Stage 6: Illusions

Neji watched Tsuki fall to the floor and cringed. She was alive, but unconscious. Two of the Akatsuki members lifted her up and wrapped a cloak around her shoulders, marking her as one of their rank. He couldn't move or speak to defend her. He couldn't stop himself from thinking that this time they would kill her. He watched the third man pull hand seals in quick succession, and he placed his palms on Tsuki's shoulder blades, hiding her identity from everyone who could not see her chakra.

The men began talking amongst themselves quietly. His anger boiled over when the tall one called her a slut. Why, he wondered, why did they have to come now? The sleeping gas had finally drifted to his corner, and he could barely fight it off long enough to watch them take their leave.

XxX

Tsuki woke up chained to a bed wearing the Akatsuki robe. She attempted to lift her wrist, but the lock was set to where she could hardly move. She would have thought they had learned the last time that it wouldn't hold her down for long; or maybe they weren't trying to confine her when she was awake. Perhaps it was to keep her from lashing out and killing her attendant while she slept. Regardless of their reason, the hindrance annoyed her. She forced her chakra into the lock, forcing the pins to spring open, and with them, the lock broke apart.

"You're already awake," a flat tone stated. "It's not surprising, really; you always did recover quickly." He sounded as though he was under water, muffled and distorted, and very far away.

She almost didn't recognize who was speaking to her. The usual warmth in his voice had left him completely; Arctic wasn't cold enough to describe how he was toward her. Even as her eyes tried to focus on his sitting form, he was positioned away from her, refusing to look at her. His blond hair covered his face so she couldn't see him. "Deidara," she whispered. Her voice sounded as though she was hearing it with cotton in her ears.

He snapped to glare at her. "So you do remember me, hm? I was beginning to wonder if your new fling made you forget." There was anger in his cerulean eyes, and behind that, genuine hurt.

She looked at him, confused. "I don't know what you're talking about, Deidara. I don't have a 'fling'."

He barked in heated, sarcastic laughter. "You don't have a boyfriend at all, hm? Why else would he show up at your house in the middle of the night? I'm not a fool."

"He's my comrade," she protested angrily. "I don't owe you any kind of explanation."

"No, you don't," he conceded bitterly. "Leader-sama requests your presence. You are to leave at once. It would be wise to not keep him waiting." He left without a backward glance at her, leaving her to figure out how to get out of her binds alone.

Tsuki fumed at Deidara's behaviour while she walked away from the medical building through the rain drenched city. Not only were her sight and sense of hearing off, but her balance was as well. She stumbled often, catching herself with her hands as she came to lean against walls of the spire like buildings, thankful that her display went unnoticed by the villagers. The Akatsuki kept to themselves in a more secluded part of the city. "What crawled up his ass and died?" she wondered out loud, to no one in particular. Her feet marched along a familiar path; she would most certainly meet Pein, but she would do it in her own time. There were more important matters to attend to prior to dealing with the royal pain in her ass. Right now, she wanted answers, and no one else in the entire city would give her straight answers more than Itachi. As it stood, it had been two years since she had spoken with him. In her time away, she had denied it, but now that he was so close to her, she had to admit to herself that she missed him.

She found him in his study as he was bent over paperwork, writing reports on his latest mission for the Akatsuki. She watched him work for quite some time in silence, not wanting to disturb his peace. After a few minutes, he leaned back in his chair and tipped his head back, brushing his bangs out of his face with both his hands.

"You really shouldn't keep Leader-sama waiting," he chastised her, "But all the same, it's nice to see you again."

"How did you know I was here?" she asked, approaching him from the shadows. She knew the answer before he spoke it; the Sharingan. "You know, every time you said that you could see me when I was hiding just because you had the Sharingan, you were lying through your teeth." She sat on his desk, facing him. She leaned forward, supporting herself with her hands on the edge of the wood.

He opened his eyes and smirked at her. "How would you know that?" he asked.

"I've seen through Sharingan eyes," she answered. "You can't see someone through solid masses." Even as the memory resurfaced, she felt motion sick. He arched an eyebrow in response to her statement, and she knew he wanted her to explain how that came to be. "Promise me you'll keep your questions for later," she begged. When he nodded in assent, she launched into the story explaining Orochimaru's obsession with creating an offspring from her that contained the Sharingan, including the eight hour incubation period that Sasuke's blood had before her body attacked and destroyed the foreign cells. This experiment had successfully, but temporarily given her the Uchiha kekkei genkai.

He followed her story closely, thinking hard about what she had told him, and her story sparked a few of his own curiosities. "Does this work on all blood line traits?" he asked her, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his desk.

"I would assume so," she answered. "There would be only one way to test that theory though." She didn't want to go through the discomforts of looking through another's eyes ever again. She could only imagine how massive a headache she would get after looking around in a forest through the Byakugan.

He could sense her lack of interest in the subject, and sensed that she wasn't telling him the entire story. He knew better than to press the subject, though, and just nodded, allowing her a few moments of silence before he changed the subject. "You're awfully calm for being here," he stated in observation.

"I don't know what they drugged me with before I came, but it's playing with my senses," she explained. "I've been having a hard time focusing my vision on anything, and it sounds like I'm underwater." She uncrossed her legs for a moment, and then crossed them again.

Itachi nodded in understanding. "The gas must also have a calming effect, if you're not panicking about your loss of senses."

She shrugged. "I didn't scream at Deidara for being a prick earlier, either," she informed him.

Itachi chucked warmly. "He would deserve it if you had. He's been stewing in his own self misery for days."

Tsuki's eyebrows furrowed as she thought. How could he have been stewing for days? She had only just gotten there. "Itachi, how long was I knocked out?"If Deidara's been angry at her for days because of what the others had said it was no wonder he was so worked up. He let his mind wander and eat him alive.

"You've been here for roughly forty eight hours," he answered. "Consider yourself lucky. Most of the test subjects stayed comatose for well over a week."

"This must have been one of Sasori's creations," she stated calmly, gazing over to the window.

"It was one of his last, before he died. It was designed specifically for you," he informed her, tucking an errant strand of hair behind her ear. "He wanted to keep you asleep long enough to believe that you were actually dead."

She looked into his crimson eyes. "Should I feel special to have my own poison?" she asked.

Itachi chucked again. "I would," he answered. "Sasori hates everyone equally, but something about you got under his skin, or would have, if he had any."

She giggled softly at Itachi's snide remark, remembering the way Sasori's wooden body splintered under her palms. "He should have tried cobra venom if he wanted me to wish for death." She lifted herself off of Itachi's desk and approached the door.

"I'll make a note of that," he teased. He gathered up his completed forms and accompanied her out the door of his study and into the hallway. "Shall we?" he asked, gesturing to the wetness of the streets outside.

"Let's get this torture over with," she sighed.

Itachi removed his straw hat from the peg next to the doorway, but instead of putting it on his own head; he gave it to her to shield her from the rain before he lead her out into the downpour.

XxX

Neji woke in a sweat. "Where is she?" he shouted. As frenzied as his mind should be, he couldn't feel the raw adrenaline that panic induced, and feared for the safety of his comrade, which terrified him even more. His body was not responding at all. A cool cloth was placed on his forehead. His eyes struggled to focus on the person before him. Their words were muffled in his ears as they tried to explain what was going on. His mind raced further into panic.

Quickly he found he was restrained as he tried to get up. There were bands around him, and two hands became six as shinobi fought to restrain him, afraid he'd break the bonds. He felt the sharp sting of a needle in his shoulder, though it felt as though it were trying to pierce through molasses, which brought forth another wave of panic. It was soon replaced by an involuntary calm, allowing Neji the time he needed to catch his breath. He quickly realized that he was in the hospital, surrounded by three medical shinobi, all of whom looked deeply concerned for his mental stability.

He motioned for a pen and paper, still being unable to hear anything with clarity. When it was given to him, he hastily scrawled, Where is Tsuki?A medic tried to explain verbally, but Neji shook his head, cutting him off. He scribbled on the paper again, this time writing out, I can't hear what you're saying.

Three sets of brows furrowed as one. The adjacent shinobi reached for the pen. 'Tsuki is M.I.A. You've been unconscious for six days.'

Neji leaned back on his pillow. Six days he had been under the poison's influence. He had wasted six precious days, days that could have been spent tracking the men who abducted his partner. He took the pen from the medic and scooted the paper back toward him as the other two medics began to examine his ears. He wrote one final sentence before allowing them to run their tests uninterrupted. I need to speak to Lady Hokage.

They tried to protest, but he persisted. They explained to him that they at least needed to run a few tests, to determine the extent of the damage done by the gas. Apparently, it had been Andoku who had found him. He had decided to investigate the disappearance of Tsuki, who had not shown up for the scheduled testing.

