Another chapter. I love where this story is going, and there is a major plot twist in this chappie. Thank you all for the reviews--it keeps me up and running with the story, and helps encourage me to keep writing. I'm thinking that whenever I finish with this one (which will be a long while), I might make a third sequel, but where I'd go with it, I have no ideas.

Oh, and I'm definitely open for ideas about a sequel or future chapters of this story. :D Love you!

Nicola

Chapter Nine: Struggles

Kaede took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and ran a hand through her hair. She was pouring over hand-drawn maps of the tunnels underground with Shikamaru, trying to figure out the entrance to the passage that went into the Hokage temple in Konoha. This was a must—to continue their plot against the Sound, the ninja of the Leaf needed to know their ways in, and their ways out in case of an emergency during the attack.

It was two days after Kaede's initial decision to use Sasuke for information, just as he'd probably used her. Sure, it tore her apart to even think about it, but she had to do everything to help her village, and this was on the top of her list.

"Alright," Shikamaru stated finally, tapping the map with his index finger. "I think we've got them all. Combined with what Tsunade, you, and I know, and, of course, Jiraiya, we have been able to draw a pretty detailed map of the underground passages." He shot a look in her direction. "All we need now is for you to…you know."

Sadly, Kaede nodded. "I know."
In a few minutes, she was supposed to sneak out of their underground haven, and leave one of her most prized possessions behind: her headband. If she left her headband behind, she would be seen as a rough ninja, a missing nin, someone with no connected to her village. And that would be key.

She gave a brief nod to Shikamaru, and walked out of the little meeting room they'd discovered on their search through the doors in the hallway. She made her way to the big room where all of the people were staying. They looked miserable, she mused as she walked through the clusters of Konoha denizens. Her heart went out to all of them, the children, the elders, the mothers, fathers, everyone. They'd gone through so much in the past years, losing loved ones, their families broken apart by a war that could've been avoided. No, she wouldn't wallow in self-guilt right now. She had a job to do.

When she reached her little corner, she reached up with shaking hands and touched the knot keeping her headband across her forehead. She held her breath, almost afraid to take the band off. It symbolized everything that she lived for—her country, her people, her pride. But she had to remember this was for that village, for those people, and only that stone-like pride could get her there.

Resolved, she tugged the knot loose and allowed the band the slip off of her head. It hit the floor with a dull clank, and lay there, limp and lifeless, the Konoha symbol face down on the ground. She stared down at it, fighting the urge to pick it back up and place it in its rightful place. Heart in her throat, she stood, leaving the headband where it lay on the ground, and walked away.

Every step tugged harder and harder in the direction of her band, the one thing she had never been able to get on without. Sure, it was just a piece of metal and a strip of cloth, but she'd earned it. She'd earned the right to wear it proudly across her forehead, to let everyone know just what a good ninja she was.

And now she was leaving it behind.

"It's for your village," she mumbled under her breath, trying to remind herself why she was doing this. "It doesn't matter if you go around without your headband. You have to do this."
A hand landed on her shoulder, and she stopped, just a few steps from the door. She turned around and saw Sakura, her eyes no longer puffy and red as they'd been yesterday. The kunoichi's face was resolved, determined, and encouraging. A smile tugged at the corners of Kaede's mouth, and she grabbed Sakura's hand in a firm handshake.

"Good luck, Hokage-sama," Sakura said, and Kaede nodded.

"Thank you."
With that small but forgiving gesture soothing her heart, Kaede continued on until she was out in the dark hallway, her footsteps echoing off of the walls in an eerie way. At the end, she knew, was the exit into the outside, where she would wander around aimlessly until someone found her. Hopefully, Sasuke would be the one to do so.

She reached around and patted her weaponry pouch, trying to comfort herself with the familiarity of it. She dug around inside and pulled out a kunai, running her thumb over the sharpened blade and working up her courage. She was the Hokage while Naruto was gone, and it was her job to keep this village safe, no matter what the costs. Her mind wandered to a tale she'd heard a long time ago, about a brave leader who had sacrificed his life for his village.

Smiling, she retold the tale to herself. It was very well known; in fact, everyone in the village, in all of the villages, knew it. The tale of the Fourth Hokage was more of a legend. He had given his life to seal the Nine-Tail Fox inside of a young baby boy, namely Naruto. And look where the Kyuubi vessel had gotten just because of the Fourth. He was the Hokage—well, before he'd gone missing—and probably at the height of the list of the strongest ninjas Konoha had produced.

