A/N: Well, you've all been good, meeting my demands for reviews and all. So here's the next chapter. Feel free to message me with ideas or anything, and I might put it in. No guarantees, but if your ideas get in, I will credit you for the idea… Some of you were wondering about the pairings and romance in this, so I will tell you. Romance will come in later chapters, but the pairings I cannot give you because that would kill the whole thing…and, that's all! Thank you, everyone, and enjoy!

Chapter 3

Kakashi knew he had fooled her. He had done this before; pretending to be asleep so his enemies would leave him alone for long enough to make an escape. It had never failed him. He listened intently for Yasu's footsteps to fade, heart beginning to speed up from the anxiety of waiting so long in such a nerve-wracking situation. After what was an eternity to Kakashi, he heard the comforting click of the lock turning. The second Kakashi heard this, he threw back the covers, jumped off the bed, and grabbed his clothes. He used his chakra to move quickly without pain. He snatched a cloak from a chair in the corner, threw it over his shoulders, and strode to the window. Not surprisingly, it opened easily with a twist of chakra.

"Remind me, Yasu," he murmured into empty air, "That I owe you some love." He jumped out the window, landing carefully on the ground. He broke into a run almost immediately, valuing speed over stealth. They would notice he was gone soon, and he needed as much distance as he could get.

OOOOOOOOO

"What do you mean he's missing?!"

Asuma and Kurenai were standing in front of Tsunade, trying to explain to her what had happened.

"We tried to go after him, but Itachi just took him away while the other one held us off!" Kurenai cried. "And when we finally came to, did you really expect us to find him?"

Tsunade slowly sank down into her chair, covering her pale face with her hands. Only then did Kurenai notice the dark circles under Tsunade's eyes, and the tired expression on her face. Her usually neat blonde hair was coming out of the ties around it and falling into Tsunade's face, half-covering her milky brown eyes. "Sorry," she murmured into her palms.

Asuma shook his head. "First of all, you shouldn't be apologizing. It's no one's fault. Second of all, we know and understand the stress you are under as Hokage of the Leaf, and how chaotic it must be to keep going and pick up all the pieces, but there isn't much time for Kakashi. The Akatsuki has a new leader, and she seems to get pretty close to you in power. She says that the Akatsuki is getting weaker, and that they need power; power that possession of Kakashi can give them, be it as a hostage or anything else. And if she does what I think she's going to do, then Kakashi will be lost forever. He'll be completely bound to the new leader, and only she can release him from his bonds."

Tsuande looked up. "Sh-She's-"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Asuma continued grimly. "She's already threatened to use the Slave Curse on Kakashi, and if she goes through with it there's absolutely no hope at all for him. I doubt all the Kages put together could break that jutsu."

Tsunade jumped to her feet. If things were as bad as Aasuma said, then she had better get moving; fast! "Kurenai, select the strongest ninja in the village and form a search party. Asuma, get a map that contains both Konoha and Akatsuki territory, all of it. Plan a strategy to invade if necessary. Get the ANBU black ops. Leave squads eight and ten and bring the rest to me. Kurenai, also get the Twelve Elite, they're coming with me as my personal guards. First person done gets to find Team Seven and Iruka and inform them, they'll want to know. And include Gai in the search. He and Iruka are Kakashi's best friends; they'll want to come along. Team Seven and Kakashi have grown pretty close in the past few years; they'll want to come as well. Go!"

"Right away!" The two jounin both took off to do as they were told; Asuma for the library, Kurenai for the ninja headquarters, where she knew a lot of ninja would be lounging. She could gather who she could from there. She knew to include Gai and his team; she would have even if the Hokage had not requested it. Then she would go to her own team. Both were very good teams, and she had confidence in them. The I'll see who I can get from the Hyuuga clan, and I'll find out if Ruika's around…Ruika was Kurenai's best female friend, and she and Kakashi and Asuma had shared many great times together. Often Tsunade made an exception for the group and let them go on missions as a four-some, simply because they worked so well together. Ruika was also extremely powerful; she was a jinchuuri, sealed with the three-tailed Wolf. Her power was beyond jounin, but not enough to qualify for a sannin. She may be on a mission, tough, Kurenai thought. I hope not…but then again, she may not be, because she just took an S-rank a day or two ago, she might want to-

BAM!!!!!!

