Chapter 55

Kidnapped: Rescuers on the Move!

Outside of the Leaf Village, three cloaked shadows swiftly moved through dense forests on their hunt for the jinchūriki child, unseen to any wayfaring merchants and enemy shinobi.

Slung over the shoulder of one cloaked shinobi was the unconscious and motionless form of a blue-haired child. Exhausted of chakra, the child slept in darkness, oblivious of her current location, their inevitable destination or what information she would soon unknowingly give them.

She would never know if she dreamed or not. But the stoic and injured man carrying her heard her quiet murmurs calling to her cousin. To her adopted mother. To her teacher. To their target.

His threat to kill her wouldn't dissuade the Leaf shinobi from tracking them down. Soon they would mobilize in an effort to rescue the child who risked everything to save them.

So he planned for the encounter—how it might go, how it needed to end and how to achieve the best outcome.

This time he would be prepared.

"Shisui…" Haya murmured.

This time he wouldn't fail.

"How's your arm now? Any better?" Hana asked, hands wrapping a fresh bandage around Kurenai's bicep.

"Yes, thank you," she thanked quietly.

The medic's application of rudimentary Medical Ninjutsu returned feeling to the numb and injured limb. Soreness remained, of course—the wound was deep, deeper than she expected. Dry blood coated her arm, unwashed in the little time to pass since the end of the battle against the three Akatsuki members, but some of her strength had returned to the limb.

Just enough to curl her fingers tightly around the bloodstained headband belonging to her daughter.

Kurenai sat in Kakashi's claustrophobic bedroom, body hunched forward as she gazed heartbrokenly at the Leaf headband held in her rigid fist, ruminating on the conclusion of the battle.

Amari was captured by the Akatsuki. Despite all of their efforts, despite fighting tooth and nail to stop Itachi, Aimi and Kisame, her little one had been taken from her grasps…and she could only watch it happen.

She could still see her daughter's lifeless body, drained of almost all of her chakra by that unbelievable power, held up by her head of soaked blue hair with a blade at her throat. She could see the trickle of crimson blood sliding down the blade; the streams of bloody tears staining her once defiant features, now absent of the strength and courage it took to fight such dominant shinobi.

Kurenai's hand tightened around the headband and began to shake. She gritted her teeth against the rage, the grief, against all the emotion bubbling up inside her in search of explosive release.

I was supposed to protect you, and yet you had to protect us.

"Sensei, Mom, Asuma-sensei. Don't worry about anything. I won't let any harm come to my family." Her daughter gave them a closed eyed smile. "I promise."

It should have been her to make that promise. It should have been her to protect her daughter from the Akatsuki. And yet…

"Try to attack us and I will kill her. Or do you think you'll be faster than my blade?"

I'm so sorry.

Hana finished wrapping her bicep and rested a gentle, sympathetic hand on her left shoulder. Kurenai didn't budge. The strands of her dark hair shadowed her glistening red eyes from sight as she grasped the only piece of her daughter she had left.

"We'll get her back," Hana soothed.

"Yes, we will," Atsuko agreed from the Genjutsu Master's right shoulder, her smooth voice bladed by rage. "So long as I draw breath, I will hunt them down to wherever they may hide and ensure personally that their last gasps of air are made in terror."

"Do any of your other agents need medical attention?" Hana asked. "The injuries the crow Amaririsu brought us—Osamu was his name—were critical. We have plenty of bird specialists to provide aid to your agents if they need it."

"I thank you." Kurenai sensed the bow of her head. "Although we were caught off guard, I suspect Osamu's injuries are the worst we encountered, but I won't know more until I have a full report from my agents." A slight pause. "How was Osamu when you last saw him? Recovering, I hope?"

Hana nodded. "He was in good hands. It may be a little while before he's flying again, but he should make a full recovery."

"Mm. That is good news at least."

Hana stood up and meandered over to Kakashi's bed where the three Haimaru Brothers laid on the floor, guarding the bed as if they all expected an enemy to sneak in to finish the job. One of them whined at her approach.

"We'll get moving soon," she responded. "Still have their scents memorized?" A light growl. "Good. Those three have experience erasing their presence from tracker shinobi, so I'll need you three at your best. Guy, you almost ready?"

"Of course," the bushy-browed shinobi responded firmly from his seat at the edge of Kakashi's bed. "But first I want Mimi's diagnosis of Kakashi's condition, that way we can make whatever preparations are necessary to nurse my rival back to youthful health."

