One out of many....lawl....
Kosuke's POV
It had been almost five days since I sent Hachi with the letter for Amaya, and I was starting to get worried. Hachi is a really fast bird, and usually it takes him half the amount of time to complete his missions than the messenger hawks in this village. I had expected him to be back two days ago, but maybe Amaya is farther away from the village than I had thought.
I was at one of the many training grounds, practicing, and guess who was with me. Yeah, that's right; Kakashi. I was beginning to get very used to him. Apparently he takes his orders from the Hokage to follow me around very seriously, because it seems like no matter where I go, every time I turn around, there he is. He is a very good stalker.
I was practicing my Taijutsu against one of the wooden poles at the training ground, and he was sitting under a tree, reading his book. He must not have been paying all that much attention to his book, because when I once again looked up at the sky, searching for Hachi, he looked up at me.
"Calm down, Kosuke," he said to me, as he rested his book in his lap.
"I am calm," I told him, as I hit the post with my left hand.
"Liar," he replied, "You're worried about Amaya and the phoenix that you sent after her. What did you say his name is? Hachi?"
"Yes, Hachi. Of course I'm worried about Amaya. She's pregnant, and that can't be good. You know how she acts when she's perfectly healthy. She can't be happy about any of this. Especially since the baby is Sasuke's," I said, turning to him.
He looked up into the trees around us.
"Amaya will be fine," he told me, "She is a strong girl. She always has been. She'll do what she feels is right. You can't protect her forever, you know."
I glared at him.
"If I don't protect her, who will? You certainly won't. You gave up on her a long time ago. And Gai never cared about her at all. Lee did, but he's gone off with Gaara now, like he should. Everyone else in this village thinks she's some big threat to them now, and I've never met any of the people in the Akatsuki, so I can't trust them to do it," I informed him, as I kicked the post with all my might.
Kakashi watched me for a few seconds, before saying, "You're right in that Gai never cared about her at all. Lee was always his favorite. 'The son he always wanted' is what he told me when the two of them were born. But he barely ever even looked at Amaya. So she became my responsibility, and Lee became his.
Lee should be with Gaara right now. Gaara is the one who needs him, after all. And yes, very few others in this village care about her any more. However, from the little I know about the Akatsuki, they protect each other for the most part. And as for me, though you probably won't believe me, I care about her."
I looked at him incredulously.
"You do not," I told him, "You stopped caring years ago."
He shook his head and replied, "That's not true. I just never really knew what to do with her. I mean, when I had her I was just about your age, and had no clue how to raise a kid. Especially since I'm a guy, and everyone thought it was weird that I had given birth. So I didn't start out very well.
And then as she grew older, she got more and more energy, and I had no clue what to do. Especially since she has the demon inside of her. I couldn't let that get control over her, so I became strict, making rules, and enforcing them. I tried teaching her moves that I knew she could handle well, and some that would challenge her slightly. Amaya's the kind of person who, if they aren't interested in what you are trying to teach them, will totally ignore everything you tell her. Though, I guess I don't really have to tell you that.
I'm not saying that I didn't make any mistakes raising her, and that her leaving isn't in any way my fault. I know that I made many mistakes, and I wish that I could fix them, but wishing does no good, I learned that long ago. And I also know that I'm a big reason why she left, and I am sorry about that. You really don't know how sorry."
Hurt flashed in his eyes right then, and for a second I felt a pang of sympathy for him. However, I quickly pushed that feeling to the side, as I remembered what an awful father he had been to Amaya.
I was about to retort, when I heard a loud noise from the sky overhead. When I looked up, I saw Hachi flying to us as fast as he could. I held out my arm for him to light on, and took in his appearance as he caught his breath.
His beautiful feathers were dirty, as if he had rolled around on the ground, and he had a small cut under his right wing, that had been bleeding, but that had stopped. There was also a piece of paper tied to his left leg, which he held out to me.
"Hachi, hat happened?" I asked him, as I tried to get the letter off of him with only one hand. Kakashi came up beside me and helped me to untie it, and then handed the letter to me, as Hachi began to tell us his story.
"I had just finished delivering your letter, Kosuke, and was about to fly back here with the reply, when I saw Amaya leaving the Inn she had been staying at. I decided to follow her a little way, so that I would know where to go if you had another letter you wanted to send later.
However, after about an hour of following her, Amaya was attacked by a group of ninjas. There were four of them, and they ambushed her. Amaya was taken by surprise, but quickly began defending herself. She was doing quite well, when two more ninjas came out of nowhere. One had a long gray ponytail and glasses that he kept pushing back up on his nose. The other was Sasuke Uchiha.
