Chapter Fifteen

My hair flails around in the air around my face, my hands no longer gripping to Sasori's soft Akatsuki cloak. Itachi. I watch him as he slowly gets closer and closer- what's he planning to do when he catches up? His eyes were gazing sadly into mine again and he was almost caught up with Sasori, only about fifteen feet away. Slowly, I extend my arm out, over Sasori's shoulder, to Itachi.

I try to ignore the flashbacks of the dream where I was doing the same thing for Sasuke, and I reach my arm out further. Itachi gets the idea and slowly edges forward. He reaches his hand out to mine and our fingers brush- almost. He gets closer and I'm sure that he'll get me- he'll save me! I reach out again and we get close- Sasori turns.

I try to grasp Itachi's arm, but I end up only smacking his arm down. He looks to me confused and I try to show that I didn't mean to. Sasori grips my body to his again and keeps running from Itachi. We were now traveling between a couple of old buildings shadows, and Itachi continued to race after us, at a slower pace now. Sasori leaps into the air and calls out, "Yusouki uso no jutsu!" Instantly, Itachi, the alley, and the entire town was gone.

I cry out in surprise as we hit the ground, Sasori still had his arms wrapped around me tightly. Calming me down, he has me sit up. I look around- where are we? The room was large, and you could hardly see the walls, because lined up against them were a bunch of tall boxes. Locks secured the boxes- what is in them? I look to Sasori and he sets me down, slowly letting go of me. Sasori takes a small metallic key out of his cloak and unlocks the door leading out of the room. So- is this his house?

Setting the key back in his cloak, Sasori comes over to where I sit and leans down, his face beside my ear. Again memories of Sasuke hit me, but this time it was of when Itachi had made it happen. He did it on accident, I remind myself; he couldn't have done it on purpose. Instead of speaking in my ear, he kissed my cheek and stood up straight, beginning to head for the door. Touching my cheek, a thought comes to mind.

"Why are we here?" I ask, looking around the room, stopping my sight on Sasori's almost emotionless face. He stops, the door partially open and with one of his feet already out it.

"Because," he says, "I need to keep you safe." Slowly, he walks out, closing the door the rest of the way. Listening, I hear him turn the key in the lock again, to keep me in. I blush, remembering how Itachi had said almost the same exact thing back at the first place they kept me. 'My job is to keep you from dieing,' I am beginning to wander if he was even talking about the Akatsuki at all. What was he talking about- he never specified- did he?

Slowly standing up, I begin to walk around the small room, studying the large boxes. Well, they looked more like lockers than boxes- except that they were made of wood. I stare closely and realize that each lock had a different symbol on it, yet I couldn't understand why they said what they said. I trace my fingers over the symbol of one, mother, and try to figure out what it means. Again the tantalizing question rips away at me- what are in these boxes?

Slowly, trying to be quiet, I slowly try to figure out how to open the lock. It wasn't a combination; it was just a piece of wood that sealed them closed. I try to break it, but can't.

I look down to my arms, for a moment there, I had felt chakra- have I regained it yet? Lifting my hands together, I try to summon my chakra and feel it come easily. How long have I had my chakra back? I feel the energy flowing through my arms and body; I had forgotten how good it feels to have this kind of power.

What do I do now?

I sit down, sighing. It's not like I can just leave now. First of all, I want to see Itachi again, I don't care how. And second of all, I have no real idea where I am. I could be anywhere in any village or forest, if I escape, it would be useless if I don't know where I am escaping to. So regaining my chakra is completely useless.

Sadly, I look up to the box that was labeled 'mother' and stare at it for a moment. And in that moment, I can't help but have my curiosity overcome me. I stand up, gathering my chakra. I want to look inside that box.

Slowly, I walk over to it, trying to make my feet make as little sound as possible. I keep my eyes on the door that Sasori had walked out of, not wanting to get caught. "Kujiku no jutsu," I whisper, my hands forming the correct signs. A small crack sounds and I stop, listening carefully for any motion from Sasori outside of the door. No response comes from Sasori and I look back to examine how much it cracked. It was just enough. Gripping the small wooden lock, I twist it and it breaks in two. I pull it off, my hand shaking as I begin to open the small door to the box. Why am I so excited about this?

I slowly peak in and freeze in shock. I look over the inside of the box, opening the small door the rest of the way. My eyes met another pair. There in the box, was the cold, harsh, body of a lifeless woman.