DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto or any of its' characters. (Though the OCs are mine.)

NOTE: I've been off the net for a few months, but now I'm back and I hope everyone enjoys the chapter.

Webs of Deception

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Caged Like a Bird

Sasuke stood, arms crossed, staring out of the Hokage's Tower. The starless night sky as empty and dark as his heart. It was a hour after the four suspected Ouroboros members took his dobe away. Snatched away a part of him, making him feel incomplete. After the disappearance, they searched the forest like they would find Naruto within its' terrain. That was pointless waste of time. Naruto was long gone, those four men taking him to gods knows where.

Behind him, the others were explaining to Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama on what happened. On how they failed. On how he failed in protecting his dobe once again. He could feel the same pain vibrating through his fresh, all the way down to his bones. It was so familiar and yet so different all at once. In the past few days he felt a sense of happiness around him. Having Naruto back, having him around with his personality and those bright blue eyes. It made him light, almost to the point of being giddy, and he loved it. He loved him.

In that short amount of time, he's gotten so use to him. His presence being like a drug to him. Hazy and sinful. It was enough to hook him just like before. Enough to keep him wanting to touch the blond—to feel the spark of pleasure that arose every time he felt the heated flesh. But now, he's lost that. . . He's lost what made him feel. However, he didn't lose the ability to feel. And that ability was making itself well known.

He felt the familiar sting at the corner of his eyes, blurring his vision with the intensity of his pain. He was a failure. And that failure cost him what meant most to him. What couldn't possibly be replaced. It made him feel miserable to even stand there and do nothing.

"How do you suppose you're going to find him?" Tsunade ask, trying to keep herself calm and level headed.

Ruri answered in a solemn tone, "I don't know." The three words hanging in the air like poisonous gas, infecting the clean air and making it hard to breath. "There is no indications of where they took Taichou to. With that much chakra being used, there should have been a small backlash of chakra released when they reappeared at their destination. Even the smallest would have alerted us to the general area to where they took him. But even that wasn't present. It's like they disappeared into thin air."

There was a heavy pause where Sasuke uncrossed his arms and gripped the windowsill to keep himself together. He had to keep himself together. Or else he would be no good to anyone.

"There's no clues to where they took him." Ruri continued on in a desperate voice. "They could be anywhere. . . I have no idea where to even start looking. We just recently found out about this group, there's nothing to go on." A sob came from her before she spoke again, "Oh god, what if he has an 'attack'? They won't help—"

Wood cracking and breaking filled the room with its' noise, silencing the others and bringing Sasuke out of the depths of his self control. He looked down and found that he was one who caused the noise. The fury at her words caused him to unknowingly squeeze the edge of the windowsill until it finally gave way, breaking under his grip. Calm down, calm down. . . he kept telling himself. Forcing himself away from the ledge of that cliff. Calm. . .keep calm. You can't let your emotions control you. Not now.

He turned, facing all the others since he's stepped into the room. His Kekkei Genkai swirled in his eyes like the emotions swirling in his body. He deactivated his Sharingan, pushing it back with more effort than he expected. Loosening his hand, he let the pieces of wood within its' hold drop to the floor before crossing his arms once more. He couldn't imagine that fear coming to life when Naruto was in enemy's hands. It was a possible situation he had to ignore in order to keep himself temporarily sane. If he didn't, he was sure he would be gone and drowning in the sea of emotions rampaging in him.

"Jun—Yuuto." he addressed the two boys leaning against the wall by the door with their other teammate Cho by their side. "Go and find Kyosuke, then bring him here."

Sasuke already knew Jun was going to be a problem just by the lifted eyebrow the second after he finished speaking. A clear sign from the arrogant boy that he wasn't going to do as he was told. And this conclusion was only strengthened by the way he stared back at him with defiance shining like jewels in his eyes. Jun had no intention of moving as he could see.

He narrowed his own eyes at the boy, his dislike for him raising to a new level. How Naruto dealt with him was behind him. The boy was almost impossible to be around. Almost. . .but he's dealt with fangirls far worse than he could ever be.

Next to Jun, Yuuto glanced between them, slight worry but mostly irritation rising from the conflict. He sighed at the hostility between the two and ran his hand through his hair. This could take awhile if they decided to solve this by a stare down. Sometimes, he didn't like Jun's inability to get along with new comers in his life. Also, the way he butts heads with any form of authority that tries and tells him what to do is also annoying.

