Chapter Five

Itachi panicked. In all his life, he'd never really understood confusion or panic to the full extent. The emotions that others felt... for the first time, the feeling of panic hit him like a train. Full force, it came crashing through him. He couldn't move, even his breath had stopped. He wondered how he'd even managed to stay standing at that point, but who knew, miracles happened.

The seconds ticked by so quickly. The more he listened, the faster the ticks seemed to go by. He'd already sent the man away, out of some control. Now he was still standing in the same spot wondering what the heck he should do at this point. Well, the answer was clear, but there was no way he'd be able to get excused from the camp... Unless...

He realized what he had to do. He spun around, and began to throw on a cape. Madara entered as Itachi wildly stuffed weapons and needed devices in his pockets. "What are you doing?" Madara asked calmly.

Itachi realized that he had to calm himself down. He could see the somewhat shocked face of Madara, because it was rare that Itachi would ever be panicked. Honestly, some part of Itachi didn't know what he was doing either. He still had to think about his clan that he was to kill... and Hokage's words. He had to also remember the punishment for leaving the mission for no reason at all. He could hear his father's scorning voice in his head. Though, all Itachi thought about was the fact that he had to retrieve Sasuke. If only he'd never been away, then nothing would have ever happened.

Anger and hatred at people began to flare inside Itachi. It boiled in his face and he had to stop. The anger was so strong that he was forgetting what to do and what he needed. Madara shifted, and this caused Itachi to remember his presence. He was glad that, like himself, Madara was patient and did not press the question.

Itachi finished packing his things and took a deep breath to face Madara. "I'm going to Orochimaru..."

Madara stared at him, obviously expecting more of an answer. He cringed inwardly. "He has my brother." Before Madara could say anything, Itachi contined speaking. "I know; it's stupid and most likely foolish of me. I swear I'll be back in time to kill the clan. I'm not bailing out on that. I'll do whatever, but for now, I have to... I have to go. I promise... I'll kill the clan, believe me." Itachi knew that he was just rambling on now. Madara held his hand up and silenced him.

"How will you explain this to the head?"

Itachi racked his brain. He knew from the start that leaving would, of course, result in consequences. He'd been prepared for that... or had he? He hadn't really given it much thought. Anything, really... He realized that the feeling of panic was indeed deadly and stupid. How much chaos it gave someone was amazing. With all these new things plastering against him, Itachi began to feel weary. His mind swayed and his vision momentarily clouded.

He realized that he needed to get away in that instant, before he'd completely thought things through or was stopped by Madara. He needed to do something, anything before he began to change his mind. He did know that thinking things through was the best thing to do at times like these, but some instinct inside of him pressed him forward. It drove him towards getting away from the mission and to Orochimaru.

Itachi also began to see, somewhat, that he was using this chance as a vacation away from the mission. A way to get away from the clan, to finally not have to take their foolish commands, of listening to their constant bickering. They complained and judged nonstop. Itachi had gotten very tired of it. It gave him headaches and made him more unwilling than he normally would have been. Maybe it was the fact that he did not favor his clan as much that he had begun to betray them.

He could see the way the way the Leaf villiage acted. Although they still had their bad moments, for some unknown reason, they seemed more pridefull, less afraid, more pure. Their actions were for their people, they were for themselves, but they were not bad. He could see their reluctance to fight, and he respected them for that. In terms of comparing, his own clan seemed and looked savage compared to that of Konoha.

After clamping the last of his items to his belt, he yanked a cloak off the bed, and headed for the doorway as he buttoned it on himself. A hand wrapped around his shoulder, and realed him back. Itachi snapped his head to look at Madara. They met gazes for an instant, and then Madara held up kunai at Itachi. "You forgot this," he said, simply.

Itachi hesitated, then nodded, and took it from him. "Thank you," he replied, then speedily ran out of the tent. The air cut across his face, and he was glad he'd pulled back his hair earlier that day, or else it would have been all over his face. He didn't pass anyone on his way out, and hoped that no one had seen him leave. He knew the trouble he'd be in once they'd discovered he was missing.