Kaede stopped and stared up the staircase in front of her. She made a chakra sign, and heard the tree creak and shift. Taking a deep breath, she walked up the stairs and to the door outside. She pushed it open, the light barely changing, as it was nighttime, and crawled through the door. After brushing herself off, she glanced back down into the darkness, and sealed the passageway shut.

"Here we go," she told herself, and began walking.

She had previously decided to keep to the ground instead of the trees to be less conspicuous, and less threatening. A ninja leaping high speed through branches was to be seen as a possible enemy, a possible threat to another ninja's existence. One on the ground, though, was merely a minor occurrence that was barely taken notice of. Kaede tucked her kunai back in her pouch—another way to keep on another's good side.

For what felt like hours she walked through the woods, trying to keep focus on her task ahead instead of the time alone that she would have with Sasuke. Oh, Kami, she was looking forward to seeing him. She may be betraying him, but she loved him nonetheless. He may be using her, but she still loved him. He could do anything in his power to make her angry, to make her hate him, and yet a little piece of love for him would always be left over.

Sure, it would be difficult to keep her mind on what she had to do, but for now, she figured she could daydream and wallow in memories of better, happier times. Such as when she and Sasuke had gone out with Naruto and Sakura to the lake for a swim. A repeat of their last trip there together, when they'd been kids, occurred, ending with Naruto face-down in a puddle of mud, Kaede and Sasuke hooting with laughter, and Sakura standing triumphantly over the shamefaced soon-to-be Hokage.

She smiled more as she thought of what had happened when she and Sasuke had gotten home after a day of swimming and nautical antics. Sasuke had taken her by the hand, and led her to the back of the house, where they'd stood on the wooden balcony overlooking the desolate Uchiha district. Leaning against the Uchiha, she'd listened to him point out all the starts, constellations, and tell stories about each and every one of them. Pegasus was her favorite—there was something about a flying white horse that just made her want to jump into the night sky and join him.

"Oh, Sasuke, what happened?" she asked to no one in particular, stopping her lengthy walk and leaning against a tree trunk. She stared up in between branches, trying to catch sight of the beautiful Pegasus. In her minds eye, as she traced the outline of the starts, she saw long, muscular legs churning, feathered white wings beating against the air, and the sculpted, dished head of an Arabian-like horse.

"Epsilon Pegasi," she recited. "Beta Pegasi. Alpha Pegasi. Gamma Pegasi. Zeta Pegasi." Soothed by the poetic sound of the stars, she continued to name as many as she could in the constellation. Eta Pegasi, Theta Pegasi, Tau Pegasi, Lambda Pegasi, and, oh shoot. There were so many she couldn't remember them all. But she could still hear Sasuke's rhythmic voice telling her the names of each and every star. He knew them all by heart, she remembered.

Suddenly, she tried to remember what Sasuke had said his favorite constellation was. She racked her brain, unable to recall what it was.

"Orion," a voice whispered in her ear, and she turned to see who it was, but there was no one there. Frightened, she looked around desperately to find the source of the voice. She might as well have been looking for a piece of hay in a wheat field for all she got out of it. Maybe it'd been the wind, she told herself. But the voice had sounded so clear…and it had carried the name of Sasuke's favorite constellation.

"Orion," Kaede repeated, testing the feel of the word. It sort of rolled off her tongue, and she found herself smiling as she thought about it. Sure, it seemed to resemble Orochimaru a little too much, but it was just far enough off that it made her feel comfortable and warm inside.

Sasuke had once told her the tale of Orion. The great hunter, he'd called him. Her smile grew even wider as she recalled the story.

Orion was the Great Hunter, the one who hunted the Taurus and Lepus the hare. His faithful dogs, Canis Major and Canis Minor, followed him. He was madly in love with Merope, of the Seven Sisters of the Pleiades. His life ended tragically, though, when he stepped on Scorpius, the scorpion. After that, the gods placed him in the sky as a constellation along with his dogs, and the animals that he hunted, but kept him far from Scorpius so Orion would never get hurt again.

Kaede sighed and sank down to the ground, her back still against the tree. How she wished that times long ago could be present. How she wished that things could go back to the way that they used to be. It stung to imagine that all of these bad things could have been stopped it she'd paid more attention.

"Quit it," she scolded herself, shaking her head firmly to get rid of the negative, self-pitying thoughts.

Looking up, she refocused her attention back to the starts. They were just little bright lights sprinkled across a vast and unknown black background. Each individual star had its own story to tell, and those with similar tales wove into the fabrication of a strong, independent, and mythical person or creature.

