NOTE: Some use of quotes that would've been heard on a 'Naruto: Shippuden' episode are in this chapter. I apologise for inconvience.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the 'Naruto' or 'Naruto: Shippuden' series.

ALERTING SASUKE

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Wheeze... wheeze... wheeze

Pant...pant...pant

Sniff... Whimper... Cry

Open. Curse. Slam!

Those are the sounds of a small group of frustrated, panicked leaf shinobi and their leader searching the corridors of Orochimaru's underground lair – rumoured to be, where their estranged teammate, Sasuke Uchiha is currently residing in an unknown room.

Hence the opening of doors; Naruto, Sakura and my foul cursing when we didn't find the sleeping silhouette of our former team-mate; and the frustrated slamming of the door as we moved on without missing a beat. It wasn't until Naruto and I turned down yet another corridor that I knew without question in my heart and in my gut that Naruto and I were most definitely on the right track. I alerted Naruto to this. He huffed in relief and then paused to catch his breath, while I raised my chakra levels to alert and summon Yamato and Sakura.

"What is it, Akima?" was the first thing Yamato blurted out when he and Sakura reached us.

"Did you find Sasuke?" trilled Sakura, looking half-crazed from desperation and hopefulness.

I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Does it look like we've found him, Sakura?" I replied, snappishly. I was tired and irritable, but extremely hopeful that this time we would find Sasuke.
Sakura naturally ignored my retort and looked around at where we were.

"Well then, why are we here?" she asked in a failed attempt at patience. I pointed down the corridor Naruto and I had been about to sprint down.

"Sasuke is down this way. I'm definitely sure." I announced. Yamato almost cracked a smile at my discovery. Sakura bounced happily on her toes, happy tears streaming down her face with relief. But then stopped and frowned at me.

"How the hell do you know?" she asked.

"I don't know. I just have a good feeling about this corridor." I was lying, but I wasn't ready to reveal the real reason why this corridor was the right one. The only person who knew the truth was Yamato, which was why he resisted smiling at me.

"Well what are we waiting for? LET'S GO!" bellowed Naruto and he charged off down the corridor with Sakura hot at his heels.

Here's the thing: I'm psychic, and I have the power to create fire using a simple ninjutsu.

So I bet you're probably saying: 'So? The only other shinobi I know who can produce fire from their fingers is Sasuke Uchiha.' To which I'd answer:

'No shit. That's because I'm a member of his family, or at least I'm related to him via my mother who is Sasuke's Aunt.'

That's right - Sasuke Uchiha is my 1st cousin! And I'm damn proud of it too! My family on my father's side is psychic, which means that I inherited the ability to sense the presence of shinobi who happen to be nearby, and get glimpses of the present and future. Both my parents were murdered in cold blood when I was 5 years old.

I don't remember much about the incident - except for a sharp, painful, penetrating feeling in my neck that caused me to violently convulse and sweat – but I do know that I want to find the bastard who killed my parents and ruined my childhood forever. But it's not all bad memories - things got 100% better when I went into the care of my Aunt and Uncle, who treated me like I was their own daughter. And Sasuke and Itachi treated me like I was pure gold.

That is, until Itachi went nuts and killed his parents - leaving Sasuke and I with cold, withdrawn personalities; trust issues and in Sasuke, a vendetta on his brother.

The only people who know of my own personal tragedy and my psychic abilities were my Aunt and Uncle, the 3rd Hokage, Lady Tsunade (who learnt of my history from the 3rd Hokage before he died), Master Jiraiya, Kakashi-sensai and only resently Yamato (who was informed of this for the mission.)

Just thought I'd fill all readers in on this so that one could understand that what happened next happened:

Sasuke! SASUKE!

I telepathically thought desperately, aware that Yamato could hear every word I was thinking to Sasuke, wherever he was down this corridor. There was no response from Sasuke.

God damn it, Sasuke! Stop ignoring me! You're in grave danger!

Still no response. I snarled in frustration, which caused Yamato to look over at me questioningly. I ignored him.

ARRGH! You are so fucking annoying, Sasuke!

"I can't believe Sai would do something like this! I'm gonna wring his bloody neck!" Sakura's outburst was not necessary which was why Yamato suddenly intervened, trying to calm Sakura down before she could do something unfortunate, like punch a huge hole in the wall and cave in the tunnel.

"Sakura, I know you're angry. But you really need to calm down. Stressing out like this is not going to help you save Sasuke." his calm voice seemed to make Sakura more stressed out than reassured.

"But Yamato! Sai is going to kill Sasuke!" she protested. Yamato sighed loudly but patiently continued his attempts to soothe the lovelorn young woman sprinting directly in front of me.

"I am very much aware of this, Sakura. And I am trying to locate exactly where he is so we can get there in time. Remember, I planted that tracer seed on Sai?" Sakura's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Gee, I had forgotten."

Naruto, in an attempt to both remove the tension now heavy in the corridor, and to distract his own anxious thoughts regarding Sasuke, ran in between Sakura and Yamato who were sternly staring at each other, obviously disagreeing on differing views.

"What I want to know is has Sai found Sasuke yet?" Yamato looked at me, but even I couldn't answer Naruto's question, much to my annoyance.

But his query did bring to mind questions about why Sai had gone to all this trouble to accompany us to retrieve Sasuke, only to betray us and join forces with Orochimaru. Although, my suspicions had been raised by the most resent flashback I had, that involved temporarily living within Sai's head and reliving his thoughts.

