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Chapter 7- Thoughtless impulse

"Kakashi… I'd heard you were here," Kana said, with a slight smile. "Tied to evil, maybe, but inside, I'm still me!"

"Yes well, Naruto is on my team. Afraid you got here a little late, kid," he replied casually.

"Kakashi-sensei… you know this kid?" Naruto speculated.

"We're acquainted."

Itachi looked from Kana to Kakashi, then from Kakashi to the other people here. So it was Yamato, Sakura, what looked like Inoichi, Chouza and Shikaku's three children, and a pale faced, dark haired boy whom he had never seen before. Kana's eyes flickered towards Itachi, whose face showed no trace of emotion. It reminded her disappointingly of the old days. She thought she had been able to soften him up a bit. Maybe not.

"We… can't let you leave," Kana said blankly. "We have orders to kill you all and take the nine-tails with us. And by the looks of you all, it won't be too difficult."

"I see." Kakashi turned and proceeded to mutter for a few moments to his team mates, occasionally glancing back at Kana.

"Right," he whispered, "To be honest, the kid has a point. In our current state, we can't hold off against two more Akatsuki right off the bat. Itachi is ridiculously powerful, and Kana's not too shabby either. I have reason to believe that she's a good fighter."

"What?" Naruto hissed. "That girl is nearly as tough as Itachi?"

"Don't be fooled by appearances…"

"When you've done planning, we'll be taking the nine-tails with us," Kana said pointedly, and readied her kunai in her hand.

"Right then. I'll go first," Kakashi nodded. His team mates were in no rush to object.

"Itachi… stay out of this," she said, now excited. It had been a while since she'd been in a proper fight. She cracked her knuckles and smiled, a new conviction. No, she wouldn't kill them, but…

"Well, might as well start big," Kana said sardonically. She clapped her hands together and concentrated her chakra.

"Lightning stream!" she said forcefully, and bolts of lightning shot out from her hands at all angles, travelling faster than the speed of sound. "More power… come on!" the streams got even faster, and there was no way Kakashi could dodge them by normal means.

"Geez, I'd better act fast!" he muttered, and disappeared underground with an earth-style technique.

"That doesn't matter… I don't just know lightning jutsu, you know." Kana thought for a moment, then decided to just go for the clear, dynamic and simple approach. She punched the ground with all her power, sending a shockwave though the Earth's surface and created a large fissure, exposing a completely shell-shocked Kakashi underneath.

"Now what? He can't hide from me…" she muttered.

"She certainly is powerful," the dark haired lad commented. He looked a little sallow and was surprisingly blank-faced given the situation.

"Yeah, and even Kakashi's having trouble with her!" Naruto growled.

"Kana…" a faint voice sounded.

She looked up, seeing Itachi next to her, with his hand on her shoulder, using her for support.

"Itachi, what the heck?" she said shakily, suddenly wavering in her nerve. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong.

"It's spreading…" he said in a husky tone. Clearing his throat, he struggled for a moment, and then straightened up. Something caught in his throat and he began coughing up blood again.

"Hey, Itachi! Seriously, stop straining yourself," Kana said quickly, trying to disregard the fact that all the Leaf Shinobi were watching them intensely.

"Let's go, Kana; the Leaf Shinobi are not on form, and neither am I, if I am honest. There's no point to this fight. Come on," he urged.

"Deserting another mission? Itachi, why?" This answer was obvious.

Kana stared at him for a second, hugely disappointed that she would have to stop having fun, but agreeing inside that it was probably the right thing to do. Besides, she had a hard time saying 'no' to Itachi. Although she did feel like having a battle, since it had been a while, reason dictated against that idea. This was a lucky day for the Leaf Shinobi.

"Naruto Uzumaki… may we meet one day again," he said in a warning voice with his back turned, and he began to walk swiftly until he was completely out of sight. The Leaf Shinobi made no move to catch him. Kana speculated why. They all presented an air of eerie calm.

"Well, I had better get going too. Don't think we won't be back, you Leaf scum," she cautioned, and was about to turn and trail after her sensei, when, with a start, she realised that she had been paralyzed.

