. "I will see to that you will get her out safely, I will try to make Akatsuki get away for a little while. Then wait for me outside of the lake, there will be a clearing in the north part of the lake. Wait for me there." He said. "She does not believe you will come and get her. She believes that you have all let go of her. Let's prove her wrong, shall we?" The voice chuckled once more, and disappeared.

Neji frowned, but he looked around the place, making sure he knew where to go next time he dives in, with the others. With that done, he came up to the surface and released his Byakugan.

"I got it." He said as he opened his eyes.

Kakashi smiled under his mask. "Good."

Neji looked around to see the others in scratches, but with no injuries that will cost lives. They were all smiling in victory. "Who was the enemy?" Neji asked, as he flexed his tired muscles from standing still.

Sasuke shrugged. "We don't know, but we got him cornered at one point, and we finished him."

Lee nodded. "But we don't think he was a member of Akatsuki. He wasn't that strong to be a member." He said, reassuring Neji.

"Well, it's underwater all right." He told them. He then crouched and drew a rough outline of the lake and placed an 'x' mark on one point of the lake. "The illusion you saw," He nodded to Kakashi. "Is this." He tapped the 'x' on the map. "There is an illusion on this part of the lake, and there is a cave underneath it. When we go past that, there is going to be a big dome and that's where they are." He said to them. "The lake it self is not an illusion." He explained as he looked at each one of them to make sure they understood. "But there are no life forms in there, not even a drop. I guess the animals thought it was unwise to live near Akatsuki, eh?" He placed one last joke as he stood up.

The others followed him and stood up. "All right then, are we going to go swim now?" Naruto asked, eagerly.

Kakashi chuckled. "Yes we are, Naruto." He said, and turned to Neji. "Did your byakugan take you that far?" He asked, meaning how he figured out the dome and all.

Neji hesitated, but told them the truth. "Well, the thing is, when I was in the water, I couldn't tell where was where. But…a voice spoke inside of the water." The others gaped at him.

"And you believe him?" Lee said, eyeing Neji weirdly.

Neji nodded. "The thing is…" He looked at the ground. "I think the voice was Itachi."

Sasuke looked at Neji funnily. "Itachi?" He asked.

Neji nodded once more. "Yes." He looked at the lake. "I think he is really trying for us to get to her. But anyway, he says that he will try to lure the Akatsuki away from the room as possible, and he wants us to get her out, and out here soon as possible. He then told us to wait up here." He pointed to a clearing next to the lake.

Lee frowned. "Are we really going to wait for him?" He asked. "Can we trust him?"

Neji shrugged. "I don't know." He said. "But he did lead us this far, hasn't he? And maybe he's trying to figure out a way to get Izaki turn into someone Akatsuki won't want anymore."

The others looked at Neji for some while and nodded. "All right, I have to agree with Neji. He did get us this far." Gai said, and the others nodded in agreement. "Now lead us the way."

Neji nodded gratefully at his former teacher. "This way." He said, and everyone dived into the water.

Just as the voice said, there was an illusion on the wall, and Kakashi and Gai released it together. There, they saw a cave, leading straight up. Neji frowned, but he swam into the cave, and when he felt like he swam all the way back up to the surface, he did, but inside a cave.

The others poked their heads out as well around him, and all nodded to each other and climbed out of the water. They all released their jutsu that kept them water free underwater and made sure they weren't wet at all. They will not have any chances of others knowing they came. A drop of water could lead to trouble.

Neji scanned the cave once, and with a flick of a hand to follow him, they went into the cave, deeper and deeper. They ran in a reasonable speed, and what felt like hours seemed to pay off, for they saw a dome ahead of them.

"Is that it?" Lee whispered to Neji.

Neji nodded in reply as they ran towards it, and slowed down at the end, and came to a stop about 20 feet before they went to the dome. There, Neji motioned them to stay, and walked over to the side of the wall. There, he walked along it carefully all the way to the entrance of the dome, and looked in. All he saw was a dome, and nothing more but a single door on the other side of were they are.

Neji looked back to them and motioned them to come to where he was standing. "I think that's the room Itachi was talking about." He told them with a whisper.

The others nodded and all walked inside the dome quietly as they could. It was a very quiet walk, a cautious careful walk, but they all made it to the other side. They all looked at Neji, to which Neji nodded and placed his hand on the door handle.

"Ready?" He asked his team mates. The others nodded. Neji turned his head back to the door, and opened it.

Akanishi-san: Hehe, how I love cliff hangers. Anyway, I'll try to update soon, now I have to go study for my AP Euro test tomorrow. Ack...its so hard...

BTW REVIEWRS

Uchiha-Clan-San: Yaay! I thought I lost you! > Thanks goodness you are still with me. Thanks for reviewing, and please read on

NekoGuyFan: Well, you kinda know what might happen...haha, its so obious..i make everything so obvious...its a bad thing tho...sorry for runing stuff in my story before it comes out.

Mangagurl101: Yes, everyone wants to help the heroin, like any other story. Today, I took my PSAT, and one critical reading thing paragraph, it said most writers always use the same story line thing. I have to agree...How many sotries out there have the heroin with demon? Tragic pasts? haha...anyway...thanks for reading this far, please reveiw

Keiya Mizuki: I'm glad you like it. I'm guessing you like the charas very much. Lol. Personally I like Itachi the best. Before I thought about this story, I was thinking of doing ItaxOc. But I guess I wanted to try Neji. XD.

hermion8: Haha, I'm taking it you like Neji? Anyway, please review