Making a split-second decision, Kaede backed away from the tree she had been leaning against and looked up. Just barely, she was able to judge which tree was the tallest, and focused her chakra into her feet, eyes locked on the tree's trunk. She rushed at the tree, her feet hitting the bark with a barely audible rap, and ran up. In no time, she'd reached the top of the tree and was perched lightly on its highest branch. Her chin was tilted up, towards the sky, as she wished and hoped to jump into the sky and swim among the stars, to stand beside Orion, beside Pegasus, Scorpius, to dive in the Little Dipper and the Big Dipper. But those were only dreams.

A small, almost imperceptible creak came from somewhere behind her, and she swung around, reaching for her weaponry pouch.

It wasn't there.

Startled, conned, and a little dazed, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her ears. Ever whisper of wind, rustle of leaves, shift of a small baby bird in its nest was heard. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, and she ducked her head to the left.

A fist appeared to her right, and the connecting arm swung to hit her nose. Her hand flew up and caught the person's wrist, clutching it in an iron grip. She swung them around and slammed them onto the branch. The darkened shade from the trees made it hard to make out whom this person was, and Kaede had to squint to see.

Spiky dark hair was barely visible, but those eyes were completely clear. Red as blood, with marks black as a raven eerily decorating them, they stood out more than anything else.

Kaede stepped back, her brow furrowed and her eyes narrowed. Slowly, as if it were causing him a great deal of pain, the person stood, and Kaede was better able to view the person who had attempted to attack her. Her jaw dropped in realization, and as she took a step back, the man in front of her disappeared in a puff of smoke, and she backed right into the sharp point of a kunai.

"Ah," she gasped, halting in her tracks and catching her breath in her throat. The man behind her, she knew, was an Uchiha all right. But it wasn't the one that she'd been hoping to find. It was his older brother.

Itachi laughed softly. "I remember the last time we met, Kaede Shinota," he murmured threateningly, although how he kept his voice monotonous and still managed to sound mean and dangerous, Kaede didn't know. "Would you like to relive Tsukiomi? I think it would be good for you to pay a visit." When she shivered, he chuckled, and she mentally kicked herself for showing signs of fear. "You remember, don't you? And…" He leaned closer to her ear. "You're afraid."

With his words echoing in her head, Kaede felt the soft thud of a hand connecting with a pressure point on her neck, and she went spiraling into darkness.



Impatiently, irritably, Sasuke paced, back and forth, back and forth, to the point where he was driving himself crazy. His mind was whirling with images, memories, and thoughts of Kaede. A few days ago, he'd come face to face with her, and she'd nearly killed him. But she had given him the chance to walk away and live. He wanted to believe that she'd let him leave with his life because she still loved him.

And yet, her words wouldn't allow these kinds of thoughts. "Traitor." How could she have said that to him? Didn't she love him? Or did she play him for the fool?

He growled in frustration, trying to find something else to think about. But no, everything he thought of he managed to weave back to Kaede. The war with Konoha had started with leaving Kaede, then attacking the village when she reigned as Hokage, and still went on with her as the substitute Hokage for Naruto, who had been attacked by another during their fight, and since hadn't been seen. Itachi—that horrible man had put Kaede through Tsukiomi. Kabuto led to Orochimaru, who had trained Kaede under his wing and had nearly killed her. It had only been Sasuke's quick thinking that had saved her from imminent death from a fall from the Hokage temple.

Was there anything in this world that he could not relate to Kaede?

Sasuke tore his sword out of its sheath and threw it at the wall to vent some anger. It landed and stuck in the wood, waggling comically from the sheer force of the throw. If he was to focus on whatever Orochimaru came up with for him to do, he needed to stop thinking about the past and concentrate on the present and future. But, Kami, she was so wonderful.

Slowly, Sasuke sat down on the floor by the door, staring up at the wall above him at his sword that had ceased it's waggling and was standing out from the plaster. He was in one of the many bedrooms in the Hokage temple in the former Leaf Village. For now, Orochimaru had left him alone to do whatever he pleased, but that was definitely not going to last long.

For the past several years, Orochimaru had ruled with an angry, pointy iron fist over the Sound village. Those who had survived the attack were forced to live with his stupid, indecent rules. The snake Sannin was wretchedly mean to those who he thought even looked at him the wrong way, throwing them in dungeons, forcing them to do hard labor, and even going as far as to torture them, then kill them in a painful, slow way.

Even Sasuke, whose hardened heart could take almost anything, couldn't stand to sit around and watch him get away with this. But Orochimaru had the upper hand on him—the curse seal. Damn that mark. He couldn't escape it. If Orochimaru had even the tiniest suspicion of Sasuke's plotting to run off, the Sannin could activate it and cause him terrible pain.