Several hours later, Neji got the all clear, as well as partial hearing. By then, night had fallen, and a late hour had grown upon the village.He rose to his feet and bolted out the door. There was no one to slow him down. The streets disappeared behind him in a blur.

He burst into the Hokage's office without warning, startling Tsunade into dropping her tea. She glared it him with the intensity to kill, until she saw the fear in his eyes. "They've come for her," he nearly yelled, still partially deaf. "The Akatsuki; three of them were waiting in her apartment. We were ambushed." He panted, out of breath.

Tsunade's surprise was evident. "You're certain it was an ambush?"

Her accusation annoyed, almost angered him. "There were trip wires under every window, pressure plates laid, and they used a sleeping gas. I was bound and a paper bomb placed over my mouth."

"Why would they go to the trouble to bind you?" she inquired. "If they had her, why not just kill you?"

"They didn't have her yet," he explained, still a bit louder than he needed to be. "I went to her apartment to meet her there. She had been late getting out with Andoku. I watched her approach from the outside. She saw through their traps, but she didn't expect the ambush. It was the gas that got her. She didn't stand a chance against it. The covered her in their cloak, disguised her in a transformation jutsu, and left. "

Tsunade put her hands together at the fingertips as contemplation settled on her features. "This changes things, if she didn't leave on her own terms."

"I assure you," he pleaded. "She did not leave of her own will. Don't treat her as a rogue ninja yet."

She arched an eyebrow. "It's been almost a week, Neji. Their trail has probably gone cold by now. We'll need time to formulate a plan. I'll send for you when we have one."

He nodded, bowed, and turned to leave. Once again, he had just saved her from being labelled a rogue ninja. Worry ate away at his mind; fear clouded his judgement.

XxX

Tsuki stared deep into the loathing purple eyes adjacent to her. "You summoned me, Lord Pein?" she asked in sarcasm. Defiance rang through her words louder than thunder in a storm.

"Sit, child," he barked, clearly not in the mood for her mind games.

She walked to the chair, keeping herself distant and aloof to him. She crossed her legs, angling herself toward him. He may call her a child, but he could not deny that in her time away from him she had grown into a woman. His eyes betrayed him as he followed her skirt's retreating hemline. He found it difficult to look away. She found his attentions disgusting.

He mentally regained his composure, even though he chanced a glance periodically. "Welcome back."

She gave a soft chuckle,. "You act as though it should be a pleasure to be here, when it's anything but." Her arms folded over her chest, closing her off to him.

He decided to cut the chit chat; clearly it wasn't going to do him any good with her. "If you want the boy to live, then you will obey my every wish, child. His presence was a surprise to me, but a one that works to my advantage."

Her eyes narrowed at the severity of his threat. That was the one thing she feared; Neji's harm for her rebellion. "You couldn't touch him," she growled in defiance. "You caught him off guard once, but mark my words, he'll be expecting you this time around."

Pein smiled sadistically, exposing his pronounced canines. "Zetsu is already on his trail, child; there is little he can do against him."

She mentally swore. Zetsu was the one member she knew next to nothing about. She couldn't prepare Neji for him, no matter how hard she could have tried. She should have expected this from a man so sinister as Pein.

With as much defiance as she could muster, she simply stated, "He is ready."

She watched his hand fly upward involuntarily as though he made to strike her, but seeing her set her emotionless façade as was instinctual when Orochimaru threatened to lay hands on her, he regained control. There would be no purpose in striking her; her will was too strong for that to even brush against her pride. If anything, it would only stoke the fire within her. However, it was too late to lower his blow, so he tried for a different tactic instead. With his hand an inch from her cheek, his eyes narrowed. He brushed his fingers against her skin softly. There was satisfaction in his eyes as he watched her wince. It was not what she was expecting, and the wince quickly turned into a venomous scowl. He kept his words smooth when he answered her. "No amount of preparation could brace him for what is to come, should you defy me, child." His glare intensified as he brought his fingers along her cheek down to her jaw line before he retreated. He lowered his hand.

Though he had watched her squirm beneath his hand, her voice was still level and proud. "If that's what you have to tell yourself to get a decent night of sleep, I won't correct you," she spat.

Having calibrated the effects his touch had against her, he answered strategically, "I can think of other ways to find sleep." His gaze intensified, holding her violet eyes against his own.

"Perhaps so," she conceded, speaking as though his words had no effect on her whatsoever, "But dreams are just that; dreams." She removed herself from his desk, being very careful to keep her face free of emotion. "If that is everything, Highness," she curtsied for effect, "I must be going now."

