I was so tired when I was editing this chapter that I fell asleep. Not something that happens often but I guess I was just that tired. Well happy first day of spring everyone! Hope you had a great week and are enjoying this story.

Taking Chances

Chapter 10

Kagome fled on foot, she had a few tricks up her sleeves and had learned more about chakra in her down time. Using her abilities as a priestess she could increase her speed and stamina. Not long after she was heading deeper into the Land of Fire his partner had appeared, disappearing in a flock of crows heading her way. Covering her head she skidded across the ground under what appeared to only be an illusion.

When she got up the blue guy was there with his fanged grin while he wielded the blade he called Samehada. She took off running the way she came, pushing more of her power to her feet in hopes that she might be able to outrun both of them. This was the first time in months that she used her powers in such a way. It truly showed that she had begun to grow into them very well with the defeat of Magatsuhi.

Cursing her luck at almost getting hit she threw up a barrier and knew she needed to up the amount of power she used. These ninja were fast, she should have thought about training to become faster and increasing her powers but the village walls with all the leaf loyal ninja inside them had made her feel safe. Well now she certainly isn't in the safety of the village. No one even knew she was in trouble she assumed.

Tsunade was on edge for the last few days and in a foul mood because of it. She was still winning the lottery and that made her increasingly worried and yet nothing had happened. All of the border checks of the village were coming back as okay, and so far the ones of Fire Country were fine as well but it didn't help that her good luck has always also meant that something bad was occurring or about to.

Yamato left out his front door, a card in his hand should Kagome not be home yet. He had not heard anything but he couldn't be too sure. If she was here then she would have been at the academy. He was surprised to find one of the teachers at her door knocking. He recalled seeing this comrade flirting with her at times but this time he looked worried.

"Can I help you," he asked the male.

"Yes, have you seen Kagome, she was supposed to be in yesterday to help setup for classes starting today but she didn't appear today either. I was worried she fell ill or something," he explained.

"She isn't back," his eyes widened.

"Where did she go?"

"Can't talk, I need to see the Hokage," he informed him and left immediately. Knocking on the door with a sense of urgency he was quickly allowed entry.

"Lady Tsunade, she isn't back," he informed her, hoping to be given the orders to form a three-man squad so they may depart immediately. Her face looked a little pale as he looked at her panicked looking face.

"Yamato, this could be bad," she muttered. He noted the winning lottery tickets on her desk, looking back to her waiting for her to say something more. "Kisame and Itachi were spotted in the same area as where Kagome would have been entering back into the boundary of the Land of Fire."

He felt his stomach drop, the possibility that she was up against those two had him clenching his fist. "Lady Tsunade, what will you have me do?"

"Get Kakashi, form a squad and bring Kagome back," he nodded and left in a 'poof.'

They formed a squad with Sakura and Shikamaru joining them. After a quick description of what was going on the whole room was set on edge. The Akatsuki could definitely have use for someone like Kagome, if those two picked up on her unique power it could be bad for them and many other nations.

They immediately set out at a quick pace to reach the border where Kakashi could use his summons after having them catch her scent back at her apartment. It took them the whole day to even get close to the border; they ended up running into the dark hours before taking a brief break.

Kakashi rested while Yamato stayed up, his worry wouldn't let him rest well either way. Once it was time to get up they departed, finishing the distance until they were pass the border. Coming to stop Kakashi summoned his nin-dogs, waiting for them to catch her scent as they spread out.

Off in the distance they heard the signal further down the border. They all took off in hot pursuit and were not pleased that she strayed off the path, coming to the border from a different trail. They met with the nin-dogs and followed as they kept her trail. They were not happy to find that she was being pursued by Kisame and Itachi. She didn't stand a chance against those two.

They were lead through the Land of Water that day. It was apparent she was chased away from her original goal and deep into the forests. They could only hope that they decided to take her alive but it made them wonder how much the Akatsuki knew about a priestess's abilities.

With only one other rest they ran through the next day, needing to catch up to them as fast as possible. The only thing that would probably be in their favor is that Itachi is known for not having a lot of chakra so they would be forced to rest more often.

Operation: Rescue Kagome, was on its third day. Yamato and the whole group were focused on their mission. With a letter sent back to Lady Tsunade about their discovery of her being chased by them it wasn't looking good. Confrontation was looking inevitable; it would only be by some streak of luck that they wouldn't have to.

"How did she get so far without them capturing her?" Yamato questioned out loud.

"That is a very good question. Neither of us has seen her in battle so I'm guessing she must have had an ace up her sleeve that no one knew about. Really I don't think we know much about her power, it seemed much more powerful than any other priestess I have come across." Kakashi remarked, remembering the few times he has crossed paths with one.

They could only hope that she had more than enough aces up her sleeves or she will not be easy to retrieve. If they are truly after her as well it would make the Leaf a much bigger target if it is discovered that is where she resides.

Miles ahead of them they were steadily closing in where Kagome was forced to stop. She ran out of room and when she couldn't meet them in battle she put up a barrier. The only problem being his sword didn't seem affected by the purity, it only made it hungrier.

His sword, Samehada, was feeding on it, growing bigger and she did her best to concentrate on keeping the barrier up. A whole day had passed with her in that position, it was the only way she could fend off their attacks when they caught up to her.

Sweat dripped from her forehead and down her chin as she remained in a meditative pose to keep the barrier strong while she centered herself. 'If only I had continued to grow my powers instead of just settling down like a normal civilian. I will never be normal by those terms.'

Mind torn she could only hope that by some miracle another being stepped in in her favor. It was looking to be her only hope as she felt that sword grow stronger. Gritting her teeth she pulled an arrow out and fed it her energy as she produced a second barrier, anchoring it with the spell in her arrow.

By some miracle the rouge leaf ninja was staying out of it, yet that didn't mean he wasn't watching her carefully. Occasionally his eyes would gain red and the feeling of him seeing with eyes better than most demons would wash over her. She could only hope that his lack of a move in the past day had meant she didn't leave an opening.