He elbowed Jun in his side and gave him a look that said to be nice. Jun snorted in response to the hit and said snidely, "Like I'm gonna let that ass order me around."

"Sasuke. . ." came the stern voice of Tsunade. A warning being heard in the undertone—that Sasuke better have a good reason for this.

Without moving his glare from Jun, Sasuke answered Tsunade-sama's warning. "Ouroboros, we're not sure exactly what they're objections are besides obtaining Naruto. But the information that Ouroboros held on the seven Jinchuurikis proves that Cho and Kyosuke might be in danger as well." He lifted an eyebrow just as Jun did before, silently telling him he had a good reason for ordering him around.

The boy's expression changed then, his eyes widening with noticeable fear—resembling a small boy who just got caught doing something he shouldn't have. He broke the stare down going on between them, averting his eyes in a manner that looked like he was shameful, and grabbed Yuuto's arm. Yanking his teammate toward the office's door, he threw over his shoulder, "We'll get Kyosuke."

Cho tried to follow her teammates, but Sasuke told her, "You stay here." This caused Jun to tense and pause for a second. But he kept moving and without looking back, Jun—dragging Yuuto with him—exited the room, Yuuto closing the door as he went.

Sasuke turned fully to face Tsunade-sama, who he found was staring at him in an unreadable expression. Against his better judgment—his pride—he lowered his upper body into a bow. "Hokage-sama, if you wouldn't mind if Cho and Kyosuke could stay within your company." He stood straight again, and once his eyes landed back on Tsunade-sama, he found a small smile playing on her face. He was partly startled at the sight. Never before had the Godaime ever showed any kindness to him. And apparently, she was reluctant in showing him it.

But it mattered not, he never cared about what she felt towards him and he wasn't going to start now. She nodded her head, and he took it at that before turning to Ruri. "You need to inform Kane on what's happened." He kept his brother's mission name in case he preferred to keep Konoha from knowing his position in Akuma.

Ruri froze, eyes wide as she stared at him with her complexion pale. "He's going to be furious." she said through muffled whispers through her hands covering her mouth.

"Furious or not, we're going to need him to help find Naruto." stated Gaara from the sidelines.

At this point, Kakashi decided to step forward, away from where him, Kiba and Sakura stood in the background silently. Sakura actually didn't stand quietly at first, but with a nice threat on his part, she remained quiet from then on out. There was so many questions to be asked, but unlike Sakura, he believed in what Naruto said before all Hell broke loose. He truly believed that he didn't betray Konoha. He didn't know why. In fact, he blames it on the soft spot he held for his three former students.

"Hokage-sama." he spoke with respect as he purposely bowed. "I wish to help in the search for Naruto also." All heads turned to him with curious stares from the faces he could see.

"I thought you would ask." Tsunade said while rubbing her temples in a tired manner. "And I'm surprised that you're not asking about my knowledge of the brat being alive and within Konoha on my request." It did cross his mind to ask her or someone, but he held his curiosity back for when Naruto could explain it himself. He didn't want it to be obscured by others who could possibly get it wrong. He's had enough time to swim in his own conclusions, he didn't need others making more for himself. Now, he wanted the truth with no possible way that it could be blurred falsely.

"I think I'll wait until Naruto can explain it to me."

She nodded, interlacing her fingers under her chin. "Good choice. And if you wish to help, by all means do so. There are very few I trust in Konoha to help Akuma find Naruto. Many would wish he was never found. . ." He noticed Sasuke's eyes flash red at her comment. His jaw clenched and his lips thinned in anger. "But I want you three, since you already know two identities of Akuma, to help them find Naruto. And I will warn you now. . .I will issue a severe punishment if any of you speak of their true identities to anyone. Do I make myself clear?" A malevolent gleam flashed across her eyes, showing how serious she was in her words.

He gave a curt nod, and he glanced sideways to see the other twos' answers. Kiba nodded right off, saying, "Definitely." Sakura on the other hand, hesitated and stared down at the floor with uncertain green eyes. It took a moment before she lifted her gaze and nodded without saying a word; a frown marring her features.

"Good." the Hokage said as she stood from her chair. "Now Tara, how do you contact Kane?"