"Kami," Sasuke snapped, leaning his head against the wall. Once again, his thoughts trailed back to Kaede. She had been watching him fight against Naruto, her hazel eyes all big and nervous as she'd tried to fight Sound ninja and look over her longtime friend. It hadn't been long, though, before she'd disappeared underneath a barrage of attacking Sound, and Sasuke had felt his anger boil to the surface. How dare they try to hurt her! He'd tear them limb from limb, as soon as he was finished with Naruto.

He'd been so sure of this that he'd fought with renewed vengeance, until Naruto turned his head and looked over his shoulder at something…or someone. Naruto had glanced back at Sasuke with apology and fear in his eyes—an expression Sasuke never wanted to see on the blonde's face. And then, someone grabbed him from behind and yanked him away from their fight. Annoyed, Sasuke had activated his Sharingan, but had only managed to glimpse the person before the rest of the battle had consumed him.

Over and over again he replayed the small flash of clothing he'd seen. The only coloring he was able to make out was red, and the tone of skin. He growled. If anything had happened to Naruto, he would never forgive himself. Sure, he was on the bad side, Orochimaru's side, but that didn't mean he didn't care for his friends. In fact, during the entire attack, he'd kept an eye on Sakura as much as he could, and tried to keep up with Kaede, until the Konoha nin had begun a retreat, during which he'd left.

Gah! If only he'd paid more attention!

Wait…red?

Sasuke sat up straight, his mind working quickly. There was only one person who would have red sprayed along their body and two blurs on their face. His brother. Sasuke stood and yanked the sword out of the wall, sheathing it sloppily before dashing out the door. Orochimaru had given him a break, and he intended to make the most of it.



Silence.

Eerily, it seemed to fill the room. Kaede felt it all around her, as if the air was just thick with it. There were no comforting sighs or murmurs, no shifting of sleeping bodies, no aching where Miki had repeatedly whacked her in her slumber. Kaede's mind was groggy, and she definitely didn't recognize her surroundings. As her head slowly came into focus, she realized that even if her eyes were open, she still wouldn't know where she was, because Itachi had kidnapped her.

Her eyes popped open and she sat up, swung her legs over the side of the oddly comfortable bed she'd been lying on, and stood. The room she was in was small, like a large closet, with a tiny desk, the bed, and a door. No windows, but she was used to rooms like these from living underground for years. Carefully, she stepped the few feet to the door and tried to open it. Locked, of course.

With a sigh, she placed her hands on her hips and glared at the wooden door, as if she could make it open just my staring it down. After a few moments, the doorknob turned, and she jumped back in surprise. Either someone was opening it, or she really did have some kind of power! Then she shook her head, settling that someone was on the other side.

In a moment, the door swung wide and there stood Itachi, holding, surprisingly, a tray laden with food. Kaede stared as he kicked the door shut behind him and set the tray down on the small table. She sank onto the bed, content to watch for now and not provoke him to use his Mangekyou Sharingan on her. The Uchiha glanced up at her when she made no move towards the food and waved one hand at the desk.

"Eat," he commanded in that low voice of his, and she got up with all the courage she could muster (which wasn't much) and strode over to the food, watching him out of the corner of her eye. He made no move towards her, which she took as encouragement to try the food, and she hesitantly picked up a biscuit.

Just as she opened her mouth to take a bite, something occurred to her and she snapped her jaw shut and placed the biscuit back on the tray. Itachi watched her, his face expressionless, but his head tilted in what seemed like child-like curiosity.

"Is there something wrong with the food?" he queried, head still cocked to the side. "I promise there is nothing in it. It would be a stupid move to kill you now instead of later, before we use you as is necessary."

For a moment, Kaede had almost thought the man to have a little compassion, until the last part of his sentence. Great, she thought irritably, and took a big bite of the biscuit. It was delicious. After that first mouthful, she ate ravenously, Itachi silently keeping an eye on her all the while. It made her slightly uncomfortable to have someone watch her eat, but she ignored it and shoved mouthfuls of food down her throat. She hadn't realized she was so hungry—it must have been hours since she'd been kidnapped and taken wherever she was. As soon as she'd swallowed the last bit of food, she turned to look at Itachi, her bravery renewed.

"Alright," she stated bluntly. "Where am I, what do you want, and why me?"

Itachi chuckled softly. "You're very direct." He moved to the table, picked up the tray, and walked to the door. "To answer your questions, you are in an Akatsuki hideout, we need you as bait, and we need you because you are the only person that can act as bait." And he left.

