He specifically chose Naruto to go in with him for only one reason. People listened to him. There was just something about Naruto Uzumaki that made people pay attention to what he had to say. He turned most criminals into fast friends, he was that charismatic. Either that or he was just that damn good a bullshitter that people believed him when he said everything was going to be alright. Regardless, it caught perps off guard that a 'nice guy' would be coming in to arrest them.
Itachi needed his distraction.
His little brother was far too hot-headed for a venture like this. Currently, Sasuke was watching them climb up the side of the building, listening for incoming information from their sniper Shino Aburame. If anyone on their team was going to see or know anything first while at the scene, it was going to be Aburame. He knew all, he saw all. Not too mention he was a damn good spy, if he hadn't proved himself countless times, Itachi may have had to question his loyalties. He was the man to step up after the devastating loss to his department.
One of his men was caught up on a lead in a murder investigation, the outcome had gone horribly wrong, and it ended in the death of his own cousin Shisui Uchiha. Shisui was their head-hunting sniper-rifleman, that and a master-mind at manipulation. If he wanted you to do something…you did it, almost like he took control over you. Aburame was great at information-gathering and infiltration and had one hell of a shot; he was the ideal candidate to take Shisui's position.
Focusing on making as little noise as possible, Itachi and Naruto traveled quickly to the roof of the building. After analyzing the blueprints and the two possible entry points, they found the fastest way inside without causing alarm would be through a sky-light window directly over where the employees were hidden away. According to the building layout provided to them, the skylight would be completely out of view from the lobby – meaning out of sight to the robbers.
Itachi was utterly silent as he cut through the thick glass with a laser tool, making eye contact with the employees so that they knew to stay quiet. He lowered Naruto in first, and then waited for Sasuke to come to the roof as well, before going down himself. His brother may be hot-headed, but he trusted few others when it came to back-up. He trusted only a few of his actual team-members, not all of them had earned it yet.
He motioned for the co-workers to be silent and to move quietly, before Naruto backed him up at the solidly locked door. According to Shikamaru Nara, his brilliant lazy analyst, there was a switch that would unlock the heavy door underneath the closest teller station. His finger was pressed against the switch. It was dead quiet, too quiet. He was sure that the masked men would hear the switch when he set it off. After hearing a gasp and then a soft cry, he slowly and firmly flicked his finger.
Then…every dynamic of this situation changed.
-halo-
There was a large clock that clicked the seconds away; each minute seemed to take hours. Each tick seemed to echo throughout the lobby, the momentum going slower and slower. They had been in there for at least forty five minutes now, though it seemed like hours. It was so quiet, just so utterly silent. The men flanked her as they made her stand after discovering her worth.
She felt as though she were so incredibly stupid. Why couldn't she just give them some other name; that would have been intelligent of her. No matter how hard she tried it seemed she would always fail at something. Now that her life was at stake, her all logical thoughts seemed to dissipate.
Daring not to move, her eyes only blinked when they absolutely had to, she commanded her lungs to take small short intakes. But even her breath stilled at the next whispered two words.
The heavier one who had first held the gun to her head said lightly, "Cut her."
If she could have seen the man 'Tobi' and his face, she would have known that he was grinning from ear to ear. He was the one to obey, to make his family happy. And his family was of the organized criminal faction. She tensed as the glint of a knife caught her eye.
Not helping the gasp that escaped her, her eyes watered as he quickly sliced the bare flesh of her arm. First was the disbelief that it was her blood pooling at the now four inch long open gash just above her wrist. Then the burning, the stinging of the raw wound, forced a small cry from her throat. She did everything she could to keep from yelling out, knowing they were just waiting for her to go against their command of silence.
Tears pooled in her eyes, until they steadily streamed down her cheeks, the man who seemed to be in charge roughly grabbed her injured arm, making her cry out from the pain.
So many things seemed to happen at once.
First was the blast, and then came the flying cement and steel from the walls as smoke quickly filled the bank. Her head was pounding, her mind blacking in and out of focus, it had been so quiet before, now it was as though everything was roaring. Her head moved back and forth, she could see the two men were still holding her but she couldn't feel them. A third man, he seemed to come through the very wall that just exploded on them. His mouth…it was moving. He was saying something. She couldn't hear. Why couldn't she hear!
The new man, he was tall, blonde, she couldn't make out the color of his eyes. Focus. She had to focus on him. She had to remember everything. By the way they were holding her; she knew she was going with them. It was a necessity that she recall everything about what was going on. What was the blonde man wearing? Another cloak, it was black and red, some kind of pattern. Her eyes, they hurt, no! she had to focus; she had to keep them open!
It hurt to much to look at the long blonde-haired man standing in front of the fire any longer, she just couldn't do it. There was so much heat, it was so hot now. Why hadn't she succumbed to the blanketing darkness? No, she must stay awake, she must. Willing herself to stay awake, to keep her eyes wide, she again tried to focus on hearing something, anything.
There was nothing, just a ringing alarm sounding off in her mind.
There was a slight movement to the far right; she focused her sight in that direction. First all she could see was smoke, then a tall form emerging, seemingly floating towards her. Then a face came into her line of sight, an angular face, withholding a sharp nose and thin mouth, twin lines drawing downwards from the corners on a set of eyes. There was a man there; he was looking right at her.
The last thing she remembered was gazing into a pair of determined icy black eyes.
-halo-
It seemed as though as soon as he switched the lock on the door leading out into the lobby an explosion rained down on them. It took a fraction of a second for him to realize a bomb had just gone off inside the building. Mentally cursing, he threw a look towards Naruto who was still covering his ears.
Seconds flew by, he could hear the whispers of a fire starting up, could still hear pieces of debris falling. Uzumaki was now looking at him, a fierce glow to his normally friendly blue eyes. Naruto took fragile seconds to look over the holed up employees, before nodding to his superior that he was ready to back him up.
Itachi peered out from the slightly ajar heavy metal door. He could only see the two masked men roughly holding on to the Hyuga heiress. Pulling out his pistol from its holster, he slowly opened the door.
Smoke moved stealthily throughout the building, filling up every space it came across, like long tendrils reaching and smothering. The heiress, she looked faint and confused. He watched as her eyes danced left and right.
That was when he heard a voice, some screeching about fabulous art or some nonsense. He felt Uzumaki shift his stance, and he automatically knew that Naruto was going in the direction of the new voice. He also knew that with the bomb going off, his team would be in here in a matter of minutes, certainly Sasuke already made his way inside.
He slowly and silently made his way towards the two disguised men; he paid attention to every detail offered to him, to every action they made. The way they were handling her, jerking her around. He noticed the blood dripping from her forearm.
Then his gaze caught hers. The heiress was staring directly at him.