The woman with lilac hair braided thickly down to her rear stared at the Hokage solemnly. "By Taichou's foxes." she said softly, "Daiki can only be called if Taichou calls him. Otherwise he only comes occasionally to report in."

Tsunade sat back down ungracefully, leaning the side of her face her hand. "That's a problem." she murmured to herself. "Is there any other way to contact him?"

Ruri shook her head. "Other ways would take too long. It would waste—." She was interrupted by a puff of smoke erupting near him.

Shikamaru waited impatiently as the smoke cleared to view the rest of the room. And by one glance at every person in the room, he knew something was wrong. Terribly wrong when he didn't see Naruto anywhere. He vaguely heard Ruri call out Daiki's name standing next to him and Kiba saying, "Man, what happened to you?" But he was only interested in verifying one thing. "Where's Naruto?" he asked. His stomach in twists and knots at the answer he could already see in uncovered eyes.

"They took him." Gaara answered flatly, his stare straying to the fox for a moment. There was a spark of concern at the sight of the animal but it dwindle, thinking he was overreacting. He returned his attention to Shikamaru. "Ouroboros." he clarified.

His grip tightened around the thick folders in his hands. This was what he feared had happened after Daiki came to him with news that he couldn't find Naruto anywhere. It was impossible for a summons to be unable to track down their master. And then skimming through the miraculously decoding documents and finding out exactly why Ouroboros wanted Naruto and their plans on retrieving him. God dammit. . . They played right into their hands.

He ran his hand over his rugged face and through his loose and haggard hair. "We have to find him and quick." He moved forward, bending and laying the folders on the ground. "If we don't, they're going to kill him."


In and out of consciousness Naruto drifted. Hazy and unsure of his surroundings. The only thing he was sure of was that he laid flat and on something slick and cool. Everything else was a blur of images and colors. He had no idea how long he'd stayed in such a state, but eventually he found his mind clearing—slowly focusing on the outside world. The first thing he noticed was the chill against his skin. Then he swallowed, bringing his full—yet as little—attention he had to how dry and scratchy it really was. He felt himself cough, shifting his body slightly against the hard cool surface, and swallowed again.

His mind cleared more, shifting more, brows furrowing when he found something solid embedded tightly into the skin around his neck, wrists and ankles. He pried his eyes open a small bit and saw blurs of brown and black blending together. He closed them before opening them once again, wider this time. Blinking to clear his vision, the space above him began to take form. Choppy and jagged rock hung high above his position, like what he would see in a cave. It was dark with only a little light and the smell of earth was all around him.

He was confused, his memories slightly fuzzy as to where he was and how he got there. He tried to move again, forcing himself to focus and move through the haze in his mind. Clearing enough where he remembered the battled that happened in the Forest of Death. The four men who surrounded him in barrier and electrocuted him to the point where he couldn't fight back. The last thing he remembered was Sasuke's Chidori slamming against the barrier before everything went black. His situation was bad, he knew this. He was in the clutches of men who he assumed were members of Ouroboros. It was a smack in the face with reality that had his pulse racing and his body struggling against the binds that held him down.

But it was no use. He felt weak and his chakra felt too low for comfort. Plus, the binds were metal from the solid and slink feel of them. He cursed at being captured. It was the fact of feeling helpless that had him to a near panic. It reminded him too much of the time when he was banned from Konoha. When he felt cornered and helpless against the circumstances he had no choice in, just like now. He couldn't get free and his chakra was too low to use. He was trapped.

And he hated it—he hated it all.


Kill him?

Sasuke breathed heavily, his stomach queasy at the weight of what Shikamaru just said. It was a possibility that was likely, but it was a possibility that he didn't want to think of. It made it better to deny than to dwell over and sink further into the pain of the possible result. But Shikamaru was throwing it back in his face. Making him confront his fear of losing Naruto permanently all over again.

"What do you mean?" Ruri asked breathlessly, her worry increasing at his words. She approached the laid out folders, bending down and rummaging through them. "Are these the documents you've been trying to decode?"

Shikamaru nodded absentmindedly. And that's when Gaara approached also, standing straight with his head tilted down. Sasuke stayed where he was, frozen in fear at what Shikamaru planned on saying next. He glanced down at the individual papers laying on the floor; charts and written out documents were piled on top of one another.

"You finally decoded them." Gaara said, slightly surprised at the coincidence of it all.

