I'd like to take the time to thank each and every one of the readers who have reviewed/favourited/followed this story! Your reviews were especially too sweet. ;-; Your support is the fuel to my writing fire. c:

Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. I wish it did. loljk I do not have the capacity or the talent to appease the millions of Naruto fans around the world.

This story will not have any relation to Naruto's dream of achieving Sasuke Uchiha's return or defeating Orochimaru. This happens a little bit after the Rescue Gaara arc. In other words, kind of AU (Alternate Universe).

The soft, vermillion glow of the candlelight seemed to glare harshly in Kohaku's eyes when the blindfold was finally taken off. Scanning her surroundings, she took in the familiar setting of her environment. They were back in the Akatsuki's base.

"Oh? What do we have here? The little lion cub is back!" A sadistic voice cut through the silent room, "Here, kitty, kitty! Didja forget me, eh?"

Standing in the opposite end of the room, Hidan emerged from an open doorway. His face and shirtless torso were smeared with blood, and in his hand, he held a metal stake which was stained with blood as well. His mouth twisted into a cruel smile when he saw Itachi next to her.

"I see you took your pet out for a walk."

Itachi pocketed the blindfold, and started walking across the room. "It's good to have fresh air once in a while."

Hidan scoffed, leaning against the wall behind him. "She's a fucking prisoner, Uchiha. Don't tell me you're getting soft. And if Deidara's right, it's not the first time you've taken the lion cub out. 'Once in a while'? Fucking bullshit. It's more like, 'Once a day'."

The dark-haired man found himself a seat on one of the sofas. "Just because I have the capacity to be cruel, it doesn't mean I have to be needlessly cruel. After all-" Leaning back, he side-eyed Hidan pointedly, "- I am not one for doing things in excess."

The Jashinist picked up on the subtle barb the Uchiha had hidden in his words, and he did not like it one bit. He gritted his teeth and frowned. "Don't you fucking dare criticise what-"

"Hidan!" A stern voice cut him off.

Fuming, the silver-haired man turned to face the doorway next to him. "What the fuck do you want this time, Kakuzu!? Can't you fucking see I'm busy!?"

"You left blood everywhere again!" Kakuzu's voice floated through the doorway, "I've said time and again, that I don't care how many times a day you want to do that ridiculous thing you call praying, but at least keep the mess within the boundaries of your room!"

Hidan straightened up, nostrils flaring. "'Ridiculous'? What the fuck are you calling 'ridiculous'? You're being fucking disrespectful!" He marched back through the doorway, his voice getting fainter as he went further down the dark hallway, until he could no longer be heard.

Kohaku wasn't entirely sure of what to do next. She remained rooted to the spot she was standing in, warily casting a glance in Itachi's direction. All she could see was the side of his face, and the one visible eye was closed. He was probably sleeping.

"You should get some rest."

Or not.

"We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."

Reluctantly, Kohaku silently walked across the room, and towards the doorway that Hidan had disappeared through earlier. She kept her eyes trained on Itachi the entire time, but his eyes remained closed. As she left, she couldn't help but replay that day's events in her head. The day when Itachi had invaded her mind and discovered her deepest secret. Gaara's face flashed in her mind, and she quickly quashed the image.

No.

xxxxx

Gaara had been staring at the red Konoha forehead protector for almost two hours now. His mind swirled with conflicting, confused thoughts, after having processed the information that Sai had given them earlier on, and still, even after two weeks, he could not quite get his head wrapped around everything he had told them.

He knew where Kohaku was. Or at least, the people she was with. How she had ended up with the world's most infamous criminal organisation, Sai wouldn't tell, but he had simply said that she was being kept prisoner at their main base. He had confessed to not knowing where the base was, but had suggested to use the rumours of the organisation originating from the Land of Water as a starting point. After that, he had spoken no more.

Unable to get another word out of the silent ANBU, Shikamaru had immediately devised a strategy that would allow the Konoha shinobi to cover an adequate amount of the Land of Water to search for Kohaku. Temari had offered manpower to help, but Kakashi had declined, saying that he wanted to keep the matter as quiet as possible.

"We don't know what or whom we're dealing with yet, so it's best to keep it as quiet as possible."

Why was Kohaku with them?

Why did they want her?

What was so special about her that they needed to kidnap her?

Gaara resented himself for thinking that last sentence. His chest twisted painfully again, and he raised a clenched fist against his sternum, as if to alleviate the dull ache that had not once gone away in the time Kohaku had gone missing. Who was he kidding? Of course she was special. The kind of special that only he saw, knew and understood.

His special.

xxxxx

"There's something different about you."

If the sudden comment had taken her by surprise, Kohaku did not show it. She pulled the hardback cover over the book on the table in front of her, and looked up to see Sasori looking down at her with inquisitive eyes.

It was the early hours of the morning, and Kohaku had been unable to sleep despite Itachi having warned her about the impending journey she was meant to embark on with him in a few hours. She hadn't slept much since she had been captured, and even more so ever since Itachi had cast that genjutsu on her a few weeks ago. The stress was beginning to show despite her training and sheer willpower. Dark bruises underlined her tired, overworked eyes, and her head ached to the point where she had had to inflict some cuts onto her half-healed palms to focus her attention on a different kind of pain. Still, her resolution flickered like a steady flame. Now was especially not a time to waver, not when she was still within enemy territory. Even if Uchiha Itachi was seemingly benevolent towards her, that did not mean that he would not kill her at any time he pleased.