Team Seven's sensei laid unconscious beneath his bed covers. Mimi leaned over him, eyes shut and green hue covered hands cupped around his skull. The only other occupant of the room was Asuma, who sat atop Kakashi's dresser, his left bicep and leg wrapped with fresh white bandages. The latter limb he kept fully extended over the empty surface he sat on.

According to Mimi and Aoko, Amari had been on the verge of a deadly dose of chakra exhaustion—no doubt the result of the Mangekyō Sharingan techniques she used. They had yet to learn the full extent of Kakashi's trauma.

Among these vast and enormous dark clouds looming over Kurenai, one single ray of hopeful light broke through the clouds: Her daughter still lived. She wasn't dead. She wasn't out of reach. And they knew why the Akatsuki captured her.

Naruto…

Wherever he was, they would use Amari to draw him out. She would be the bowl of ramen to bait Naruto out of his den, at which point the three Akatsuki members would ensnare him. So as long as they didn't find Naruto and capture him, Amari's value wouldn't be diminished.

However, this truth only lasted for these next important hours. Eventually she'd become useless to the cruel rogue shinobis, and when she did they would hold no qualms of disposing of her.

They had to act soon. If they didn't, Amari could be lost forever.

She's not lost yet, Kurenai reminded herself.

As long as there was even a fragment of chakra in her daughter, Amari would hold on. And as long as Itachi thought she was of some use he'd keep her alive. His word was law, with Aimi's a close second.

So long as I have breath in my body, I will continue to hunt for her. No matter how long it takes, I will find her and I will bring her back safely.

That was absolute.

"Sensei…I…" Mimi's hesitant voice broke the silence of the confined bedroom.

"What is it Mimi?" Guy questioned, worried.

"The damage he's received, it's unlike anything I've ever practiced to heal." Her gaze turned to her sensei. "While his back had evidence of burns from some kind of explosion and his chakra was depleted to a dangerously low level, those were in my wheelhouse to fix. But…"

"But the psychological trauma Itachi put him through is insurmountable," Kurenai strung together her longest sentence since the battle ended.

"Yes," the young medic said.

Most shinobi didn't understand the unparalleled damage a genjutsu could inflict in the hands of a master. In the world of illusions, anything could be done to damage or even break the psyche of an enemy.

Ordinary genjutsu techniques could bring no physical harm to a shinobi, and most did only enough to render the enemy unconscious, but a true master could trick the mind and body into actually believing the damage it received was real. It took exceptional mastery of genjutsu to perform—mastery Itachi possessed.

Kurenai had met a handful of shinobi capable of performing genjutsu of this level. Before the massacre, the Uchiha Clan stood high above all others in their proficiency for genjutsu, able to entangle their enemies in a world of illusion with a single look before a battle could even begin.

However, now Itachi, Aimi, Amari and Sasuke were all that was left of a Clan feared for their genjutsu prowess—perhaps that masked man too. Kakashi's current state revealed why shinobi feared battling the Uchiha Clan.

Mimi looked down at the unconscious Copy Ninja and began to speak, "Psychological trauma isn't anywhere in my specialties. It's not a broken bone or a torn muscle."

She turned her eyes back to her sensei, her helplessness seeping into her voice. "To heal an injury like this, I don't think any average doctor or medic-nin can do anything about it. You'd need a master of Medical Ninjutsu who knows how to heal psychological trauma."

"Why is that?" Guy asked.

"If you don't know what you're poking around at, instead of healing you'll only hurt your patient," Hana explained. "I know enough rudimentary Medical Ninjutsu to take care of battle cuts, stabs and burns, but my specialty is veterinary medicine. Throw me into an important surgery for a critically injured shinobi and I'll accidently kill them."

"Same applies here," Mimi continued off her cousin's statement. "If I tried to do something with my lack of knowledge on psychological damage, the possibilities of what could go wrong are endless. I could end up damaging one of his four lobes or screwing up his motor controls." She glanced back at the unconscious ninja. "Possibly even leave him brain-dead."

"Well, thank you for trying Mimi," Guy thanked his student.

"Sorry I can't do more for him." Mimi moved to stand up but stopped herself. "Sensei, what were those bastards after? Was it Amari?"

"No. Not Amaririsu," Guy answered hesitantly. "Amaririsu was a convenient hostage. However I'm concerned that explosion we saw may turn her into more."

Even without looking, she could sense Guy's intense features through his voice alone. "Even I felt a shiver of fear when we witnessed that devastating power. Itachi and his comrades may now want to steal it for themselves, and I don't need to tell any of you how dangerous that would be."