"No, I didn't." Shikamaru said. "They decoded themselves, probably just as Naruto was taken. They planned it all out." His head shook softly with a small disbelieving smile. "From Akuma receiving that mission to kill the General and finding that information by chance to Tsunade-sama requesting assistance from Akuma. Then the villagers disappearances and Akuma splitting up. Everything was anticipated. . ."

"Who are they?" Kiba asked, frustrated at all the unknown the three of them held no knowledge of.

Shikamaru turned his head to him, fully noticing the three for the first time. Why are they. . . His brows furrowed in confusion to why they were here when Ruri had no mask on. His answer hesitated because of this, wondering if he should answer or not. It was decided when Tsunade spoke, "Go ahead, Nara. They'll be helping find Naruto."

He nodded once hesitantly before speaking, praying that Tsunade was right and they were here to help and not screw everything up. "They are Ouroboros. A group that has been stalking and gathering information about the seven Jinchuurikis and the nine Bijuu."

"What are Jinchuurikis and Bijuu?" Kiba questioned, interrupting Shikamaru.

"Jinchuurikis are human sacrifices for the Bijuu." Kakashi answered for Shikamaru, causing all heads to turn to him. One in particular was so intense that he felt the tingles on the back of his neck run down his spine. "Each Jinchuuriki has a Bijuu sealed inside them."

"What does that have to do with Naruto, though?"

"He's Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki." Sakura said softly, remembering what Naruto told them the night when they returned from the mission.

"Kyuubi?" Kiba said, "But wasn't—"

"You knew before all this ever happened." Sasuke accused, glaring at Kakashi with his Sharingan burning to come out just like his anger. He gripped the cloth of his pants' leg to keep some level of control over himself. "You knew Kyuubi was sealed inside Naruto all along. Did you also know what they did to him?" He took a threatening step forward; the memory of Naruto when he looked so broken and lost flashed through his mind. He's had to suffer because of all this. "Were you part of that plan too?"

A hand against his chest stopped him from getting any closer to Kakashi. A wild urge surged through him to break the hand that held him back. But he refrained, knowing who the limb belonged to. It wouldn't serve too well to piss him off.

"This isn't the time, Uchiha." Gaara spoke calmly. "The more time we waste, the better chance that Naruto dies."

Sasuke winced at the red head's bluntness. Unfortunately though, he was right. There were more important things to do than to unleash his pent up anger on Kakashi. He took a deep breath and released it, all the while glaring at Kakashi, before averting his eyes and stepping back to his original position.

Tsunade kept her eyes on Sasuke to make sure he wasn't going to lose it just yet. Then she asked, "Alight, what are they after. . .exactly."

"Taichou." Ruri whispered as her eyes were glued to a piece of paper in her hands. The words printed on there telling her exactly what they wanted to know. "All they wanted was Taichou."

Sasuke's anger dissolved as fast as it was ignited. He closed his eyes in a futile attempt to hide away from the truth. Yes, he wanted to hide. It was like the past was repeating itself. But this time, Naruto would be gone for real. There would be no seeing him again. No prayers that would be answered. Nothing—because he would be gone. . . He barely survived the first time, he knew it wasn't going to happen again. He opened his eyes. "Why? Why do they want Naruto?" he asked almost desperately.

Shikamaru opened his mouth, but Ruri was the one who answered before he could. "The build-up. They want the negative chakra that gathers there." Her brows furrowed in concentration. "But why? What would they gain in obtaining that?" She lifted her head from the paper she was reading and looked at Shikamaru. "What do they mean by 'fixing the defect'?"

He shifted through the papers and handed a couple of them over to her. "Read these." A solemn expression etched in ever line of his face from what he already knew.

She grabbed them and immediately began reading as Gaara spoke, "If they were merely playing us, why let us have all this?" His hand indicating the documents laying before Shikamaru and Ruri.

"Because they wanted us to." he stated simply, "They wanted us to concentrate on this instead of putting our full efforts in finding out more about their plans. They thought it all through. There was only one wild card in the whole scenario." Shikamaru looked directly at Sasuke as he said next. "And that's you. You're reaction to Naruto's return was too unpredictable even for them to predict. Apparently, they didn't know about the Uchiha's behavioral trait, or they would have been able to predict his moves just as easily as everything else."

"Uchiha behavioral trait?!" bellowed Kiba in frustration, wanting some damn answers.