The Suna missing-nin sat from across her, and clasped his hands in front of him, studying Kohaku intently as she stared right back at him unabashedly. Finally, the corner of his mouth quirked upwards, his russet eyes twinkling with interest. "Some smoke has dissipated and a few mirrors broken, I see. Your little excursion to the outside world must've been more than Itachi being nice and humane. I should've known."

This time, Kohaku frowned openly, caught off-guard by the revelation in Sasori's tone. He sounded as if he knew more than he was letting on, and the newfound doubt in Kohaku was curious to know just exactly what kind of information the poison expert was guarding from her.

"I do not comprehend what your allegory is insinuating," Kohaku spoke in even, measured tones, taking great care to create the distance that was so desperately needed after Itachi's invasion of her mind from the weeks before.

"You were a sheep in the lion's clothing when you first arrived, just blindly following whatever orders your master gave you," Sasori paused, and then narrowed his eyes with keen interest, "But now… I can feel a difference; a substance that was not there before. What exactly happened with Itachi?"

"Nothing that would be of benefit to you," Kohaku replied shortly.

Sasori raised his eyebrows, seemingly amused by the Konoha shinobi's curt answer. "Nothing indeed."

"Sasori."

Both Kohaku and Sasori looked away from each other to see the dark-haired Uchiha standing at the table. "Konan has a mission for you and Deidara. She's waiting for you," Itachi pulled a straw, cone-shaped hat that he had been carrying onto his head and turned around. "We're leaving. Come."

Kohaku knew that he was talking to her, because not once had he called her by her name. She immediately got up, and started following Itachi to the entrance. When he stopped, she halted behind him, and he pulled out a blindfold from his pocket.

"Did you not sleep?" Itachi asked as he pulled the cloth around her head.

"I did," Kohaku answered absently, distracted by the knowing look that Sasori had on his face as he watched her from where he still sat, before her vision blacked out completely.

xxxxx

Losing one sense did not mean that all your remaining senses would be heightened, as Kohaku had learned from walking blind during her imprisonment. It only meant that there was one less sense to depend on, which meant that left more room for her to concentrate on her other senses. As such, Kohaku could tell when Itachi was about to speak, because she could hear the soft inhale of the beginning of a sentence.

"Do you know why I became a missing-nin?"

But she certainly could not predict the questions he asked.

"I am familiar with the... circumstances, of the Uchiha genocide."

"Do you want to know why I did it?"

Kohaku wondered why Itachi was choosing to speak only now, after having walked for what Kohaku roughly counted to be at least five hours. And he was bringing up a topic that was a decade old, too. It certainly had no relevance to her whatsoever… or did it?

"I believe the entire shinobi world does."

"I did it because I was you."

At this, Kohaku immediately stopped in her tracks. "Excuse me?" was the only thing that she could vocalise.

She waited for a response from Itachi, an explanation for his cryptic statement, but was only met with silence, accompanied by the rustling of the tree leaves and chirping insects. After a few minutes, Kohaku decided to pull off the blindfold, and to her surprise, found herself alone in an unfamiliar thicket of woods. Where on earth had Itachi gone? Had he left her here on purpose? Was he attempting to test her or free her?

He had, she discovered, decided to free her, when she saw a pack sitting by her feet, accompanied by a key that seemed to be for the chains around her ankles and wrists. She bent down, and rifled through the pack. Her belongings that had been confiscated upon her arrival were all inside, including her mask and dagger. She paused for a moment, wondering why Itachi had simply left her here and vanished. Was he finished with her? If so, why hadn't he killed her instead? Maybe he was hoping to let nature end her first, rather than do the dirty work himself? After all, he had mentioned that he didn't needlessly kill... Still, that didn't make sense. Surely one stranger was nothing compared to an entire clan of relatives?

The inherent shinobi sense for survival suddenly reminded Kohaku that she was in an unfamiliar, and potentially enemy territory. Survival first, questions later.

After unlocking the chains and freeing herself, she found her weapons pouch inside the pack, and opened it to count the number of weapons she had. A flash of white peeking out from underneath the pack caught her attention. She stopped, placing the pouch down and pulled out a slip of paper. Cautiously, she unfolded it, and a found a neatly-written message.

'It's time for you to disperse the smoke and smash the mirrors.'

A loud rustle tore Kohaku's attention away from the message. There were people approaching, and Kohaku knew that now was not the time to ponder over Itachi's enigmatic message. She slid the paper inside her belt, along with her dagger, and swiftly strapped on her weapons pouch and kunai pouch. Pulling her leonine mask over her face, she held kunai in both hands, twisting her head around to identify her potential attackers.

"Kohaku?"

Kohaku jerked her head in the direction where the voice came from. Partially obscured by the trees, a familiar, masked face looked down at her with disbelief.

"Is that you?"

"Kaka…?" Too shocked to finish her sentence, Kohaku stared at him with wide eyes, utterly dumbfounded by his very sudden appearance.

The jounin swiftly leapt off the tree bough, and landed silently on the earthy ground.

"I found her! I found Kohaku!"

A bit on the short side, and while Kohaku's time with the Akatsuki has finally ended, let it be said that this will not be the last time we'll be seeing them! I know some of you were set on Kohaku doing some epic stuff to escape, but don't worry, there is plenty of kick-assery in store! It will come in due time, my dears. In due time.

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, and I look forward to hearing how you liked or disliked it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask away, too! See you in the next chapter.

Luv,

Pichuzilla