Kurenai slammed into another kuniochi, one who was careening down the halls as swiftly as Kurenai herself. A young girl with long, silvery hair and stormy gray eyes, exactly like Kakashi's- "Ruika!" Kurenai exclaimed, climbing to her feet.

"Something tells me you were looking for me," Ruika said dryly, picking herself up and brushing herself off. "What?"

"Need you for a search," Kurenai started.

Ruika nodded comprehensively. "Say no more."

"You heard?" Kurenai asked, only mildly surprised. Ruika had a tendency to learn things quickly; including picking things up even faster than her chakra-enhanced nose could pick up the scent of a donkey in August.

Ruika nodded again. "And I suspected. I hadn't seen Kakashi, and when I tried the White Fang on that S-rank two days ago I could hardly feel him." Kurenai's eyes widened. Ruika was Kakashi's half-sister, and his closest living relative. If she couldn't find him, no one could.

"Can you find him now?"

"Once his chakra returns it will be much easier," Ruika said. "It's been several days, so as long as he's not being suppressed, drained, or he hasn't been drugged, it will be very easy."

Kurenai sighed. "But can you find him now?"

Ruika shrugged. "I can try." She closed her eyes and sank into her chakra, searching for her half-brother's blood. "Come on, baby brother," she muttered. "Come on, you, where the hell could you be? Don't tell me they hurt you-I'll have to wring their necks." Kurenai waited nervously, chewing on a hangnail. It helped Ruika to try to talk to her brother, so she let her keep going. The anxiety was beginning to get to her, and she imagined the worst. What if Kakashi was hurt so badly he would never be a shinobi again? What if he was being tortured? What if Ruika couldn't find him? What if…no, not Kakashi! If they had killed him, or raped him, or anything of the sort, Kurenai swore on her mother's grave at that moment that if such a thing had happened, she would kill anyone who dared cross her path.

Ruika's eyes snapped open.

"I found him!" she cried. "He's alarmingly close. The Akatsuki have been sitting just about under our nose the whole time, and even though they hold territory close to us, we though they were up by the snow country. As a matter of fact, they're very close! Right up by the river; Namida, I believe it's called. The waterfall behind it is the Veil of Tears, so the river is named after it. It's only a couple miles from here! If we hurry we can make it by tomorrow. Go tell Tsuande-sama now! I'll take care of the search!" Kurenai shook her head. "No, you tell her. I already know who I want for the search. You tell her, I'll find everybody I want and meet you back in Tsuande-sama's office." Ruika nodded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Kurenai sighed and picked up her run again. Please, Kakashi-hold on!

OOOOOOOOOOO

Kakashi kept jumping from tree limb to tree limb, cursing himself for his stupidity. I used too much chakra, he thought. Now my signature is getting weaker and weaker, and my body's getting weak as well, despite the intense chakra output. Damn, this is bad. He began looking around for a place to stop and rest, safely hidden from anyone searching for him. Trees…rocks…trees…rocks…trees…a clearing by a river…Wait! A clearing by a river! It was perfect! Kakashi jumped down, using the last of his chakra to crouch down at the water's edge and get a drink from his hands. Kakashi gasped as the cold water ran down his dry throat, and only after he had drank enough to momentarily quench his thirst did he realize how hungry he was. Sighing, he took another drink and looked around. There was an enormous waterfall crashing down over a steep overhang of rocks. The water soared down the falls with a crash and a roar, and as Kakashi moved to his right he could see caves behind the rocks. He smiled. Talk about hiding in plain sight! Using the very last drop of his chakra, Kakashi ducked behind the torrent and holed up in a shallow cave to rest.

A/N: Well, how do you like that! The plot thickens! . My document manager kept screwing up the page breaks and all, so I had to use O's. I don't like it, but if it works…Oh well! You like? Want the next chapter? Two reviews, please! I love hearing what you think, and I'm sure you all like having the next chapter! So…REVIEW!!!!!!!