Chapter 9

A Change of Plans

There wasn't enough saké on the face of the earth to wash away the bitter taste left in Tsunade's mouth after a session with the counselors. Heh...counselors...that's a laugh! She had barely managed to keep from lunging across her desk to throttle the wizened old battle-axes as they attempted to tell her what to do! If she and Shizune hadn't taken the step of tying her ankle to her chair with chakra-enforced bindings, it would have been all over for the pair of egotistical asses. The sudden pain in her ankle silently reminded her that gutting the two elders would be frowned on by the populace, no matter how justified it might be.

Tsunade sighed and leaned back in that very chair, tugging slightly against the chakra-enforced fastener and smiled to herself. She was indeed fortunate to have an aide who understood her urges and found such simple ways to keep her from ruining the image of the Hokage.

"Shizune!" She waited a moment until the dark-haired woman poked her head through the doorway.

"Did you need something Hokage?"

Tsunade placed a placating grin on her face. "That would depend on whether or not you'd like to spend your evening trying to fix my chair."

Shizune stared at her in confusion. "Your chair? Is there something wrong with it?"

Tsunade rolled her eyes. Obviously, her subtle hint didn't work. "Not yet...but there will be if you don't remove my tether soon."

Shizune's face colored to a deep scarlet and her eyes went wide. "Oh my...I'm so sorry Lady Tsunade! I completely forgot about that in my rush to get those people out of the building."

While she was speaking, the young woman moved to her side and immediately went to work removing the bindings around her ankle. Tsunade smiled at the younger woman fondly. After all, it wasn't her fault those old geezers were so damned thick-headed. She sighed and rolled her neck in an attempt to loosen the muscles that tightened from the stressful meeting. The move didn't go unnoticed.

"What did they say this time Lady Tsunade?"

She met the woman's dark gaze and tried not to frown as she recalled the disastrous meeting. "They ordered me to recall all teams sent to locate Kakashi and begin preparations for a village-wide move to an alternate location."

Shizune stood up and shook her head. "They ordered you?"

Tsunade laughed, finally starting to see some humor in the whole twisted mess. "Yeah, and their faces rivaled Iruka Umino's at his angriest when I told them they had to be insane if they thought I'd let them order me to do anything."

Shizune's hands lifted to cover her mouth in shock. "You didn't..."

"I did." Tsunade smirked. "They stood there stunned for a good minute before they started in again and I sent them away."

Shizune turned to face the desk, moving to straighten the piles of documents and folders scattered over its surface. Tsunade knew the woman long enough to know this was her way to avoid saying something that was likely to be taken badly. She crossed her arms in front of her and cleared her throat until Shizune turned back to face her.

"What's on your mind, Shizune?"

The younger woman sighed and leaned back to sit on the edge of the desk. "Lady Tsunade, do you really think it's such a good idea to anger them?"

"Anger them? What the hell, Shizune? Whose side are you on?"

The woman flushed in embarrassment. "It's not about sides...but, Lady Tsunade...isn't it possible that, in this case, they might be right?"

Tsunade felt her anger growing and scowled at her aide. "What are you saying, Shizune?"

"I mean...shouldn't we be taking the lull in Akatsuki action as an opportunity to save as many innocents in the Village as we can?"

Tsunade narrowed her eyes. Had the counselors gotten to her aide? Or worse...was Shizune actually right...and she'd overstepped her duties as Hokage? She closed her eyes. But how could she just give up on the brat? She'd promised herself, and the memories of the Third and Fourth, that she'd watch over the boy. Of course, as Hokage she'd also sworn on her blood to protect the civilians of Konoha. Dammit! Why wasn't anything easy anymore?

Opening her eyes, Tsunade saw Shizune was staring at her expectantly. She sighed and scratched at the back of her neck. "Alright, Shizune. You've made your point. Recall the teams..."

Shizune smiled warmly at her, easing a bit of the dread that was creeping into her heart. "Yes, Hokage. I'll make the arrangements at once."

Her aide left and Tsunade turned to stare out the windows and down onto the village. How the hell had things gotten so out of hand? Now all she could do was hope to keep enough people safe to maintain the power of Konoha after this nightmare finished playing out.

She sighed and whispered into the quiet of her office. "I'm so sorry, Kakashi…but it looks like you're on your own for now."