He also knew that they were somewhat close to the Sound villiage, fortunately, so it would only take him about two days to reach where he was going. He prayed for his brother's safety, then sped up his pace. The air swept by him like a wave. It engulfed his body, and Itachi felt a slight shiver run down him. He wanted to turn back, but instead, wrapped his cloak tighter and kept running forward.

Itachi only remembered passing many trees. He only remembered the rising and falling motion of running over many hills. The land was so beatiful when he could see over vast plains for miles and miles. Where even the horizon couldn't cut off the continuation. He could see through glances that everything seemed to connect and run smoothly like a river separating the land. Like it was specially placed to be that way.

When he'd stop for rest, he'd recall the swaying motion the sky echoed off. It bounced against the moutains and came swerving deep against the land. It's impact shaking the vision of the eye. Whereas as the light that sweltered with the sun, not only came from the sky, but shone from the earth as well.

Even when the endless running, and the burning in his chest came to meet him, he merely drew deeper breaths. As if trying to intake the pain, and to exhale it all away. For the most part, his thoughts didn't wander. At times, he permitted them to annalyze the scenery, and to keep in check with his direction of travel. Other times, though, his thoughts merely consited of checking everything in check. His breathing, pulse, the aches and pains from hunger, as well as the supplies he'd carried with him.

Itachi was suprised that the weapons were not as burdernsome as he thought previously. Staring out his trip, the clanging objects from his belt, slapping against him, had been far annoying. He'd even considered dumping them somewhere, but thought better of it. They would be something to use if he was attacked in this territory. The Sound Villiage, although somehow magnificant, was a dangerous place for someone like him to be. He was technically trespassing, so to find Sasuke without an trouble, one of his goals was not to get caught or spotted. That would not help him in any way.

The first night had been somewhat tougher than it should of been. Because he'd stumbled right across a camp, he'd spent his night sleeping up in a tree. Not only that, but it'd been cold, and the wind was raging. Ripping off the leaves and swaying the tree so much he'd thought he was going to fall out. And the leaves smacked against his face so much that he was often not able to fall asleep for long periods of time.

He remembered the relief of the sun that broke across the clouds. That's when he'd left. The next night during his travel he'd been lucky enough to find an abandoned shack and sleep in there.

Now that the sun was up and hot in the sky, he felt sinking warmth on his back that seemed to radiate throughout his body, keeping him warm even against the wind. Somewhere along running, Itachi seemed to have picked up a bit of common sense. Or maybe it just was carried to him by the wind. Either way, he finally realized that he had no idea what he was going to do to get Sasuke back when he got there.

He thought about a simple sneaking in and taking Sasuke back with him. Yet, he didn't know his way around so he'd most likely get lost before he got to Sasuke. Another problem, was the fact that he wasn't so sure his brother would want to go peacefully with him. After all, before Itachi had left home, his brother had screamed he hated him. So if he did manage to find his brother, there was no telling that he would come with him without something happening and notifying Orochimaru that Itachi was there.

Of course, there was the option of openly challenging Orochimaru for his brother. And if things weren't going too well for him, he'd grab Sasuke and make a run for it. But still... the chances of even coming close to defeating Orochimaru were rare. Itachi suddenly felt a bit sick and wished he'd thought of a rescuing plan a bit earlier.

Soon he saw the place come into view. It was small and white, with steps leading down into the entrance, he could see. He stopped at the top of the steps, looking down into the darkness of the doorway. The place was eerily quiet, except the hiss of the wind on the trees. Though as much as they swayed, the area around the place did not move. Almost as if everything had been frozen in a sleep. The wind did not move the grass, nor blow the debree off the roof. It did not hit the walls and cause the place to groan, but instead, seemed to pass right through its body.