But when Sai had 'met' Sasuke, he was disturbed by what he saw and felt. But if I had felt what Sai felt, I would've used those feelings as a motivation to go ahead with my plans. But then again, I'm not an emotionless, creepy little bastard. But instead, to my surprise, Sai seemed to amend his plans. But then again, Sai had always been a curious person. Very foolish, but curious nevertheless.

Like the time he had asked Naruto, Sakura and I why we were bothering with this "seemingly pointless mission."

"Why are you risking your lives for someone who doesn't want to be saved?" Sai had asked. I looked at Sai incredulously, then risked a look at Sakura and Naruto who like me, couldn't believe what they just heard.

"Does it really matter?" I asked, staring down at Sai with dislike. Sai raised his sharp eyes to look at mine as he smirked at the exasperated expression on my face.

"Yes. I'm curious. Why so much trouble for one person? What makes him so special to you all?" I looked away and swallowed uncomfortably, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall down my cheeks.

What makes Sasuke so special to me? You're kidding right? How much time do you have?

Only I didn't say this. What I really said was, "My reasons for risking my life to bring back Sasuke are private. And I don't feel comfortable telling you why. I don't know you that well."

Naruto however, well, he took all of us back with his answer. But what he said stung.

"Because, in a way, Sasuke is my best friend..." Sai dropped the smirk and raised an eyebrow, while Sakura and I dropped our mouths open.

"It took awhile. But he eventually came around..."

"What?" I said, in a small voice that Naruto somehow managed to hear. He turned, saw my face and instantly became contrite. He leaned over to me and whispered reassuringly in my ear.

"I meant second best friend." I nodded and watched as Sai frowned at us, seeming to sense something between Naruto and I. Sakura and Yamato were confused about my reaction and the way Naruto handled the situation. Naruto smiled sentimentally as his mind travelled down memory lane.

"Way back, I used to hate Sasuke..."

This Sakura and I agreed with. She and I were constantly sandwiched in between Sasuke and Naruto when they were sniping at each other, insulting each other and bickering like they were actually siblings and not team mates.

"But once I got used to being with him I realised he's really a lot of fun... to be around." I smiled at this, because there were times when Sasuke and Naruto did get along together – an example of this was when the four of us went on a mini mission of our own to find out what was underneath Kakashi-sensai's mask.

"He's the person that, more than anyone else accepted me and my existance."

My smile dropped again and I looked at Naruto, but was pleasantly surprised when Naruto winked reassuringly at me. Sai looked impressed with Naruto's answer and smiled slightly. However, Naruto hadn't finished defending his reason for wanting to find and save Sasuke.

"Sasuke is my friend... and he represents bonds that I waited so long to receive, so that's why: If Orochimaru rips my arms off, I'll kick him to death! If he rips my legs off, I'll bite him to death! If he tears my head off, I'll stare him to death! If he gouges my eyes out, I'll curse him to death!" While there was some admiration in what Naruto was saying, just visualising the possiblities of what he said turned my stomach and I hoped that Naruto hadn't just jinxed himself.

"No matter what! I'm getting Sasuke back!" Naruto promised, grinning confidently at an awe-inspired Sai who seemed to have taken in everything that Naruto had said.

"Who's there?"

The voice that suddenly appeared in my head, was so vivid that I blinked and forgot to breathe for a split second.

"Huh?" I choked out, stopping in my tracks and automatically shutting my eyes.
Instantly, I could see the inside of a dimly lit room and the floor I was kneeling on, which a large drawing scroll had been rolled out and large ink rats had been painted there. I was trapped temporarily in Sai's mind again!

"Answer me!" the voice demanded harshly.
Through Sai's eyes I could clearly see a silhouette of a person lying on a bed with their back to the door. It was the red and white fan symbol on that person's back that made my heart leap into my throat and skip a beat.

Sasuke-

"I'm here... to take you back to the Leaf Village. Although my original intention was to find and eliminate you." Was the answer that came from Sai/my lips.
There was silence for a few moments before Sasuke responded, with a voice that had apparently caused Sai to shudder from fear.

"Is that so? Is that your pathetic excuse for waking me up?" asked Sasuke. Sai, somehow summoning the courage to speak, tried to defend himself.

"No. I'm also here to restore the brotherly bond between you and Naruto."

Sasuke was neither touched nor grateful that Sai had decided to spare his life on a whim, or from remembering the words of a team mate that he neither liked nor disliked.

"As far as brothers go, I have only one... one I must destroy." replied Sasuke, irritably.
He never did like mornings. But I knew that Sai had just made a bad move.

I opened my eyes and found myself staring face to face with Naruto and Sakura, who were watching me anxiously.

"What is it?" asked Naruto, putting a hand on my shoulder and looking at me with his worried blue eyes.
I dreaded to think what expression I had on my face.

"What's wrong, Akima? We heard you stop and got worried." Sakura felt my clammy forehead and started to assess my health thinking I was coming down with an illness. I impatiently pushed Sakura's hand away and moved off.

"Nothing, just felt a little dizzy. I'm alright now." I set off at a steady sprint feeling Yamato's eyes on the back of my head. Obviously not believing me, Naruto and Sakura took point standing on my right and my left in case I somehow felt 'dizzy' again and keeled over.

Shit, Sai! You couldn't leave well enough alone could you?

I thought exaperatedly. Yamato, instantly hearing Sai's name in my head, suddenly spoke out.

Sai? What about him? Akima!

I feigned dizziness again just as we reached another fork in the road and paused for a breath that I didn't need to answer Yamato's question.

"The shit's about to hit the fan, big time." I replied to Yamato, who came over so I could whisper in his ear without Naruto and Sakura overhearing. The last thing I needed was for them to freak out and react impulsively to 'save' Sasuke. Yamato's face twisted in fear.