Itachi watched the others take position around the entrance to Orochimaru's lair and wondered whether they were wasting their time or not. There was every chance the Snake-bastard had already moved from this location, taking his prisoner with him. As history proved, the man rarely stayed in the same place for long. Still, another part of him hoped he wasn't gone and that they'd manage to locate Kakashi Hatake.

After all, Pein's reaction when they'd informed him of Kakashi's capture confused him, and he was looking forward to seeing just what was so special about the man. He doubted the leader would have been as concerned if any of the rest of them had been abducted. What was it about their newest member that resulted in such a fanatical response from every member of the Akatsuki?

He frowned. Now wasn't the time to figure that puzzle out. He needed to concentrate on the task at hand. Itachi motioned to Kisame that he was ready and prepared himself to move in. They'd watched Kabuto, Sasuke and a handful of Sound ninja leave the lair earlier in the day and it hopefully meant that the Snake-Sannin was relatively alone within the building. Which was good, considering their main objective was to rescue their Akatsuki Brother – not encounter Orochimaru's lackeys.

Still, he had to admit he'd felt conflicted when he watched his little brother lead the others out into the forest surrounding this lair. Part of him wanted nothing more than to follow after him to confront the boy and point out the stupidity of giving himself over to Orochimaru. Of course, another part of him was proud of the fact Sasuke was still trying to gain enough power to come after him rather than remaining weak.

"Itachi?" Kisame's whisper brought him back to the present task.

He nodded once at the Mist ninja and watched as the shark-toothed man headed into the bowels of the lair, followed by Zetsu and Deidara. As the light of day was replaced by the dull gloom of the corridors of the lair, Itachi activated his sharingan and allowed his senses to sharpen. They all knew, firsthand, how devious Orochimaru was, and as such, they recognized nothing would be easy in this extraction.

A sharp scream cut through the silence of the halls and Itachi felt his blood run cold when it became clear the voice belonged to Kakashi. Two thoughts crossed his mind – Orochimaru was obviously still here, and Kakashi might not survive long enough to rescue him. He saw the others tense when another scream filled the air, and all four of them moved forward with purpose.

They approached the room cautiously. Itachi motioned for Zetsu to use his unique skill to access the room from another direction while the rest of them planned to enter through the door. Once the plant-man sank out of sight, Itachi and the others stepped into the room. Orochimaru's back was to them, his concentration fully on Kakashi's writhing form. Itachi saw the scalpel in the Snake's hand pause in its arc toward the Copy-ninja's body. A quiet chuckle came from the former Akatsuki's lips.

Orochimaru spoke without turning to face them. "I was beginning to think that Kakashi was correct when he'd said you wouldn't miss him."

That comment caused Itachi to frown, even as Kisame responded. "You should know we don't give up on our Brothers so easily."

"Ah, yes, Kisame. I recall quite clearly how tenacious the Akatsuki can be when tracking down what they consider theirs." The former member of their group slowly turned to allow them full view of their missing Brother. "But I also remember how quickly you turn on someone who disagrees with your beliefs."

Itachi's eyes narrowed when Kakashi's condition came into sight. The man's body was riddled with cuts and bruises. His face was beaten to a point that there was no way he could compare it to his father's any longer. There was blood seeping from more spots than he could count, and there appeared to be electrical burns covering most of his torso, as though he had been on the receiving end of his own Chidori.

Orochimaru's laughter brought him back to full awareness. "Ah, I see you've noticed your brother's handiwork, Itachi. I must admit that the boy is a quick learner...you should be proud of him."

That caused a frown to reach his face. Sasuke had done this to his former Sensei? Had his brother changed so much since their last encounter? He shook his head to clear his thoughts and return his mind to his current mission. "Return Kakashi to us and you might still live through this, Orochimaru."

He watched the man's serpentine tongue slide along his lips. "Now why would I do that, Itachi, when I'm only just starting to understand what makes the man so special?"

Kisame took a step closer to the Snake. "Because if you don't, I'll remove your head from your shoulders!" He leveled his sword at Orochimaru's body to emphasize his point.

The Sannin smiled dangerously and narrowed his eyes. "You had better be certain you succeed with your first strike, Kisame."