Itachi took a deep breath, glancing around him, before taking the first step down. He watched at the walls on either sides of the staircase grew larger and larger, and then completely surpassed his head. He gently touched the border of the doorway, and drew back his hand at its coolness. Then, he drew another breath and was greated with a musky and mold filled air. Where the air itself was stale and almost as frozen and dead as the area surrounding it. As if eyes adjusted slightly, he could make out a torch further down into the building. Taking a step forward, then another, and then another one, he entered the building to where he hoped Sasuke was.


Sasuke scrambled to his feet as quickly and his could and lunged for the door. As he swept past Orochimaru, Sasukie felt the auro of him roll around the air. This caused him to speed his pace.

He quickly forgot about the pain of his wounds, but his head knew that they would slow him down and weaken him in a while. Plus, he knew that if he wasn't able to fend off those other two, then this man would be immposible to even escape from. Especially at Sasuke's low level. The best he could hope for now is that he could keep running long enough to draw out the time he had left for freedom.

He'd realized once he'd said no to Orochimaru, that it might have been a mistake. The open malice in the kidnapper's eyes had terrified Sasuke so much. He know realized how awful and how terrible people could be. And why Itachi often told him to be careful. Sasuke guessed that these things were something you had to experience to get the full force of it. If he'd only known how scary being kidnapped was, he would have been more careful about what he did and where he went.

Rocks tumbled beneath his feet and he swept them backwards. He felt his shoes roll over the uneven ground, and sometimes the pain of steeping wrongly on a sharp or knobby rock. He ran, his arms almost outreaching in front of him and then shaking back. Almost as if he were trying to grasp the air and pull it back, as if it would give him an extra push forward as he ran.

Sasuke didn't dare look back, but he knew Orochimaru was coming. He suddenly found the weight of something wet and sand paperish wrap around his torso. It yanked and dragged his body back. Sasuke twisted and reached for his kunai. To his utter horror it was missing.

He looked around frantically, gasping and almost bursting out with screams. He had to bit his lip to keep from crying out in terror. He ripped a rock from the ground and thrust it into what was dragging him backwards. A hiss echoed from behind him, and the thing dragging him loosened but did not let go. Sasuke took this moment and managed to dig his heels into the ground. The rocks were ripped loose and he pressed harder. The tug on his torso grew stronger, and so did his grip on the ground.

Grinding his teeth, he raised his fist and prepared to slam them on the tentacle like thing. Instead, something else wrapped around his arms and pinned them above his head. He wriggled some before, and heard a quiet chuckle from behind him.

"You wouldn't be thinking of leaving, would you, Sasuke?" Orochimaru's voice drained the color from his face.

"Let- Let me go!" He cried angrilly, and managed to get one hand free. With that one hand he dug his fingers and nails really hard into the thing around his torso. Another hiss escaped from behindhim and the tentacle around his other arm was released. With both hands free, Sasuke quickly did the hand motions for Gokakyu no Jutsu, and felt the power well up inside him. He snapped his body around and blew the fire towards Orochimaru.

It did not come close to Orochimaru, but did hit and sizzle on the tentacle that was wrapped around his torso. The tentacle fell away and shot back towards Orochimaru. It was then, when Sasuke looked up, that he saw that it was not a tentacle, but was, in fact, Orochimaru's tongue. Acid rose up his throat, but he forced it back down. Saskuke did not want to puke hear, yet his body shook and he felt utterly sick.

Animal instincts kicked in and Sasuke turned and fled rapidly. He dodged behind pillars as things came at him. A torch was knocked loose and hit the floor. A wave of wind coming from no where washed through the area and all the flames went out instantly. Sasuke was left in pitch black. In darkness he could hear his breathing. It was so loud it seemed to be coming from everywhere.

His aches and pains came back to him as he slowed his heart and tried to control his breathing to make it softer. Everything was futile, he knew. The erriest thing he felt, though, was that he could not find the presence of anyone else. Which meant he did not know where Orochimaru was anymore, but since he was inexperienced, Orochimaru would know where he was.