"What the-"

"Shadow possession jutsu… successful," a ninja with spikey hair in a ponytail confirmed smugly.

Try as she might, Kana couldn't even move her eyelids.

"You are not going anywhere, Akatsuki member. The Leaf's shadow possession jutsu is yet to fail once." the shadow guy confirmed. "Sai, do your thing."

The pale-faced, dark-haired kid drew something on a scroll of paper with some ink, and muttered to himself, "Ninja-art."

The ink came alive and turned into what looked like a pair of black handcuffs, which he carried over and secured around her wrists behind her back.

"Dammit!" Kana cried furiously, relieved that she could still move her mouth, but outraged at the situation. "How could I be so careless? Getting caught by that pathetic level of jutsu? Man!"

She was startled to feel that tears were gathering in her eyes. Itachi was gone, probably very far away now, knowing him, and she had just been captured by the enemy.

"Calm down…" she muttered under her ragged breathing. "Think… I'm a total powerhouse… Itachi's not here. I have to think of what to do on my own. Maybe I can… let myself be captured? I can infiltrate the village then. That would be a good plan. I won't kill Kakashi, he's… well, I guess I owe him one. But the others could be killed if necessary…" Her Akatsuki-engineered brain was working in overtime, and the word 'kill' kept on popping up in her thoughts. She felt like two people right now. One was her true self, and the other was the part that was made by years as an assassin. She didn't want to kill, but her engineered logic told her that there was no other option.

"When you're done muttering, kid, we'll take you in," Kakashi announced pointedly. "Shikamaru, you can release the shadow possession. Sai's got her with his handcuffs."

Nodding, Shikamaru obliged and cautiously released his jutsu. Kana was reassured that she could breathe properly again.

"I don't like this… she was panicking a minute ago. Now she's all calm. What's up with that?" Naruto questioned.

"I am here, you know. You don't have to chat about me like I don't exist," Kana said irritably.

"We have to take her back to the Leaf. This is the first time an Akatsuki member has been captured. I'm sure Inoichi and Ibiki will get something out of her," Kakashi said.

"I don't care about the Akatsuki. I'm only there 'cause Itachi is my sensei," Kana said, and she knew this was true, even if they were not certain of her openness. She simply wanted to follow Itachi's ideals and desires at the moment. Right now, Itachi wanted to see their mission through, but it had not really gone to plan. First, because Hidan and Kakuzu were dead. Second, the Leaf Shinobi were half-dead anyway, and fighting weak opponents was not his style. Third, Itachi's illness got the better of him at exactly the wrong moment. And fourth, Kana had senselessly let herself get caught by the enemy. Itachi needed this done, so it would get done.

And then Kana found herself being lead back to the Hidden Leaf village, but this time, as a captive.

OOO

This time, Kana was being taken straight into the village through the main gate, instead of sneaking in through the barrier with a password. It made her view the village in a whole new perspective. Two men were stood at the front gate in what appeared to be their standard Shinobi attire, green flak jackets and all, with the metal forehead protectors on, but lacking the scratch through the village symbol.

"Izumo! Kotetsu!" Kakashi called, and they ran forward. "We have an Akatsuki member right here."

"What, you're joking, right? She's just a kid!" Izumo exclaimed, angering Kana. Kakashi tightened his grip on her shoulder.

"Don't be fooled… she might look younger, but she's actually fifteen years of age and as deadly as any other Akatsuki member. Don't take this kid lightly. It was pure luck that we got her here in the first place."

Izumo nodded in acknowledgement of Kakashi's words and his eyes surveyed Kana from head to toe to take in this new information. Kotetsu, on the other hand, was staring at the very dishevelled-looking platoon in front of him, especially Kakashi, who had lost his flak jacket and had scratches and cuts all over him, and simply looked exhausted. The only ones who looked remotely untouched were Yamato, Sai, and Sakura.

"I'm surprised she came so obediently," Sai commented, looked dispassionately at Kana. Kana responded by shooting a malevolent glare at him, startling him slightly. These people, they cooperated so easily! It took all Leader had to keep just nine or so Shinobi under control, and here, many ninja were talking in a civilised manner right in her presence. Kana cursed the Leaf village silently; their ways and customs would take some getting used to before she managed to kill them.