I think it was Uchiha that surprised Amaya the most, but she continued to fight. However, with these two new ninjas, the tide of the fight had clearly turned in favor of her enemies. When one of the ninjas kicked her in the stomach, Amaya went down, and she was quickly tied up with chakra binding ropes, so thick that there was no way she was going to break free. Surprisingly, Sasuke was furious at the ninja who had kicked her, and beat him to a bloody pulp. The man with the gray hair used his chakra to check Amaya's stomach, and assured Sasuke that everything was fine, though he let Sasuke continue to pummel the other man.
I tried to help Amaya by joining the fight. I pecked one man's eye out, and clawed through another's arm, but I couldn't beat all of them. Finally, I had to retreat, or risk loosing my life. But, as the ninja began to move, taking Amaya along with them, I followed them.
They carried her for a full day, finally reaching their destination. When they reached the maze of mysterious buildings, another man was waiting for them outside. He had long black hair, and his skin was as white as snow. He had an evil glint in his eyes that sent chills down my spine. When he saw the group, he smiled a really creepy smile, and said, 'Ah, well, if it isn't Amaya Hitomi, carrier of the demon Ookami. And also carrier of my apprentice's child. Welcome to your new home, my dear.'
Amaya replied by spitting in the man's face. The group then moved on into the building that was behind them. I decided that I had seen enough, and began my journey back here. I think Amaya saw me following her, so she probably knows that help is on the way, but I think you need to hurry, Kosuke. I don't like the look of any of those people. Amaya may be strong, but she isn't strong enough to break those ropes, or fight her way out of the many, many people I saw around that area."
I couldn't comprehend what he was saying at first. Amaya had been kidnapped by Sasuke, and Kabuto? I'm assuming that is the gray haired man that Hachi was talking about, at least. This must mean that Sasuke had somehow found out about her pregnancy, and decided to force her to go to the Sound Village with him, at least until the baby is born, I would assume. And she had been taken to… Orochimaru.
I gulped, and my mind went black. I nearly fainted, but Kakashi caught my elbow as I began to stumble backwards. I looked at his face, and saw the same shocked horror on it that must have been reflected on mine.
"I have to go help her," I stated, as I started to walk away.
However, Kakashi's grip on my elbow tightened, and when I looked back at him he said, "You aren't seriously thinking about going to the Sound Village, are you? You can't possibly be thinking that! Kosuke, you're pregnant! You can't go after Amaya, especially by yourself!"
I glared up at him and replied harshly, "What do you think I'm going to do, huh? Wait here as those, those snakes in the Sound have my best friend? You have to be kidding! I'll be careful, okay? I'll find away to sneak in, so maybe I won't even have to fight anyone. And if I do have to fight, I'll be extremely careful."
"But what if Orochimaru finds out that you're pregnant? What happens when he finds out that you are carrying his child?!" Kakashi asked me just as harshly.
I felt the blood drain from my face. For a minute I couldn't find my voice, and was merely able to stare at him dumbly. Then finally I was able to speak again.
"Who told you?" I asked him, "Who told you that Orochimaru is the father?!" I ended up grabbing his arms, making Hachi fly up, and pinned him against the training post.
"Nobody told me," Kakashi answered, "I figured it out on my own. I was on the mission remember? I was the leader of the mission, in fact. I remember that during the fight you disappeared for a little while. I wasn't able to focus on it right then, but I did notice when you came back that most of your clothing was being held together by your ice. And I saw some of the blood that was flowing through the clothing.
I didn't think much of it right then, as I said, but when I recently heard that you are pregnant, I was able to put two and two together. Orochimaru raped you, didn't he Kosuke? And he is the father of your child, isn't he?"
I stared at Kakashi's face for a minute, but then turned away and whispered, "Yes."
I wanted to cry, but I couldn't, not right there. My body did begin to shake slightly, though. My face was turned away from him, so I was surprised when I felt Kakashi wrap his arms around me, and hug me gently. At first I stood very stiff, but after a minute I melted into the hug, realizing that I needed it.
We stood like that for about a minute, until Kakashi pulled back, though he continued to hold onto my arms.
"Who have you told? The Hokage?" I asked him.
"I haven't told anyone," he answered softly, "And I won't be telling anyone. This is your business. If you don't want people to know, then I won't say anything. Actually, I think that is pretty smart of you."
"You do?" I asked him.
"Yeah, I do," he said, "And I also think it would be smart of you to stay here. We can go talk to Tsunade and have her get a group to go out after Amaya. I'll go, I know that much, and Hachi can lead the way."
Hachi nodded at this, but I shook my head.
"No Kakashi, I am going on this mission. I don't care what you or Tsunade say, I'm going. I have to," I told him.