But he was ignored as Jiraiya spoke for the first time since he bitched about being dragged to the Hokage's office at such a late hour. Ever since then, he's been leaning against the window behind Tsunade, thinking over every thing that's been said. It was unnerving how this group could know so much about everyone involved to predict how they would react in a certain situation. Such intimate knowledge was suppose to be reserved for lovers who knew their partners at the deepest level. . . "If the fox didn't go to the brat first, then he must not know where Naruto is?" speaking lowly as if thinking this over for himself, yet loud enough for the whole room to hear.

Shikamaru nodded for Jiraiya to see. The question bringing him back to why the fox was here to begin with. He was so busy with the decoded documents beforehand, he never asked. Daiki just appeared, saying he couldn't find Naruto and that's it. But now that he looks at him, he looks depressed with his ears flat against his head and his head slouched low. It made him curious, Did something happen with the others?

He was about to question the animal, but Jiraiya said, "Then they must have the brat in a barrier. A powerful one that would keep even summons from finding their masters." His head lowered against the hand under his chin, then lifted after a moment of contemplating. "This'll pose a much bigger problem in finding him. Masters and summons have a deep connection with each other, other jutsus won't even compare to a summons ability in finding their masters." He fell silent, his lips in a frown and his brows furrowed in concentration.

The white haired man's comments left the individuals in the room in a stifling atmosphere. Their options in finding the blond were becoming slimmer and less likely that they'll even find him at all. The tenseness of dread was only interrupted by the almost silent sob from Ruri. Tears leaked out of her eyes as she stared down at the paper within her hand. Her stare was almost tragic, the words written on the piece of paper shocking her to the core.

"Tara?" Gaara spoke to her, taking a quick glance over at Shikamaru, who held a sympathetic expression, before settling the blank but curious stare back on her. "What's wrong?"

Her head lowered at his voice, her loose strands of hair covering her eyes from sight. Her hands trembled terribly as she lowered them and placed the paper back on the floor. She didn't want to believe what she just read, what she just found out that couldn't possibly be true. She tilted her head up just enough where Shikamaru could she the silent question within her eyes. The desperate plea to tell her that everything was a lie. Tell me it's all a lie. The brunette lowered his eyes to the floor and her plea was smashed to pieces, sending more tears down her face and another sod to escape her quivering lips.

She lowered her head back down, futilely trying to hide the despair scorching through her. "Tara?" she heard Tsunade speak. The hidden question within that one word causing her to bite her lower lip to keep more sobs from leaving her. She had to gain some semblance of control in order to speak. She breathed in deeply and exhaled, calming her sorrow down. As he kept her head down, she opened her mouth but nothing came out. Closing her mouth once again, she took another deep breath against her shuddering self. She opened her mouth again and whispered in a volume that barely anyone in the room could hear. "I always thought that it was Kyuubi's chakra that was the cause of it all. That the negative effect of his demonic chakra was at fault. But I was wrong. . .it's their fault. . ."

The broken and ragged way Ruri spoke caused Sasuke to swallow roughly. What she was about to say he knew he wouldn't want to hear. All those papers laying on the floor held information only about his dobe, and if something within those papers caused this kind of reaction within her, then they held pieces of information he probably wouldn't like.

"They constructed a formula that could cause an individual to obey any command that the constructor wanted. They wanted obedient and powerful soldiers as weapons to take over the shinobi world. That's why they targeted Jinchuurikis; humans with access to unlimited demonic chakra. That was the plan. But the formula was faulty." She paused for a second. "First they tested it on Kimura Haruka, Gobi's Jinchuuriki. She died instantly from the injection. They went back to the lab and reformulated it and then tested the newly made formula on Nii Yugito, Nibi's Jinchuuriki. She also died instantly from the injection. Once again they went back to the lab and reformulated it. . ."

She stopped, unsure if she could continue. To state out loud what could possibly send the youngest Uchiha spiraling out of the control he manage to gain back. Slowly, she continued to speak the dreaded words, ". . .and during the seventh month of Taichou's pregnancy, they injected him. Knowing full well what would most likely happen to Taichou and the b-baby. . ."

