Alright. I apologize for the delay but I had a lot going on here. School has started naturally and I had to study lots. Between physics (which I'm not good at) and calculus I barely have time to sleep let alone write. But I've finally finished chapter 13. I hope it lives up to expectations.

Disclaimer: Won't say it. look at chapter one I know there's a disclaimer there because I just looked. if you must have one use it.


Ch. 13: Finding Aya

Aya was still running. There wasn't time for her to do anything else. She could still hear Sasori behind her and he was catching up. Her hopes soared when she saw a glimpse of light in front of her. She ran faster only to come to a skidding halt. It was a dead end. Aya spun around as Sasori walked up to her. He smirked, "Did you think we would be so dumb as to keep you in a place with two exits and only one guard?"

"The thought came to mind," she replied as her mind raced for a way out of this mess. She couldn't let them use her to get Gaara.

Sasori turned and walked back into the tunnel. "While I commend you for your near escape, you will not get away." He turned and placed small pieces of paper along the tunnel wall. "This will make a nice holding cell while we wait for the arrival of the Kazekage."

Sasori brought his hands together and focused. Aya frowned. 'Just what was he doing?' she wondered. Then the tags on the walls exploded. Her eyes widened and she rushed forward. "NO!" It was too late. The cave collapsed. She covered her face with her arms and stepped back. When the dust cleared, she opened her eyes and groaned. The tunnel was now blocked off. Her eyes narrowed. There had to be another way out.

Her eyes scanned the area around her and she saw that the light was coming from a small hole high up on the wall. She could have to do quite a bit of climbing to get to it but what did she have to lose? Aya began climbing up the wall. It hurt and she felt the rock digging into her palms. She slipped but didn't allow herself to fall. Aya knew she had to escape. She had to escape before it was too late...before Gaara got there and sacrificed his life for her. She wouldn't allow it. She couldn't allow it. Aya grunted with effort as she pulled herself up.

----------With Gaara----------

They were running as fast as they could. Gaara was determined. He wouldn't slow down and he couldn't give up. They had found her trail and he wouldn't let anything stop him from getting to her. If he had to tear the world apart then so be it. Gaara's eyes narrowed. Inside his mind, he heard the spirit of Shukaku stir. The one-tailed beast seemed just as angry by Aya's kidnapping as his host. That Gaara didn't understand. Never before had Shukaku cared about the well-being of another. Hell, the only reason he even cared about Gaara was because if his host died then Shukaku would die as well. Oh well. Gaara wasn't going to complain about this. Shukaku's annoyance with the situation would only guarantee his cooperation should it be needed.

Something stopped in front of them and they all slid to a stop. Gaara didn't have to ask for the identity of the man who now blocked their path. Sasuke's reaction told him all he needed to know. Sasuke had hissed and his sharingan activated instantly. There was a rage burning in his eyes that told everyone who was standing before them.

Gaara got his first look at Itachi Uchiha. His long, dark hair was kept in a low ponytail. Those dark eyes held a haunted and determined look. He wore the traditional clothing of the Akatsuki, a black cloak with red clouds. The eyes changed to that of the sharingan. His gaze shifted to Sasuke and he smirked.

"Hello, little brother. It's been along time," he greeted Sasuke in a cool, smooth voice.

Sasuke practically growled and would have attacked but Sakura and Naruto grabbed him. "Sasuke, get a hold of yourself," Naruto snapped out.

"You'll only get killed if you attack in anger like this," Sakura shouted at him.

Sasuke forced himself to calm down. They were right. Itachi was an expert fighter and one of the most skilled shinobi in the world. He couldn't risk attacking when his head wasn't clear. Besides, Itachi was probably counting on that. Sasuke stepped back and his friends released him. His eyes remained narrowed as he glared at his brother.

Kakashi stepped forward, "We can't afford to waste time. We only have 'till dawn or Aya will be killed."

Gaara glared and took a fighting stance. A hand on his shoulder stopped him. Kakashi shook his head. "Let Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura handle it. The rest of us will continue."

Naruto grinned at Gaara, "Yeah, Gaara. You have to go get Aya."

The kazekage nodded and prepared to run with his siblings and Kakashi. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura prepared to attack. Itachi's eyes narrowed, "That will not work. Do you really think I'm going to just let you pass me?"

"You won't have a choice," Sasuke snapped out.

He attacked. This time his head was cool and he calculated each move carefully. Naruto and Sakura were right behind him. They attacked as a team and were nearly more than Itachi could handle. Team 7 seemed to coordinate their moves without actually speaking with each other.

Gaara wasted no time. He began to run. When Itachi tried to stop him, Sasuke blocked his attack and forced him to focus on the battle at hand. This allowed the sand siblings and Kakashi to get past Itachi. Gaara made a mental not to thank the three of them later. He continued to run as fast as he could. There was no time to lose. Aya was still counting on him. Gaara put on a burst of speed. The sooner he got there the better.

They heard fighting in the distance and glanced over to see Guy jumping into the air. It would seem that their team had come to their aid and was now fighting with yet another member of the Akatsuki. Gaara would have helped but he didn't have the time. Not only that, they were fighting with a water user and that was his weakness. He turned forward and kept following Aya's trail. It seemed to take forever before he found the cave and burst inside.