"Was that the technique Kakashi-sensei wanted her to learn?" Mimi asked.

"It can't be," Guy shook his head. "I have committed to memory every move Kakashi has ever used in battle to prepare for our hot-blooded challenges. In all these years, he has never used a technique like that. That's a technique I would never forget."

"Shinobi of their level don't do anything without cause, especially Itachi and Aimi," Hana stated. "I grew up with those two. There's a reason everyone hailed them as genius prodigies, and it wasn't to stroke the egos of the Uchiha Clan. Them and a guy named Shisui Uchiha were the best of the best."

Kurenai winced at the name.

"They don't need that power to accomplish their goals, but they will steal it if they get the chance for their organization. And like Guy said, power like that in their hands is bad news for everyone." Hana sighed. "Still, if they wanted to wipe us out, now would be the perfect time to strike the Leaf. We're wounded prey, ripe for the kill. There's no reason for them to waste time skulking around in the shadows when Itachi and Aimi grew up here. They already know the Leaf's layout.

"Which means they wanted one of two things: Either to be noticed so we know they can infiltrate and kill our people without breaking a sweat, or…"

Hana had it figured out. Kurenai could tell by her voice alone.

"Or they were after a different target?" asked Mimi.

"Right."

"But why take Amari hostage? I mean, come on, if those three could infiltrate the Leaf without raising an alarm they could just as easily escape without taking Amari. She's dead weight in her condition."

"They needed to guarantee we wouldn't follow them immediately," Hana started. "But I'd bet Amaririsu had Intel on where they might find their true target."

"But who could…" Mimi gasped. She figured it out too. "They're after the Goofball!"

"And who better to use as bait than his best friend," Hana said.

"Those bastards," Mimi growled.

"What I don't get," Asuma started, "is why they didn't find him. They had already infiltrated the village, and Aimi left us to battle Itachi and Kisame to complete her mission." He sighed. "Itachi and Aimi know what Naruto's face looks like already. She shouldn't have had any problem finding him."

"Shhh!" Guy shushed them all at the sound of approaching footsteps. Kurenai knew who it was by chakra signature alone. Why now…

The knob turned, and as the door began to open the voice of Sasuke followed, "Hey Kakashi-sensei, Naruto just headed to pack up and leave to meet—"

His words died upon seeing the room full of Jōnin, plus Mimi, Aoko and Atsuko.

The gears in his head began to turn slowly at first. "Why is Kakashi asleep?" Then they picked up steam. Asleep, no. That didn't make sense. If he was asleep, why would all these people be here? His eyes became severe as he stepped further into the room, closing the door behind him. "And why are there so many Jōnin in this room."

Sasuke switched his gaze between all of them in search of answers, finding only nervous silence. His eyes finished on Kurenai, taking in her bloody arm first. "What the hell is going on here? Why is Kurenai-sensei injured, and…"

He finally saw the bloody headband clutched in her hand—really saw it. She couldn't offer anything except her broken silence. She couldn't reassure him it wasn't what he thought. She couldn't lie and say this was someone else's headband when she clutched it as if she were clutching onto her daughter's spirit. It was precisely what he thought.

Amari was gone. And she failed to protect her.

"Is that…" He stepped cautiously towards her, voice stunned, disbelieving of what his eyes were seeing. It couldn't be, right? It couldn't be Amari's headband. It just couldn't.

Kurenai squeezed her eyes shut behind the shadow casted over her face by her hair when he rested his shaky hand on the cool and bloodstained metal. "I'm sorry, Sasuke," her voice trembled. "I tried…I tried to protect her…but I…"

The unfinished statement hung in the air. Sasuke's nails scraped against the metal as he held lightly onto the headband. His chakra, his mere presence, was full of conflict. Full of heavy emotions just like she was. Before his hand left the cloth, he offered the only condolence he could by resting his hand on hers in silent solidarity.

He turned to the other shinobi. "What happened to Amari?" he bit out each word, then he raised his voice, "Where is she?! Why are you all just sitting around here?!"

"Easy, Sasuke," Mimi tried to abate his anger. "We're going to—"

The door to Kakashi's room burst open suddenly, snapping everyone's attention to the new visitor.

"Hey, is it true Itachi has returned?!" Aoba, a special Jōnin of Konoha, entered the room in a panic without taking note of his surroundings. Sasuke stiffened visibly.