Sasuke felt numb, unsure if what Ruri just said was heard right. His hearing fuzzed, barely hearing Kiba and Sakura asked something about Naruto's ability to become pregnant and the sort. But it didn't matter. . .Ouroboros killed his daughter. An injection created in labs had killed his baby girl. Not what Naruto believed to be his own fault. It hasn't been Kyuubi at all. The 'attacks' weren't natural. Their child had been taken from them by power hungry men who cared not about the innocent life they knowingly took.

They knowingly took his baby's life. . .

They took it. . .

Vaguely, he felt a tear run down his cheek. He was lost. . .so lost in this new revelation. It felt like his newly assembled world was cracking slowly and deep down he knew it was only going to become worse. With the cracks becoming thicker, longer—waiting for the moment to shatter completely. And it was the only a matter of time.

All the thought to be already placed pieces were re-falling into their rightful place within a more twisted and cruel puzzle. Because with the news of the injection being the cause of the 'attacks', it also shined light on the fact that because of Ouroboros, Naruto was dying. The 'attacks' were going to kill his dobe eventually, that was a known fact. So not only did they take his daughter from him, now they were trying to take Naruto from him as well. And god dammit, he wasn't going to have it.

His jaw clenched as his anger rose at the thought of Ouroboros. This followed with the familiar burning sensation of his Kekkei Genkai activating because of his emotions. He preferred anger compared to other emotions flooding through him. It helped him to focus, even though it was through a red haze. It was better than letting himself sink and allow to be overtaken by his grief. That would have to wait. He had someone to hold onto. Someone to keep him a float. And he would grasp onto him until he found out their was nothing left to grasp onto anymore.

Tuning back in on the commotion around him, he found that Kiba, Sakura and now Kakashi were all trying to sort through the new information about Naruto being able to give birth, thanks to Kyuubi. Asking all sort of questions, personal questions that they had no business in asking. But all this stopped abruptly and everyone fell silent when Ruri stood and uncharacteristically shouted, "All of you, be quiet!"

After her outburst to square her shoulders and rubbed the tears from her face. Her eyes narrowed and glared at the three—what she considered—outsiders. "All your inquiries about Taichou can wait until we have him back in one piece."

Sakura argued though, "You just told us that Naruto and Sasuke had a child together and you expect us not—"

"She said be quiet, Haruno." Gaara snapped coldly, glaring at her through his mask.

She shut her mouth with an audible click and reluctantly stepped back with her shoulders lowered in a defeated manner. She wasn't going attempt to stand up to the Raccoon mask man. It was a foolish action she wasn't willing to risk her life for.

Tsunade sighed, rubbing her temples at all that has happened. She glanced over at Sasuke, noticing his stiff posture and firm yet blank features. She actually felt sorry for the youngest Uchiha. So many things have been taken from him. And through it all, he tries to hide his pain away from others to see. Even though she could clearly see that all he wanted was someone to love and for that same someone to love him back just as fully. Partly, she understood why he chose to leave Konoha. The village has done nothing but bring pain upon him.

Sighing again, she pulled her attention away from Sasuke, focusing back on the matter at hand. "Daiki, go inform Kane what has happened. We need them back—" The office doors opened, revealing Jun, Yuuto and a distressed Temari with Kyosuke in her arms.

"I heard what—" Temari began but was stopped when Tsunade raised her hand to silence her. Kyosuke whined to be let down and wiggled in her arms, but she held firm. Jun and Yuuto glanced around at the others' faces, sensing the double thick tension in the air. They just knew they missed something.

"We need them back here immediately." She lowered her eyes to her desk and murmured lowly, "The sooner we find Naruto, then most likely we'll find him alive."


Itachi shoved the blade of the shovel into the ground, retrieving a pile of dirt and throwing it over to the mound that kept growing. Over and over he repeated this action until he found the hole to be the proper width and depth. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, his Weasel mask long taken off and placed with his cloak. He threw the shovel over the edge and pulled himself up on level ground. This was the eighth grave he dug. The eighth to finalize an end of a life that was senselessly taken.

The presence of the summons fox Daiki appeared behind him. He didn't turn to acknowledge the animal, instead he asked, "Did Naruto take the news all right?" No response came from the fox, which caused him to turn around to face him. "Daiki?"

The fox lifted his eyes from ground and stared up at Itachi. But he was unable to meet his gaze. "Ouroboros has taken Naruto-sama." he said in a low voice, unsure what the others' reaction to the news would be.

In an instant, Itachi's onyx eyes bled red into his Sharingan.

"What?!"