Chapter Fifteen

Arai blinked in surprise at the amount of guards stationed outside of the ICU room where Hikari was being kept; though after a second of thinking about it she supposed that it wasn't too unexpected. Squaring her shoulders Arai put on her most charming smile as she shouldered her bag and stepped forward; right into the point of a sword.

"That's not a very nice welcome." