Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but I do own Amaya, Hana and this amazing plot...Yeah...

Here we go! All my exams have started now (Ahh!!) and I had my prom on Friday (it was truly amazing...) so I've been a bit busy lately and will continue to be, but i'll still try to do my best to update when I can.

As always, thanks for the wonderful reviews! Enjoy...

Chapter 16

The sun began to rise two days later, casting its soft, warm rays of pale orange light over the trees. Thin slivers of gold slipped between the leaves to the leaf covered ground below and onto the heads of five ninja, jumping silently through the foliage.

"We should reach the base in an hour or so. There may still be some Akatsuki about, so keep your wits about you," Shikamaru said to his team.

Sakura and Neji nodded silently.

"H-hai," Hinata replied.

"Hai, hai," Kiba replied as Akamaru let out a bark, "Huh? There are the scents of two people around here, they keep going this way, but they're also over that way. And Akamaru also thinks he smells blood, but he can't be sure from this distance."

They all paused, balancing on branches for a moment. Shikamaru sighed, "How far is it?"

"Not far, about ten minutes away," Kiba replied after more yaps from his dog.

"Perhaps we should split up and meet at the base?" Sakura suggested, but Shikamaru shook his head.

"Tsunade said to stay together unless we need to send someone back or something. I suppose we should check it out…" The others nodded and began to follow Kiba and Akamaru.

"How troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered to himself before following. The scent of blood was never good.

Ten minutes later they were stood amongst the trees. Neji and Hinata gazed around with their byakugan, looking for any clues of who had been there. Sakura picked up a leaf from the ground, and turned it over.

"This looks like blood, but it's only a few drops. Whoever it was couldn't have been that badly injured."

"There are two more scents here. One of them is Hana-san. I'm guessing the other is Amaya-san," Kiba explained.

"I-I think I s-see s-something," Hinata piped up. Neji swung his gaze in the same direction as his cousin.

"I see it," he said, and moved through the trees swiftly, returning with a long, black ribbon in his hand.

"It's a hair ribbon. It must have belonged to either Hana or Amaya-san," Sakura said, taking it from him for a closer look, "That means they definitely came this way."

"This trail is fresher, too," Kiba added.

Shikamaru nodded, "We'll carry on going this way, then."

It was well into the afternoon, when the sun was arcing back through the sky towards the earth, giving way to the moon, that Kiba and Akamaru both smelt blood again. This time however, there was much more of it.

It wasn't long before the stench of it was so strong they could all smell it quite clearly. When they stumbled across a clearing filled with the dead and decomposing bodies of giant snakes the smell was overpowering and the sight was sickening.

Sakura gagged on the smell that filled her nostrils, "What happened here? It couldn't be…These snakes…"

"Orochimaru," Neji finished.

Sakura's eyes brightened slightly. If Orochimaru was involved in this, then there was a chance that she would find Sasuke. Then her eyes saddened.

What good would it do? Even if we did bump into him, he still wouldn't come back with us…

She was torn from her thoughts of her former team-mate by a call from Kiba.

"You guys, there's a whole lot of blood over here and it isn't from one of those snakes. It has the same scent as the blood from before."

The others crowded around the large patch of dried blood on the ground, the leaves dyed a deep reddish-brown by the amount that had soaked into them.

"There are four scents here, the two Akatsuki's, Hana-san and what we assume as Amaya-san again…But Hana-san's disappears here. There's the stink of one of those snakes here, too and…Kabuto."

"Hana said that she was kidnapped by Orochimaru, this must be where she was taken from," Sakura said, "But she didn't mention anything about getting badly injured."

"Meaning that this is Amaya-san's blood?" Neji asked, though it wasn't really a question, "Sakura, could someone live after losing that much blood?"

"It's hard to tell exactly how much there was here as some of it has soaked into the ground and it's all dried up, obviously, but I'd say that unless she got help pretty quickly there's only a slim chance that she would have survived."

"Akatsuki are an organisation of the strongest, fastest criminals. It's likely that she was seen to fast, though that depends on how valuable to them she is," Neji replied.

Kiba nodded, "Her scent gets mingled with one of the Akatsuki's here, and heads off that way," He said, pointing, "But the other one goes in the same direction as the snake."

"Seeing as Hoshigaki Kisame was the one Hana-san fought, it would make sense that he would chase after her if she was taken by Orochimaru. It seems he followed her all the way to Konoha. Providing he was travelling with his usual companion, then we can assume that the other Akatsuki scent belongs to…"

"Uchiha Itachi," Sakura spat, interrupting Shikamaru's deductions.

He was the man that had ruined Sasuke's life; the man that was after her best friend; the man that was the cause of everything. Determination set it. If he had this girl, Sakura would save her. She would not let him destroy any more lives, not if she could help it. She felt that if she could save one life, maybe there was a chance that she could save Sasuke's too.

Amaya trudged through the sand, the wind whipping at her, the straw hat on her head pulled down to keep the sand out of her eyes. On her right was Deidara, with Sasori shuffling along next to him, inside his puppet. On her left was Itachi, purposefully stood between her and Kisame.

She looked over at the shark-man as he grinned down at her. In return she glared at him dangerously but caught the warning glance from Itachi and returned her gaze to the sand beneath her feet.

They were headed to yet another base, making her wonder how many they actually had. She supposed it stood to reason that they'd have plenty of them in case one was discovered then they'd have somewhere else to go.