Everyone opened their mouths to shut him up before he could say more, but he hurried his words out. "And that he kidnapped Amaririsu Yūhi to trap Naruto?!"

Searing red eyes would have incinerated her comrade if a mere look could kill.

Sasuke inhaled a sharp, surprised breath. "Itachi," he hissed under his breath. Quickly he shoved his way past Aoba and darted out of sight.

"You idiot, have you ever heard of paying attention to your surroundings!" Kurenai seethed.

"Why does this always happen?!" Guy slapped a hand to his forehead in irritation.

"Guy, there's no time to waste. Amaririsu needs us," Hana said firmly.

"Right. Let's go!" he agreed, standing up and rushing out the door with Hana and her ninken right behind him.

Aoba, off balance and confused by the two departures, finally recognized his mistake. Kurenai watched him shrink and slink away with terrifying red eyes.

"Atsuko, are you ready?" she asked.

"I am at your command, Lady Kurenai. Shall we go?" Atsuko asked.

Kurenai nodded mutely. She stood up and spared Asuma a small, worried glance. He waved her off. "Go on. My leg is only going to slow me down, and Amari doesn't have a second to spare. Besides, Shikaku needs to know what's going on."

"We'll be back soon," she promised.

He nodded. "I know. Take care of yourself, Kurenai."

"I will."

She left the cramped and claustrophobic walls of Kakashi's bedroom behind for the open air of the Leaf. It still seemed peaceful here. Unaware of the battle that had taken place only minutes before.

Kurenai tied Amari's bloodstained headband around her neck.

I'm coming, little one.

Someone cleared their throat behind her, giving her pause.

"I'm coming too," Mimi stated rather than asked.

Kurenai glanced over her shoulder at the Inuzuka behind her. Her face and stance were firm; she wasn't going to take no for an answer here.

"What makes you think I won't stop you from coming?" Kurenai asked, her voice low and serious.

"You need someone who can heal Amari if they've hurt her any more than she was, and Hana's specialty is animals." She pointed to her nose. "Plus, with my nose, I'll be able to track Amari's scent anywhere."

"Never play shogi with a Nara and always trust an Inuzuka's nose is a motto I have learned to trust in," Atsuko provided composed wisdom.

The motto had sound logic.

Kurenai dipped her head in silent order to follow. "Come along then and be sure to keep up."

The two began ninja jumping across the rooftops of the Village with Atsuko taking to the skies to follow them. "We should find Guy-sensei and Hana before we go. I know we need to rush, but we can't be reckless against someone who can do the damage done to Kakashi-sensei. And those other two aren't burdened by the same injuries Itachi gained. We'll need all the strength we can get."

She has good instincts, I'll give her that. "All right. Which way?"

"Directly Northeast." The Inuzuka pointed in the direction. They changed direction and chased after the two shinobi.

"Why are you doing this Mimi?" Kurenai asked after a lengthy silence. "You know the danger we face is unlike anything you've ever faced, even in Guy's training regimen."

"Ha!" Mimi grinned. "That's the truth, and Guy-sensei's idea of training is crazy."

That little moment was the last glimpse of Mimi's usual personality she'd see on this mission.

Her grin fell back into a serious expression. "For starters she's a friend and comrade in the hands of an enemy with bad intentions. If we have to hunt them down to the edges of the earth, I'll damn well do it, but…"

Kurenai looked over to the Inuzuka, who went silent, with a raised eyebrow. Her sapphire eyes were distant. "But what?" she prompted.

Mimi didn't answer at first. Her eyes gazed out at the horizon, uncertain in her own ability to open up about this personal topic.

"Amari is one of the few people who I can say knows the pain of loss and never let it turn her cold," she spoke up. "Unlike her, I did. Before I was put on Team Guy I used to be really cold…I still am sometimes." The admission came reluctantly.

Kurenai remember seeing that during the preliminaries against Hironori.

"This is the part where I usually ask my opponent to forfeit because I don't want to cause them more pain. But for people like you I make an exception. Aoko, knock him senseless."

She could still remember his agony filled screams and the blood to come from his ruptured eardrums.

"When I lost my parents…I lost a lot of myself," Mimi continued. "I put on a mask to pretend I was okay. But all it took was the tiniest thing to make me snap and beat the hell out of anyone if they insulted me, my heritage or my family. During that time I hurt a lot of people because I was hurting… I'm…I'm not proud of the person I became. Doubt my parents would be either."