Sasuke considered running like mad, but saw the pillars in his mind and knew he wouldn't be able to dodge them. He also considered staying where he was, but that was useless. He also felt restless not being able to move. Like a mouse trapped in a trap... and Orochimaru was the snake. Even if he knew that things were pointless at this point, Sasuke dropped to his knees and began crawling forward.

Even through his fear, as he fumbled through the darkness with outstretched hands, he wondered if this was how blind people felt. It was a devastating feeling, being blind. Like you were helpless. His fingers knocked something and it rolled around in the stones. His breath became ragged and choked, so he had to hold his breath to keep from panicking completely. The air swarmed in his head, and he felt like he was going to pass out.

Sasuke picked up the object and felt it. He recognized it as the fallen torch. Holding it with his knee cap, he hesitantly did the hand symbols for Gokakyu no Jutsu once more, and the fire released on the torch. It caught the flame and light was restored through the area around Sasuke. He crawled forward, shaking and whipping around to every nose. He felt a chill down his spine and looked back with wide eyes.

He turned around and there Orochimaru was. Crouched in front of Sasuke, his eyes glowing stronger than the fire. Sasuke jabbed the flame at Orochimaru's face, but it dropped to the ground and went out again. The sound echoed off the floor, as he felt something warm wrap tightly around his throat. His body was pulled up, going against gravity, and hovered in the air. He clawed at the hand that held him, then kicked out at Orochimaru.

He felt his foot connect with something, but nothing happened. Twisting himself, he swung back and slammed himself against Orochimaru, just hoping to push him off balance. His balance sent them both crashing to the floor. Sasuke took that moment and darted away, his arms outstreched frantically in front of him. He seemed to have taken a straight path, because he had not run into any pillars yet. Suddenly the ground disappeared from beneath him and he felt through the air. A sickening snap came from his leg, and he cried out, spit getting caught in his throat. Making the sound like a shrieking gurgle.

He hand went directly to his leg and seering pain ricoched through the area. Tears welled up softly, and his lower lip trembeled. Taking a deep breath, he wiped the tears away and tried to calm down. He looked up and realized he was in another hallway and tha it was no longer dark. The halls were made of dirt, but the floor was coated with smooth stone. Actually lighting filtered through the place.

Sasuke didn't want to move at all, because of the pain, and the tiredness he felt. But Orochimaru's face lingered in his mind and he knew he had to get away. He examined his body. He wrist was still wrapped up, and many bruises and cuts filled his arms, legs, and face. Gathering up himself, he gently, but as quickly as he could, limped down the hallway. The pain in his leg was harsh. And at times he could fell the, most likely, fractured bone twist and bend a little bit more. It was sickening, so he forced himself to concentrate on other things. Such as getting out of the hallway.

After walking for about five minutes, he realized that Orochimaru had not realized he'd fallen down there... That no one had come after him yet. For now, he was a bit safe, but knew that this was certainly no time to let his guard down. Especailly with the injuries he possessed.

He recalled the feeling of fear and helplessness back in the other room. Shivers ran through him, and he could almost feel his blood cooling. Sweat cascaded down his face, and he could barely blink his eyes. They had dried out from being open so widely...

The hallway took a sharp turn, and when he made his way around the corner he about stopped. Then, as fast as he could he broke and into what was some weird hopping run. His body took him into a large room, where he could see a light through an archway. And he knew it wasn't just another room, or another hallway. The light he saw pure, and clear. It was sunlight. Streaming in, just one little speck.

He felt his lungs swell up, and suddenly strength flowed into him. It was almost too powerful of strength that he almost began laughing aloud. But in that moment, faster than he could really see, a figure leaped out at him, sending him crushing to the ground.

"Auuuggghhh...!" Sasuke cried in pain, feeling soreness in his back and on the back of his head. He layed crippled on the floor as Orochimaru stood back up, wiping dust off his shirt. Staring down at Sasuke, he smiled, his tongue inching out, then began gathering chakra in his hand.