What followed would have been impossible to track if Itachi had not had his sharingan activated. Kisame swung his massive blade, and Orochimaru withdrew his own sword from his mouth just in time to parry the stroke. Deidara sent a series of small clay bombs sailing toward the Sannin causing him to withdraw a step or two in order to avoid damage. It allowed Kisame a chance to shift for another attack which managed to be avoided narrowly when Orochimaru sank into the floor…only to come up again on the other side of the room. The two Akatsuki members continued to engage the Sannin, while Zetsu rose from the floor near Kakashi and worked on freeing the man from his bonds. Itachi moved to the plant-man's side to examine the Copy-ninja in order to determine how much damage was done, all the while keeping his senses alert for Orochimaru's position within the room.

He looked into Kakashi's swollen face and cringed at the state of the man.

Kakashi's voice rasped from his obviously damaged throat. "Leave me be."

Zetsu's lighter half responded before Itachi had a chance. "Relax, Hatake. We'll have you out of here soon enough."

Itachi watched Zetsu work on the chains holding Kakashi to the wall and then looked back into the man's face, trying to read a reaction in those swollen features. "We cannot leave you be, Kakashi. Pein has made that quite clear."

He thought for a moment that he saw a flash of anger in Kakashi's eye, but before he could worry too much about it, the sound of Kisame's grunt from across the room caught his attention, even as Zetsu's darker half addressed him.

"Our brothers appear to need your aid, Itachi. I'll handle this task."

Itachi nodded and went to join the fight. He targeted Orochimaru with a series of fireballs while the others continued to occupy him. The fire struck the body, but in the flash of an eye, that body melted into the floor making it clear that they had been battling a clone all along. Likely the Snake-bastard hadn't been in the room at all and was long gone from the lair before they'd stepped foot within the room.

He returned his attention to where Zetsu was gently laying Kakashi's beaten body onto the floor. The mantle around his shoulders was drooping in a way that made it clear the newest member of their organization was in worse shape than they'd expected. He walked over to take a closer look and cringed slightly at the full extent of damage to the jonin's body.

Zetsu looked up into his face. "He will not survive the journey back to the hideout."

Itachi frowned. Zetsu was right, and even if Kakashi did manage to survive the trip they had no medics in their organization with enough skill to undo the damage Orochimaru had inflicted on the Copy-ninja.

A strained voice cut through the tense silence of the room. "Let me bring him back to Konoha, Itachi."

He shifted his gaze to one of the other prisoners hanging in chains nearby. The man was only slightly in better condition than Kakashi – with injuries and ink marks covering his body – but his eyes held the same fire they had always held in their days in ANBU.

"Genma...we cannot do what you ask."

"Bullshit! You and I both know the only chance that kid has is for Tsunade and the other medics to work their magic on him."

Itachi frowned. "Pein will not accept that as an option."

Genma laughed softly, ending in a coughing fit. When those coughs finished, the man shifted his gaze back at Itachi. "Would he prefer to have Kakashi die?"

Itachi looked down into the Copy-ninja's face, then around the room at his fellow Akatsuki members. Their faces showed the same conflict he was feeling inside. There were no simple answers in this matter and he knew that either choice would result in the leader's anger. Still, Pein had made it very clear that Kakashi's abilities were needed to conclude the Akatsuki's goals, and that if he died, then so did the Akatsuki's dreams.

"Very well, Genma. We will do as you suggest." He motioned for his brothers to be quiet when he sensed they were about to argue. "But know this…we will be returning for him once he's healed. There is nothing you, or your precious village, will be able to do to keep us from retrieving our brother."

Genma met his gaze with narrowed eyes. "Whatever you say, Itachi."

With the decision made, the Akatsuki quickly worked to free Genma from his chains, recognizing that his presence would keep the fools in Konoha from killing Kakashi outright. They quickly readied the two for transport. Itachi and Deidara wrapped their cloaks around the injured and naked shinobi, making sure the red clouds were on the inside and not clearly visible. Then the group made their way toward the border of Fire Country, knowing that it was close enough to be Kakashi Hatake's only chance for survival.

Once they were sure the wounded men were in an area where they'd sensed the presence of Leaf Ninja, the four members of the Akatsuki left their brother behind and slowly made their way back to their hideout. None of them were eager for the painful discussion that was liable to occur once Pein learned of the unexpected change in plan.