The man who had attacked him earlier and someone else was waiting inside for them. The blonde man grinned, "Welcome. We were going to come get you but this works too. Why don't you just surrender, Gaara. We have the girl and only we know where she is. If you don't surrender, I'll make sure she dies."

Kankuro stated to move forward for an attack but Gaara stopped him. "They have Aya," the kazekage explained calmly. "Until we know where she is we can't kill them."

"Gaara, they're not going to just tell us," Temari pointed out.

The deformed figure next to Deidara chuckled. "You should have remained heartless, Gaara. That would have made all of this much easier. Your only choice if you want to save the girl is to surrender."

Gaara closed his eyes. They were right. He didn't know where Aya was. Even if he won the fight against them, he wouldn't be able to save her. There had to be a way to locate her without having them tell him. He looked at the others. They shook their heads. There was no way to find Aya without going through the Akatsuki members and they weren't going to just had the information over, even if they lost the fight. Gaara lowered his head in defeat.

"Have it your way," he told them.

"Good. Just to insure that you don't change your mind, we won't hand over the girl until we get what we want from you," Deidara stated.

Gaara took a step forward and prepared for the worst. The chances of his surviving this were slim to none and he knew it. 'Sorry, Aya,' he thought mentally. 'I have no choice. I won't let them kill you even if it means my own life.' He chuckled at himself. Who'd have thought that the monster of Suna would give his life for another? That he'd care enough about someone else to be willing to die for them? Yet here he was, giving up everything for a girl that was nothing but a puzzle for him.

He didn't understand Aya and he never would. She trusted him. She cared about him. The first person to ever do any of those things for him. The first to give him a gift. The first to look at him without fear. His eyes narrowed. The first to make him feel something. Yes, he would die for her because she'd given him something he never thought he could have.

His eyes met the deformed man. "Take what you want. It doesn't matter as long as you keep your word and release Aya."

"Gaara," Temari stated. "Don't."

"There's no other way," he snapped out. "I won't let them kill her and they know where she is. Unless you know how to find her this is the only way."

Kankuro looked at Gaara in consideration then nodded. "Alright, Gaara. We won't leave here without Aya."

Gaara looked back at Kankuro. "I know. Tell her I'm sorry."

----------With Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura----------

Sasuke knocked Itachi back with every ounce of strength he had to give Naruto time to prepare. Sakura punched the ground and Itachi barely managed to dodge. The two of them were distracting him but as long as he didn't notice that was fine. Naruto needed just a few seconds to prepare his attack. Sasuke drew a sword that Kakashi had given him for his birthday last year. Itachi smirked. 'Come little brother,' he thought. 'It's time for you to prove to me that you are strong.' Sasuke attacked and Itachi dodged back and attacked with a genjustu. Sasuke paused and broke free of the attack. He heard Naruto call out from behind him and grinned. It was time to end this.

He dropped the sword and focused his power into his hands. Lighting seemed to come out of his hands as he formed the chidori. He attacked from the front. Itachi's eyes widened and he dodged to the side. Sasuke smirked. Naruto came out of the trees and attacked with the rasengan. The attack was a direct hit. Itachi grunted with pain as Naruto slammed him down into the ground. For an instant, they all stood there and waited. Then Sasuke relaxed.

"We won." He frowned. "That seemed way too easy."

"Yeah, with all the hype around him, I expected it to be harder to beat Itachi," Naruto stated as he walked over to the crater. "What the...?!"

The other two rushed over and looked in surprise. It wasn't Itachi in the crater but another sand nin. Sakura looked at the other two, "Do you know how this happened?"

They shook their heads. Sasuke looked over towards the caves. "We had better hurry. Gaara might need help."

"Right," the other two agreed and they rushed towards the caves. They could only pray that they weren't too late.

-----------With Aya----------

Aya grunted as she reached the top of the tunnel. It would take all the strength she had left to pull herself through the opening. All she could do was pray it was big enough for her to fit through. Aya pulled herself straight up and cried out with the effort it took. She got her upper body through and stopped to catch her breath. Sweat trickled down her face and her body was coated in a layer of it. This was not normal for her. She'd never realized just how stubborn and strong she could be when the situation demanded it. Her she was, a civilian, pulling off a feat that most shinobi wouldn't believe she was capable of. Hell, she hadn't thought she was capable of it until now. She was escaping on her own. No white knight or anything.

"Well, almost escaped," she said to herself and looked around. There was nothing but forest. Odd, there was a forest in the land of wind. She hadn't realized that. "I really need to get out more." This meant she didnt' know where she was. Great. Now she didn't know where to go from here. "Oh well. I've got to get out no matter what."

Aya pulled herself the rest of the way through the hole and stood up on the top of the caves. She chose to follow the caves beneath her to the entrance. Perhaps there was a trail there that would lead her back to the village. Besides, if Gaara came, he would end up at that entrance. She saw an explosion directly in front of her several miles away from the cave entrance. There was fighting there. Gaara. Aya ran as fast as she could in that direction. She was so focused on that that she forgot she was standing on the top of the caves and nearly fell down when she reached the entrance. The cave beneath her trembled a little.

"What in the world?" Aya began to make her way down the side of the cave entrance and turned to look inside. Her eyes widened and her heart did a quick flip. No. She wouldn't let him. Aya raced inside and shouted, "Gaara!"


That's it. Now that I've left you at a cliff hanger, I'll be going now. Until the next chapter.