Sasuke took off after her without a second thought. He could just see her flitting through the trees, but she was always just within sight; never more, never less. He concentrated chakra into his legs, speeding up considerably but she was still out of reach.
"Sasuke-kun!"
He was forced to tear his gaze away from his target when Karin caught up next to him.
"What?" he snapped angrily; he didn't have time for this!
"Is that him?" the red head asked, "Is that the shinobi that Orochimaru-sama is looking for?"
"You tell me," he growled, turning back just in time to catch purple-streaked brown hair whip around a tree, "you're the tracker nin."
"It is," she said with a slight frown, "are you going to try to catch him?"
"Her," he corrected as a smirk started to cross his features, "and I'm not going to try, I will."
Jiyuudo was starting to get short of breath as she dropped back down to the forest floor. Maybe she could shake her pursuers within the tree roots. She slipped easily into a small crevice formed when some soil had been washed out from beneath ancient tree roots and concentrated on masking her chakra. Seconds later two sets of sandaled feet ran past her hiding place.
She waited a few tense moments before releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding. She stayed still for a little longer before deciding that it was safe to leave her hiding spot. Oh how wrong she was…
As soon as she slid fully out from beneath the trees she was pounced on. She gasped in surprise at the added weight and chocked on the dirt she accidentally inhaled. She started to thrash wildly, trying to remove her assailant but to no avail. She soon found herself with her hands pinned behind her back and face pressed into the dirt.
"What do you want?" she seethed, trying again to throw the person off her back.
"Keep your chakra concealed," she recognized Sasuke's voice growling into her ear.
"Give me one good reason," she shot back, allowing her chakra to flare up unrestricted.
"Do it now," he ordered, tightening his grip on her wrists.
"Sasuke-kun?" a girl's voice came from the trees, "Where'd you go?"
"Shit," he muttered as he pulled Jiyuudo still struggling to her feet.
"Who's that?" Jiyuudo asked as he towed her in the opposite direction of the voice with a vice grip on her wrist. "And can I have my wrist back? I might need to use that soon…" Like to slap you in the face!
"Shut up and keep moving," he ordered, tugging harshly on her wrist and causing her to stumble.
"No!" she declared, digging her heels into the ground and trying to pry his fingers from her wrist. "I'm not moving from this spot until you tell me why you're here!"
"Too bad," he said, tightening his grip even more, "now conceal your chakra or else neither of us will get what we want."
Sasuke started again and Jiyuudo stumbled after him, concentrating on masking her chakra. She dug her heels in again when she realized what direction they were heading in.
"Wait," she said when Sasuke fixed her with an icy stare, "I know a better place."
She closed her eyes for a moment as she gathered her chakra and then opened them again, grabbing his hand and taking off. She had been in the Makaze for less than a second, but her body felt it when she stopped. She swayed dangerously on her feet and would have fallen to the ground if Sasuke hadn't caught her in time. She tried to say something – anything – to him, but the words wouldn't come to her and her body seemed intent on regenerating the chakra she had expended by using the Makaze twice in one day. Inky darkness crept into the edges of her vision and she tried to blink it away, fighting to stay awake.
"Jizouko?" Sasuke called as he shook the girl breathing shallowly in his arms. "Jizouko, wake up."
"Jiyuudo," she said weakly as she tried to stand, "my name… is Jiyuudo…"
"Okay, Jiyuudo," he decided to play along with her for now, "what're you doing out here?"
"Family," she whispered as her eyes slid shut, "my family…"
"What about them?" he asked, trying to bring her back to consciousness.
She didn't respond, though. Her breathing evened out as she fell asleep within his grasp. He couldn't quite believe it, had she really been the one to defeat one of Orochimaru's summoning creatures? That didn't seem very likely as she lay asleep in his arms, unguarded and completely trusting.
He knew that he was expected to bring her back to his teacher, but he found that he couldn't bring himself to do that just yet. If he brought her to Orochimaru then he most likely wouldn't see her again, and that prospect made him frown for some reason. He decided that choice would best be left for when she awoke; whatever technique she had performed had obviously exhausted her, so she wouldn't be able to answer any questions if she wanted to.