Kaede stood where he'd left her, gaping at the shut and locked door he'd gone through. After a few minutes of getting over her initial shock, she sat back down on the bed and placed her head in her hands. She needed to think this over. So Itachi had kidnapped her and brought her to an Akatsuki hideout, where no one would find them, which meant that she had little hope. They needed her as bait, too, because she was the only one that could do so. That would have to mean she was the only person that their prey was attracted to. Who could that be?

She was only able to come up with one answer: Sasuke.

But why would the Akatsuki want Sasuke? Kaede tried to list all the reasons in her mind. Sasuke was Itachi's younger brother, and therefore a threat. Okay, that was a good start. He was Orochimaru's apprentice, and also the Sannin's next body. If they had Sasuke, they could probably use him as a playing card to get back the ring that Orochimaru still possessed from his days in the Akatsuki. Which would make sense, seeing as they only had nine out of the ten members the clan was originally supposed to have.

She sighed and flopped on her back, the mattress bouncing slightly under her weight, and she felt her head spin until it stopped. A few days ago, she'd thought that she was going to fool Sasuke and betray him, for Konoha. But now, she was betraying him in a different way—for the Akatsuki, probably leading him into a trap.

Suddenly, out in the hallway, she heard a commotion, several bangs and loud, angry voices. She couldn't make out what they were saying, but she recognized one of the people yelling. A smile went across her face as she heard the lock on her door click, and something heavy hit it forcefully.

It flew open, and a blonde haired ninja burst in. Panting heavily, looking angry and insulted, Naruto held out his hand and silently beckoned her to follow him.

"Come on," he urged, and she jumped up, reaching for his hand. She grabbed it, but when they turned around, they came face-to-face with Kisame, a very angry Kisame. The shark-like man growled and gave them a dirty look before slamming the door shut and clicking the lock, muttering something about letting them "have their fun."

With wide eyes, and utterly confused about what was going on, Kaede turned to Naruto, and squeezed the hand that she was still holding. The Hokage sighed and sank onto the floor; Kaede let his hand go, and he rubbed his temples with his thumbs. Kaede had no clue how he'd gotten here, what he'd been trying to attempt, and yet all she wanted to do was bend down next to him and hug him as tightly as she could.

After a few moments, Naruto looked up at Kaede and managed a small, stiff smile. "So, how'd you get in here?" She noticed his voice was rough and hoarse.

She raised one of her shoulders in a half-shrug. "I honestly don't know. But I should be the one asking you that question, Naruto. Last I saw you were fighting with Sasuke during the attack on our hideout."

Naruto sighed. "I know." He stood up and went over to the bed, sitting down before continuing. "Sasuke and I were fighting, and I was about to use Rasengan on him, but then someone grabbed me from behind, and I couldn't get loose. Sasuke just looked as if he hadn't really seen the person, because if he had, I'm sure he would have either smirked or attacked that guy. All he did was stare, until we left—I guess it all happened so fast that he didn't think anything of it." Naruto shook his head. "Next thing I know, I'm stuck in a cell somewhere down the hall from here, and Itachi and Kisame are hovering above me, talking about getting Sasuke to come to them, but that they needed more than his best friend." At this point, the Hokage looked at Kaede with sad, apologetic eyes. "They needed you."
Kaede nodded. "I pretty much figured that much out for myself.

She began to pace the small length of the room, racking her brains for any way to get out. Naruto stayed silent, wallowing in his own thoughts, as if he, too, could thing of a possible escape plan. Out of anyone, she realized, he probably would be the one to do it. She smiled slightly at the thought. Sakura had to reason to worry—Naruto was all fine and dandy. But her smile faded as another question popped into her head.

She swung on Naruto. "If you're at the hands of the Akatsuki, then why aren't they extracting your demon? I mean, that's what they've been after, right?"

Shrugging, Naruto ran a hand through his hair. "That's what I would've thought, too. But I've been afraid to risk it and ask. If I remind them, then they might go ahead and do it, and…" He looked up with a worried expression. "I don't want to leave Sakura and the rest of you all alone."

Concerned, Kaede sat next to him and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. "Trust me, Sakura is fine on her own. And the rest of us—well, we'll fend." She chuckled, and was pleased when Naruto smiled.

"Thanks, Kaede."

A few brother-sister-ish moments between Naruto and Kaede, and a little bit of Sasuke's POV in here, too. Keep on reviewing, and 'member, I'm open for ideas!

Love you

Nicola