Kurenai's eyes softened. I can see the same pain in her eyes that I see in Amari's. Pain that has anchored onto their hearts and refuses to let go.

"It's thanks to Aoko, my aunty, cousins and Team Guy that I never lost all of myself. They kept me stable, kept me from fully forsaking who I am.

"Yet, even though I've tried hard to put it all behind me, I almost fell right back into it again because of those Sand shinobi. After they hurt Lee and Tenten, all I could feel was that old anger. I wanted to rip them to shreds! To make them suffer for hurting those two and stealing Lee's dream from him!"

Mimi took a breath, gloved hands uncurling from their fists. "I was losing myself to it. I felt justified too, just like I used to. But Amari encouraged me to stay true to myself. She understood what I was feeling inside, and never once passed judgement on me for feeling the way I did. She encouraged me to put it behind me for the sake of my precious people.

"I battled with it daily. I knew she was right, but I couldn't just let go of it." Mimi lowered her eyes. "Then Amari made that speech before our match. I'll never forget what she said. I'll never forget how passionate she was about it, all for my sake. She could have left me be, pretended it wasn't her business or pushed me away for my attitude, and she'd have won our fight.

"I…I've only had a few people who actively reached out to me like she did. Each passionate in their own ways, but Amari's speech is special. Amari is special."

Kurenai's heart felt warm at the impact her daughter had on Mimi.

"Our fight was damn awesome. I loved every single second of it, even if she all but crushed my insides with that punch." Mimi exhaled a breath. Not a full laugh, but close. "During that final collision of my Water Style and her Fire Style, though, I experienced something extraordinary with her."

Mimi looked to her. "This is gonna sound crazy, but I saw her memories. I saw pieces of her past life like short snippets of a movie playing out in front of me. I saw her life before the massacre, her days at the orphanage, the day she lost Ryu. And I can prove it too, because when you showed Amari her room, she bowed her head to you and balled her eyes out."

Kurenai's eyes widened. How? How could Mimi know that?

"You're an incredible woman, Kurenai-sensei. What you said to that broken girl when she needed it most, and the hug you gave her, changed her life. You saved Amari. You saved her from uncertain darkness and the loneliness she feared."

Amari told me about her experience with their communication. I…I didn't know Mimi saw so much, though.

"I saw her life, Mom," her daughter tried to explain as they sat together on the couch. "Mimi used to be so carefree and happy when her parents were still alive. I could feel it. And I could feel her pain and sorrow as she cried at their grave stone.

"This strange communication we shared, it put me as a bystander to her life. I watched her sleepless nights when all she had was Aoko to comfort her through the tears, wanting to just hug her so she knew everything would be okay. I saw the people who tried to bully her, and when she fought back the darkness finally consumed her, replacing her real emotions with a mask.

"Tender moments with Hana, the formation of Team Guy, her quarrels with Neji, Lee's and Tenten's lights reaching through to her. I saw it all. And I felt everything she did when they hurt Tenten and Lee.

"But through it all I was finally able to figure out what our connection was and why we are so close."

"Amari is…Amari's a sister to me," Mimi said.

"We're sisters."

"Takes a lot for me to respect a person; I don't give it away freely, not after what I went through. Gotta earn it, and Amari has a thousand times over. I never thought someone younger than me could teach me so much, but she did it a lot that day. Especially after our battle against the Sand shinobis."

"Oh?"

"Did she tell you how our fight with the Sand shinobis ended? After Naruto defeated Gaara I mean."

Kurenai shook her head. "Amari didn't elaborate on much. She mentioned Hikari was saved and they all fled with the battle over."

"We had a chance to kill all three Sand shinobi. They were at our mercy…and yet, Amari let them go." Mimi stared thoughtfully into her own abyss. "Even after everything we witnessed the Sand do to our village and allies, she had the heart to let them go. 'Enough blood has been spilled today,' she had said.

"I would have killed them, said it was justified because of what they did to my friends and what their fellow ninjas did to our village…and I would have been wrong."

She lowered her eyes but kept pace as they moved across another rooftop. "After it was all over, I thought back to what I used to be like and the unchecked hatred growing in me, and I realized I could have been someone like Gaara. Someone who believed to justify my existence I had to beat the living hell out of everyone or kill them.

"The more I thought about it, the more I realized I would want someone to see something redeemable in me despite my darkness. Someone to give me a second chance, to show me I could be different if I tried hard enough," she said quietly.

"I think you found those people, Mimi," Kurenai said.