"Very well…" Kotetsu said. "Go on through. Inoichi and Ibiki will probably get something out of her in the interrogation corps."

"Interrogation? I have no intention of telling anyone anything!" Kana shouted. When Kakashi's grip tightened once again, in warning, she shrugged off his hand tetchily. "Don't worry, I won't try to make a run for it. Geez…" She felt like banging her head against the ground. Why wouldn't she just put up a fight and run? She didn't have to try and vanquish Akatsuki's enemies… She didn't even like being in the Akatsuki; it was just all she knew. So why was she still trying to protect them?

OOO

Kana didn't look around her on the way to the interrogation corps. Instead, the focused her attention solely on the ground in front of her, remaining in a bad mood. This was all just a little humiliating for her, even if it was part of the new plan.

"Come on, Kana. This isn't the same perky little twelve-year-old I meet three years ago!" Kakashi remarked.

"Of course not now, I've just been captured by you!" she retorted without looking. "I am still the same person, but you would be irritated too, if you had been taken captive by your enemy."

"Sure ,sure…" he said absently, and continued to lead her along, with Sai in tow. Sai wasn't worn out at all, not even from having to keep his ink handcuffs activated for so long. Shikamaru followed as well, his shadow possession at the ready, just in case. Kana didn't blame them for taking all these precautions; it would take a lot to catch her if she escaped.

"Although," he began, "I'd be willing to bet that you're more annoyed at yourself right now. After all, you could probably hold your own battle against at least two platoons of jounin Shinobi."

"Shut up! I-I was careless, that's all. Now stop talking to me… it's giving me a headache, geez."

Kakashi nodded, finding her something of a novelty right now. Kana was in a terrible mood. Her plan was simple in theory, but it would be harder to carry out. Besides, staying in this village irritated her no end, but she couldn't quite understand why.

"Okay, we're here. Shikamaru, you go and rest, you need it after what you've been through. But Sai, I need you to stay with us to keep your ink jutsu operational," Kakashi said, and Kana raised her head at last, seeing a small building, with double doors leading into it. The small sign next to the door read: Hidden Leaf village interrogation corps: Spies and criminals beware. Kana blinked in scepticism upon reading the last sentence.

"Sure, I'm leaving it to you, Sai," Shikamaru nodded at Sai.

"Yes," Sai replied awkwardly, as if he didn't know what to say.

Kana was taken into the small building, and through some dark corridors to a room with a metal door. It had a one-sided glass panel outside, so people could peer in to observe the interrogation, but the people inside could not see a thing.

Once they were inside, Sai released the handcuffs and they were replaced with real ones, only they were strange as well. These new handcuffs were broad and made of a much denser metal than normal, and Kana could have sworn that she felt them buzzing slightly. After a few minutes of wearing the new handcuffs, she began to notice that she was feeling increasingly worn out, as if all her chakra was missing.

Fantastic… she thought disdainfully. Chakra drainers disguised as handcuffs. These Leaf Shinobi aren't being careless today…

After watching Sai leave, Kana saw a very tall man stride importantly towards them. He had a bandana on his head with the metal forehead protector on the front, and he had long scars stretched over his face. Kana cringed. This guy's appearance cried out 'dangerous', whatever way she looked at him.

"Ah, Ibiki, you're here. Kana, this is Ibiki Morino. He's going to try and get some answers out of you about the Akatsuki, and about Itachi," Kakashi said, gesturing towards Ibiki, who nodded, and glowered in Kana's direction. She wanted to back away, but years in the Akatsuki had taught her not to give into emotions, and to stand her ground, so that was what she did, standing upright and looking like thunder into Ibiki's eyes.

"Go in. Now. You can go, Kakashi, thanks. I can handle this runt," he snarled, and Kakashi nodded wryly and went on his way.

Ibiki gave her a slight push into the room, and sat her down on a chair, where she was bound with ropes.

"Now, I know you're only fifteen, but you're still an Akatsuki member. I am not going easy on you. Kana, you are going to answer some questions."

"The hell I am!"

Thanks for reading! :)