He sighed loudly, and then said, "Fine, but we should still go talk to Tsunade and get her to assign a group to this mission. Just the two of us aren't going to be able to do much to get Amaya out of the Sound."
I thought about this for a couple of seconds and then nodded.
"Fine, I understand, but we have to hurry!" I told him, and began leading the way to the Hokage building at a run.
He followed, quickly catching up to me, and when I looked up, I saw Hachi flying over us. It was then that I realized I still hadn't read Amaya's letter. I looked at my hand, and realized that I no longer was holding it. I must have dropped it at some point during that conversation. I thought about going back and getting it, but decided that it wasn't as important as getting to the Hokage tower. Besides, if all went well, I would simply be able to ask Amaya in person what she had written, in a mere matter of days.
Amaya's POV
Fuck. This could not be happening. Yet it was.
The room I was kept in for the time being was dark. It figured, so that was no surprise to me. In the room were two of the people that had attacked me the other day. One was a girl; she had bright reddish orange hair. I had heard them call her Tayuya. The other was one I heard being called one of two things. Either Sakon or Ukon. He had two heads and was really freaky.
At first it was easy to fight all four. Then they started activating their own curse seals. The only reason I knew what they were was because of Sasuke's during the Chunin exams. I had never known what they could do.
To these people it turned them into revolting beasts. Then it got harder, yet I was still able to keep them at bay. That is until he came. Sasuke came along with that bastard's medic Kabuto. That was when I lost concentration and the battle.
Finally after a few days I was allowed to roam. I was allowed no weapons. Hell I wasn't even able to wear shoes. That didn't bother me any. Back in Konoha I almost never wore my shoes. Kosuke thought I was crazy going on missions barefooted. I even got Naruto to try it once. Then he got splinters and never did it again.
The only thing that they did allow that I was thankful for was a scroll. I said I wanted my sketchbook but a scroll would suffice. The fools. As it was that I was allowed to roam I made sure I used that to my full ability.
I looked at every room, carefully sketching it onto the scroll. There was only one room that I hadn't looked in nor did I dare to look in and that was Sasuke's.
By the time I was done I had had the whole place drawn onto on the map. I smiled at my accomplishment. Now for the easy part.
I bit my thumb hard enough to draw blood and summoned a wolf. Since Ookami was my demon wolves were my summoning animal. It also helped that Kakashi was able to summon dogs.
"Riku, I need you to run this scroll to either Tsunade or Kosuke. You know who and where they are right?" I asked tying the scroll to the collar around his neck.
"Right." he said nodding then poofed away. All of a sudden I felt a presence in the room. I turned quickly and my golden eyes met obsidian. Sasuke.
"What to you want?" I spat, it was after all his fault I was here.
"You sent a summon to Konoha. Why?" his tone was emotionless and it pissed me off.
"That's none of your concern." I said walking past him. He grabbed my arm and turned me to face him. Yet even though his grip was tight enough to be bruising, a small part of me was grateful at the contact.
"Amaya," his eyes grew soft and sad and his voice lowered and was almost as heart breaking as his eyes.
It was almost as if my heart had stopped but I managed to breath out, "Yes?"
"Why did you leave? I mean I know we've never told each other that we loved each other, but I really thought you did. I did and still do."
My eyes widen then looked sad as I looked towards the ground. "I do too, but when we decided to keep it a secret and you covered up by dating Naruto I thought you really fell for him and I didn't want to get in the way of that. So when the opportunity came, I left."
Sasuke looked shocked and hurt, "Me and Naruto?!" he sounded appalled. His hand softly let go of my upper arm and laced it around my waist as he kissed me. I was surprised at first but started kissing back after. After the kiss he brought me close to him and put his lips to my ear, "Never."
I shuddered and rested my head on his shoulder, grateful to be back in his arms. Not needing to hide anything from anyone. After awhile I felt his arm move off my waist and onto my stomach. I closed my eyes tight, not really wanting this to happen.
"When, when did you find out about this?" his voice was soft, not menacing like I though it would be.
"About a week after I was taken by you." I said in a small voice.
Sasuke did math in his head as he kissed my neck, "Around two months, huh?"
All I could do was nod, wrapping my arms around to rest on his two shoulder blades. I buried my head in his neck, "I don't want to be here."
"I know. That's why I sent for the Akatsuki to bring you back." My head shot up and I looked into his dark eyes. Worried.
"But I just sent for Konoha. Now when everyone meets then there will be three enemies in one."
"Hopefully Konoha and Akatsuki will work something out."
I nodded then thought about something for a minute. "Hopefully Kosuke won't come. Orochimaru isn't stupid." Sasuke looked at me confused the just settled with holding me tight in his arms.