"Yeah, but I got lucky." Mimi lifted her eyes back to the path ahead. "To know when enough blood has been shed, to have enough compassion to spare an enemy, to believe there is something redeemable in someone who is lost in darkness even after being betrayed by someone she considered a brother, that compassion is something this world needs more of."

The Inuzuka's sapphire eyes met her red ones with respect. "Your daughter, like Lee and the Goofball, is a very bright spot in a very dark world, Kurenai-sensei. I'm here to ensure her light isn't taken from this world."

Kurenai smiled warmly. "Thank you."

Mimi gave a short nod. "I'll do all I can to help her." She turned her head to face forward. "Guy-sensei and Hana are right up here."

Determination filled the mother.

I promise I will save you.

Minutes Before

Why is he here?!

Sasuke's heart pounded harshly against his chest as he sprinted through streets and over rooftops.

Why was Itachi back? Why was he trying to trap Naruto? Why Amari? Did he learn how close those two were? How long had he planned this? What did he hope to accomplish?

So many fearful questions, none he could answer yet. All Sasuke could think about was reaching his shared apartment, hopeful he could catch Naruto before he left. He had to stop him. There was no other option. If Naruto left with whoever this Pervy Sage was, he'd be caught outside of the Village by Itachi, away from any chance of reinforcements.

But if he could reach him in time, if he could stop Naruto, they could pause for a second and think up a plan to rescue Amari.

It doesn't make sense. Why now? Why Naruto and Amari? Unless… Sasuke's heart's harsh slams grew more intense as a new thought came to mind. Unless he's here to kill everyone close to me again.

Had his brother found out what team he had been put on? Had he been watching him this whole time, waiting for the moment he created bonds so he could destroy them as he destroyed their Clan?

I won't let him!

Sasuke skidded to a halt at the door to their shared apartment. The loser had to still be here. He had to be. It was only ten or fifteen minutes ago he went to get packed. There was no way he had finished getting ready already.

The Uchiha gripped the door knob tightly, turned it and ripped the door open. If he possessed the strength, he'd have ripped it off its hinges.

On the opposite side of the door, another person was about to open the door. When he tore it open, the person stumbled forward, all but tackling him to the ground as they were yanked ahead, knocking the box they carried out of their hand to the ground.

"Sas- Sasuke?" Sakura stuttered in surprise at his panting, wild eyed form.

Wrong teammate. He cursed inwardly.

Sakura quickly picked up the small box wrapped in a blue cloth.

"Is Naruto in there?" he asked earnestly.

"No." She shook her head. "I came over to drop off chocolates to you two, but neither of you were here. Have you seen Amari or Kurenai-sensei? They weren't home."

Amari and Kurenai-sensei…

"I'm sorry, Sasuke."

A sudden pang of guilt and agony clenched Sasuke's heart. He could see clearly the blood on Kurenai's arm, the bloody headband in her trembling hand. He could hear the guilt and grief she tried to hide.

Was this all his fault for getting close to them? Had he endangered these people?

Sasuke struggled to find the words to say to his teammate. "Sakura…Amari's gone."

"Gone?" Her eyes widened in panic. "What do you mean she's gone?!"

Sasuke tried to turn to leave; he couldn't stand to be in this position feeling so utterly weak and defeated thanks to his brother. He couldn't stand seeing the pain of another person affected by his brother's malice.

He didn't get far. A vice grip clenched his bicep and turned him back to face fierce emerald eyes. "What happened?" she bit out. "Amari wouldn't just leave the Leaf or us."

"She didn't have a choice."

The words to explain the situation were hard to grasp. He still didn't want to believe that Jōnin was right. He didn't want to believe the truth his eyes had seen when he looked at Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai of the challenging and, inevitably, futile confrontation against his brother to save his clan-sister.

But he'd be a brain-dead idiot to ignore the truth. He saw the truth. He heard it straight from Kurenai's mouth. He didn't blame them or curse their names; he understood better than anyone what Itachi was capable of. And Kurenai carried enough grief and guilt without his state of conflicting emotions.

Now, though, the nauseating bombshell was swarming him. Amari was gone. Kidnapped by his murderer of a brother to trap Naruto. Why? To kill them? To torment them? To make Sasuke watch her suffering to force his eyes to mature?

"My brother," he started slowly, "he came back and kidnapped Amari. Kakashi-sensei, Kurenai-sensei and Asuma-sensei tried to protect her, but Itachi took out Kakashi-sensei with some kind of technique and injured the other two. All they have left of Amari is her headband."