His eyes quickly changed from smouldering to glaring as she mocked him. "Dare to leave this compound, and he will be brutally tortured. Zetsu will handle him only until Itachi arrives to take his place. Itachi has agreed to lend us the use of his Tsukiyomi to make sure you behave yourself."

Trying her best to appear undisturbed, Tsuki waved back at him nonchalantly as she walked through his door, not even bothering to close it behind her.

The confines of the city had closed in around her, as his orders were specific. She was not allowed to leave the area designated for the Akatsuki members. All together, that was a ten block radius from Pein's spire, on the western side of the city. Half of that designated area was without power, a side effect from the war Pein had waged on Hanzo for the village. There were many parts of the city that remained without power, as he had never bothered to reconnect them to the grid.

Itachi was easy enough for her to find. He had handed in his papers at the same time she had appeared before Pein, and had been given a new set to complete, thus he had returned to his dwelling to finish the task. He didn't look up or greet her when she entered his study unannounced, though he had clearly finished the paperwork. By this time, she had become furious by what was only an accusation. Pein could have very well said that only to get under her skin; Itachi might never have agreed to such a thing.

"Tell me he was lying," she growled in spite of her reasoning.

Itachi sighed with annoyance, as he did whenever she showed anger or hostility toward him. "I cannot tell you anything until I know what it was he was supposed to have lied about," he answered calmly. He was sharpening his katana, and hers lay beside it. The smooth sound of a whetstone on steel filled the intermittent silences.

"Tell me you won't touch him," she pleaded. It would be an unspeakable betrayal if the only man she trusted fell to someone she felt was a brother figure. If Itachi confirmed, and harm fell on Neji, she vowed to do whatever she could to help Sasuke destroy the Uchiha; even if it meant going back to Orochimaru.

Itachi's eyebrow raised as the tone of panic in her voice raised his suspicions, both in regards to her emotional state toward the man in question, and the Hyuga's intentions. He knew better than to confront her about it; when she left him, her opinions on the matter were clear. As it stood, with her frustration with Deidara's behaviour over the subject, he doubted if she even knew the answers to his questions. He put down the whetstone carefully, aligning it perfectly with the angles of the table before he answered, "I have agreed." He did his best to keep his voice soft and understanding when he spoke those three little words, but he watched her world shatter behind her eyes when they registered. "Calm yourself," he soothed softly. "If anyone else took the job, it would guarantee his death."

Her eyes narrowed in his direction. "It's not unknown to me that the Uchihas and the Hyugas didn't get along, Itachi." Her voice cracked as tears threatened to overwhelm her.

His eyes narrowed. "I feel like I'm trying to talk to Sasuke," he complained. "I had always thought you were a bit more on the uptake than he was." He watched her arch an eyebrow in annoyance; apparently to him Sasuke was still a touchy subject. "Let me explain the situation to you. Yes, I will be forced to inflict damage on the boy. However, because he has set himself apart from his clan in helping you, we share a common interest. I cannot allow my distaste for his clan to interfere with the fact that other than me, he is the only one keeping you safe. He will suffer no more than he can handle, and I will even refrain from testing his limits."

She softened her stance, placated by his answer. "I suppose I couldn't ask for more from you," she accepted feebly. "You can't disobey orders; I understand that."

He looked her in the eyes, his stare penetrating deep within her. "It would be better for everyone involved if you didn't give me a reason to go after him. I understand that you can't stay here forever, but the longer you wait, the more Zetsu's guard will drop. Zetsu will be needed elsewhere if you are patient enough. The longer you stay here, the safer your comrade becomes."

Tsuki knew it was a serious and rare matter when Itachi pleaded. She was able to read between the lines of what he was saying; he wasn't concerned for Neji at all. He was trying to tell her that she would be safer if she stayed here. "There's more to this that what you're telling me, isn't there? What are you hiding form me, Itachi?"

He resumed sharpening the blade of his sword in slow, long, methodical swipes. "I am hiding nothing from you," he answered. Rather, he was hiding her from someone else.

She was finally calm enough to sit. Her form collapsed in the chair that was rarely used. Itachi noticed the change in her demeanour. He could almost make out an indentation where she would sit on his desk.

"There is something bothering you," he observed. He took the whetstone in his hands again, this time, turning to her blade. The grinding filled the room as he waited for her explanation, which never came. "You're not going to tell me about it?"