I wonder if they have a 'main' base, like headquarters or something. Perhaps that's where their leader is. They must have a leader of some sort…all these guys just working together without someone ordering them around seems unlikely. I wonder what they're trying to do though…and what do they want with me? If I could just remember some more, something more helpful, something special about me, then at least I'd know why I'm here. Stupid dreams, they just confuse me and they never tell me anything apart from the fact that I probably should have died, but I'm still here and somehow survived…Come to think of it, I've always healed quite fast, though probably not fast enough to survive that...

A strong gust of wind whipped the straw hat from her head before she could catch it, throwing sand into her eyes and causing her to let out a yelp.

Ugh, damn it, I hate sand…

She stopped walking and shielded her face with one hand and began to rub at her eyes with the other, but a hand caught her wrist.

"You'll make them sore," and the straw hat was placed on her head again.

She looked up with watering eyes at the Uchiha and nodded.

"Arigatou," she said, pulling the hat down to shield her eyes again before they started walking again. The others hadn't stopped which meant that she now found herself walking silently beside him.

She glanced at him from underneath the edge of the hat and studied his face for a moment.

Last night, after finally managing to get her self down from the roof, in a rather undignified manner that thankfully no one was there to see, she had slept peacefully and for the first time in many nights she had had a different dream. This time it was a happy memory. At least, she thought it was.

Was it really him, though? It could have been anyone, I suppose, but I'm sure…

He felt her eyes on him, and looked down at her, his cold red eyes the same as always. Amaya looked away quickly.

Who am I kidding? He wouldn't have said anything like that. Then again, I suppose people change over time. Maybe it was him?

"I had a dream again last night," she started, wondering if it would be worth the effort, "but it was different this time. It was a sunny day like this. I was stood on the same cliff as in the other dream, but I was there because I wanted to be there. I was watching the waves below, listening to the birds and I started singing. I can't really remember how the song went, but it was-."

"Too sad for such a bright day."

She looked up at him, a smile breaking out on her face, and she had to hold onto the hat as the wind blew again, "It was you. So we've met before?"

He nodded, "Briefly."

Only briefly?

Why does it feel like it was more than that?

She turned, looking back in the direction that they had come.

"Keep up," Itachi said.

"Um," she nodded.

Someone's following us…

They stopped out in the desert. Amaya stood on top of a large sand dune and gazed around; the others were sat at the bottom. The breeze had died down so she could finally take the hat off without worrying about getting sand in her eyes.

Deidara and Kisame were talking, with the occasional murmur from Sasori, who was out of his puppet again. Itachi was sat with them, only half listening.

How much has she remembered? He thought, his gaze lingering on her, It was only brief…Far too short…

He blinked, looking away from her. The conversation from the others had died as they felt it too.

"We're being followed, it seems," Sasori said quietly as he climbed calmly back into his puppet.

Itachi got to his feet. Amaya would have to come down from there before she was spotted. Jumping up to the top he opened his mouth to speak but stopped. Her eyes were closed and he could feel her chakra. It was such a tiny amount but he wondered how he hadn't sensed it earlier. It was like that time in the forest when she sensed the snakes, but it was almost as if she'd refined it; it seemed more controlled this time.

He could see the concentration on her pretty face.

"I can hear them. It's quite strange, really, but I can hear them, as though I was right there," she said quietly, before opening her eyes, "There's a village that way," she pointed directly towards Suna, "But there aren't many people still awake. And that way," she turned, pointing towards their destination, "There is a man with a foul mouth, but I can't hear him very well…"

"We're still a day away," he was watching her carefully. The foul mouthed man was probably Hidan, "How far can you hear?"

"I'm not sure. Everything gets quieter the further away it is, so I guess a day or so away is about it."

"Be careful. Ninja can travel silently when need be. Someone might sense your chakra before you hear them."

Amaya smiled, "I'd hear them. I've realised I can hear more than the sounds of their feet on the sand, or their voices. I could hear your heart, their hearts, every breath they took." She glanced past him down at Sasori, "Something's different about him?"

It wasn't so much of a question as a statement.

"And you…What were you thinking about?"

His eyes narrowed slightly, "Why?"

"You're heartbeat changed slightly…"

"That's none of your business. Go down there and go to sleep," he said bluntly, pointing down to where the others were as he started to move in the opposite direction.

She caught his arm, "Are you going to fight them? They haven't done anything."

"I do not fight needlessly," he replied.

Still holding his arm she made herself look him in the eye, "You said it was only brief but…was it…" she searched for the right words, not quite sure how to put it, "Special?"

He didn't say anything for a moment, looking into those soft blue eyes. For a moment he let the Sharingan go, knowing that looking into red eyes made her uncomfortable. A small smile crept onto her lips and she looked into those dark, captivating eyes.

"Yes," he said quickly, before turning the Sharingan on again and disappearing from in front of her.

She stared at nothing. Suddenly something clicked into place.

When I was falling from the cliff that was him! That was him calling out to me. He was there! It was him...

…It was him…

Oo, well then, what do you all make of that? Anyone see it coming? I wonder what history they have?

And is Hana alive or not? You'll notice that I still haven't made it clear...Actually, i haven't really decided...I have a storyline that goes either way...Hmm...

Just a note: I've very tired so if there are typos and mistakes i've missed, sorry...