He dared not mention the blood on it. He dared not to even think of where the blood came from, or the possibilities of what Itachi already did to her. He couldn't bear it.

Pure doe eyed disbelief, worry and pain crossed Sakura's face. And it hurt. Sasuke hated to tell her this. Hated that Itachi had come back from whatever hole he hid himself in, all to harm his team. Hated that there was nothing he had been able to do about it.

"Ho- how did this all happen? When?"

"I don't know. But some Jōnin said he was going after Naruto next." Sasuke pulled his arm free of Sakura's grasp. "I have to go find that knucklehead before Itachi does, and then I'm going to get Amari back."

He refused to let Itachi kill Amari or torture her the same way he had done to him. Whatever his plan was for his clan-sister, Sasuke would put an end to it.

"I'm coming too," Sakura stated as if it was even up for debate.

"No, you're not," Sasuke told her firmly.

He was met by a stare that could have shattered diamonds. "I'm not some weak girl you have to carry around Sasuke. Naruto and Amari are my teammates too."

Sasuke knew that. He knew she was stronger. He knew she had a personal stake in their safety just as he did, but she had no idea who they were up against.

"I know, but Itachi isn't a regular shinobi. His eyes, the power that resides in them is far beyond Kakashi-sensei's, Amari's or my own."

I've seen that power firsthand. The things he made me watch…

Sasuke clenched his hands into fists as they began to shake. "I don't know what he is after, but if he is targeting my team then he'll go after you as well." He met her emerald eyes with a protective stare. "I won't let him hurt you or the others more than he already has."

Sakura did not back down. She met his gaze, and in her eyes he saw a will stronger than ever before. "I don't care what power resides in his eyes. I've trained against Amari's Sharingan and her greatest weakness is the same as yours and your brothers. If you can't meet my eyes, you can't cast your Sharingan genjutsu on me."

She tossed the box back into the apartment and closed the door behind her before turning to face him in confident defiance. "Your brother is not going to get away with Amari and he isn't going to take Naruto either. This isn't just your responsibility, Sasuke. We're a team. We do this together or not at all."

Sakura walked past him towards the balcony and pointed in the direction of the ramen stand. "If Naruto is still in the Village, he'll be at Ichiraku. If he isn't there then maybe Teuchi or Ayame will know where he went." She looked over her shoulder at him. "Let's go."

Sakura…

Sasuke gave a nod and the duo headed off to the ramen stand.

You've changed. For the better.

He hoped they wouldn't be too late.

Haya's unconscious head slumped as Itachi released it. Her chin tucked into her steadily rising and falling chest, entirely unaware to the information his Sharingan had pulled from her mind, his crouched position looming over her or the other two Akatsuki members behind him.

Silently, he reached his uninjured hand up and pulled her bandana over her eyes. They couldn't risk her using a single Mangekyō technique on them; should she do so, chakra exhaustion would kill her instantly.

That was an undesirable conclusion. So he took the extra precaution to obstruct her eyes with her precious bandana, giving her the appearance of one who had their eyes plucked from them with those dry streaks of blood marking her fair cheeks.

"So, what'd you learn?" Kisame asked patiently.

"Our target is traveling with Master Jiraiya of the Sannin," he began to explain, pulling out a string of ninja wire and grabbing her hands to tie them together. Another precaution. Couldn't risk her using any ninjutsu at this point either. The stubborn girl already delayed and injured him more than he expected in their encounter.

"Master Jiraiya, eh? Hm," Kisame hummed in discontent. "I don't like those odds. Even with the three of us I'm pretty sure he'd kill me. Think you two could take him?"

"Any battle between us and the Legendary Sannin will end in all of our deaths—Master Jiraiya included," Aimi stated. "Frontal assault isn't an option, not against a shinobi of his caliber."

"Say Itachi, any idea why this kid is traveling with one of the Legendary Sannin? Far as I know jinchūriki are resented by everyone."

Yes, they were. That's what made them far easier targets for the Akatsuki than they should be. Because people were so close-minded, they treated jinchūriki with callous disdain and vehement hatred, so when one disappeared no one bothered to look for them. Good riddance they would say, and it is that attitude that would be the world's undoing when the Akatsuki took center stage in the coming years.

"It would seem Master Jiraiya plans to train him," Itachi answered, knotting the wire tightly so Haya would not be able to form a single handseal.

He did not expect her to awaken soon, but he hadn't expected a many great events today. And Itachi knew better now than to underestimate Haya Uchiha.

"He must know what the Akatsuki seek," Aimi noted. "Why else would he train the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tailed Fox while traveling? He must plan to keep him on the move while protecting him, and so long as he is around, this child will be one of the hardest to track and capture."

"Which means now is our best opportunity to capture the Nine-Tailed Fox," Itachi said. "Our reports suggest the jinchūriki has yet to gain full control of the Nine-Tails power. Alone he will be the easiest for us to capture, but first we'll need to find a way to separate him from Master Jiraiya."

"That'll be tough," Kisame said.

"Every shinobi has a weakness, even one of Master Jiraiya's skill and talent."

Every shinobi and every jutsu had weaknesses. There were no exceptions. All they had to do was find and exploit Master Jiraiya's to achieve their mission.

"All right. What about this kid? We disposing of her?"

Itachi did not answer at first. He stared at the unconscious child's slack body, eyes lingering on the pendent of her fused Clan crests.

If only things had turned out differently…

"No," he finally answered. Itachi hefted the unconscious girl onto his good shoulder. "Haya still has some use to our mission. From what I learned, she is very close to this jinchūriki. Close enough he may wish to exchange his life for hers."

"Once he sees her at our mercy, any unnecessary battle or struggle will be nipped at the bud," Aimi concluded his plan.

He nodded silently.

"Probably better we do it your way, considering the state your arm is in," Kisame said, eyes examining the severe burns on his arm and the minor twitches it made.

Aimi frowned at the limb then stepped closer, placing a Medical Ninjutsu covered hand over his bicep. "Aimi—"

"You've already overdone it enough today, 'Tachi. I know we need to move, but we can afford a preliminary treatment to lessen the pain." Her Sharingan eyes met his, soft and compassionate. "Please, don't argue."

Itachi sighed. Aimi still remained the one person he couldn't argue with.

"Yeah, Itachi, don't argue. Wouldn't want Aimi to tie you down. Or maybe you would, hehe!" Kisame grinned.

Itachi sent a mild glare at the swordsman, coaxing another chortle out of the shinobi.

"You are very fortunate it was only burns you received," Aimi continued. "Any slower and Haya would have killed you both, or left you in need of an amputation. As it is," her hand moved down his limb, the intense pain lessening by the warm waves of Medical Ninjutsu, "I should be able to heal it back to health. However, you may have some scarring."

"I've got to ask, after everything we saw from this kid, are we sure we don't want to take her eyes now?" Kisame asked curiously. "With her intelligence and her power, she'll make it into the Bingo Book one day if she has time to gain more experience and hone her abilities. Maybe even with a bounty that will catch Kakuzu's attention."

Itachi noticed Aimi hide the slightest of proud smiles.

"We'll deal with her after we've captured the jinchūriki," Itachi said. "I'm also not confident we'll be able to steal her eyes."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"There could be other fūinjutsu invisible to our eyes that will protect them or kill whoever attempts to remove them," Itachi explained. "We have no way of knowing, and I have no intention of risking any of our lives without proper preparations to counter high leveled fūinjutsu." He met Kisame's eyes with a wry expression. "Unless you'd like to die at the hands of someone already dead."

Kisame's lips split into a wide, sharp toothed grin. "Good point."

Itachi snorted softly and lifted his burned hand to clutch Aimi's forearm gently. "Thank you. The pain isn't as bad now."

She pursed her lips in a cute pout. "'Tachi…"

"Come," he motioned for her and Kisame to follow as he started walking towards their destination. "The sooner we capture the jinchūriki, the sooner you can finish healing my arm."

And the sooner they finished their objective, the sooner he could set things right.

Two sets of Leaf shinobi raced in search of Naruto and Amari. Sasuke and Sakura alone were ahead of the second group, both running faster than they had ever run before to the nearby outpost Teuchi pointed them towards.

The second group of Leaf shinobi—consisting of Kurenai, Guy, Hana, Mimi, their four ninken and Atsuko—traced Amari's scent as best they could, following it through the forestry where the trio of Akatsuki traveled. They stopped only once, the same as their prey, where they found her scent lingered.

They were close. Closer than they had been when the first departed the Leaf in search of her.

And as both groups chased after the kidnapped kunoichi, they all carried the same thought.

Please, let us save them this time.

Review Response to ChillinInKonoha: Glad you liked her Mangekyo abilities! We'll be seeing soon what Amari's fate will be with her capture by the Akatsuki. Thank you for the review!