The question warranted a shrug. "Does it matter?" she asked. "Yes, something's bothering me. I've been knocked out, abducted, and my comrade's life and sanity has been threatened."

The curiosity got the best of Itachi. "The Hyuga, you two seem close." He looked up at her from the sword. He knew that her body language would reveal more to him than the actual words. He was not disappointed.

Her face became the subtlest shade of pink. If she wasn't so pale, he wouldn't have noticed at all. Her eyes looked away from him. "We spend every day together. We're nothing more than team mates." Her voice was stern.

As he predicted, she was more willing to give him information through body language. "It's a bit complicated, then?" he assumed. "You can talk to me about it, if you need to."

"I don't need to," she protested, followed by a shake of her head. "There's nothing to say."

Observation gave him everything he needed to keep learning what was happening. "You're not trying to convince me, are you?" he asked. "You're trying to lie to yourself."

The pink darkened slightly. It was a correct accusation, he now knew that much. "Why don't you want to tell me what's going on?"

She glared at him. "I'm not some child that needs council. The Akatsuki has no business knowing my personal affairs."

The stab inflicted an emotional wound. "What about a brother, wanting to know if he can trust you in the hands of this boy," Itachi rebuked.

The rebuttal startled her."We don't have a choice in trusting him," she answered. "He's assigned to me." Itachi's eyebrow raised in response to that statement. "Lady Hokage thinks it's best that I have a guard dog. It's a question of my loyalty, not his."

Itachi nodded with understanding. "How long has he had this assignment?"

She looked at him, directly in the eye. "Two years; as long as I've been a Konoha shinobi."

"That's long enough for him to start having motives," Itachi muttered. "Has he?"

She eyed him cautiously. "Hardly," she answered. "He's become a good friend to me, and I trust him, but he hasn't tried to corner me."

Itachi handed her the freshly sharpened blade. "I'm surprised you still carry this sword," he mentioned, changing subjects. "Didn't Orochimaru give you this?"

She glared him down, taking it from him. "It was a birthday present," she answered. "No other sword feels right to me."

"It has a certain weight to it," he answered. Observing that she kept her emotions guarded, whereas two years ago, she had freely opened up to him, Itachi wondered why she had suddenly changed.

"I suppose you haven't heard anything of him, have you?" Itachi asked, curious.

"Not since I left, no," she responded. "Tsunade has avoided putting me on any mission involving him or Sasuke. She is very cautious. I do brief every squad that goes on a mission to one of their hide outs, and when we get word of his involvement, I'm asked about my knowledge of the area. So far, all we've done is fail at retrieving your brother." Tsuki uncrossed and recrossed her legs, changing the order to re-establish circulation in her foot.

Itachi looked down at the metal dust on his desk. "I wonder how he is," he asked.

Tsuki never could understand why Itachi cared so much about Sasuke. "I would imagine he's going about his life the same way he did when I was there. He's probably pushing himself to the limit, accelerating at an alarming rate. He plans to kill Orochimaru before coming after you, just so you know. He told me that in confidence when he found I was planning to return to Konoha."

"That seems a bit ambitious," Itachi stated. "Why did he decide to do that?"

Tsuki shrugged. There was no harm in telling him what had happened so long ago. "Sasuke helped me survive. Without him, Orochimaru would have taken my life. I guess the bonds of friendship are deeper than his hatred."

Itachi nodded. "That sounds like Sasuke. He's more compassionate than most, but he does his best to hide it. His biggest fear is to be thought of as weak. Nothing else matters to him, other than vengeance." He settled back in his chair, running his hand through his bangs.

Resting a hand on his desk, she leaned forward. "That's the conclusion I came to when I heard his life story. He seemed a little desperate to destroy you, all those years ago. I think he just wants to know why it had to happen the way it did."

"I'm not going to tell him until I'm already dead," Itachi swore. "I can't live with it, anymore."

She looked away from him. She was already too close for comfort. He was doomed to die, and of all those she knew she cherished him more than most. His death would inevitably destroy her.

"Tsuki," he sighed with empathy and sorrow.

"I know," she snapped. "I knew you would die when I met you again. Sasuke told me, you told me. Yes, I knew."

The sudden lashing took him by surprise once more. Cautiously, he eyed her. "I wish it didn't have to be so hard for you," he murmured.

"There's nothing you can do, so forget about it." She tensed up again. He looked at her with sorrow in his eyes. There truly was nothing he could do.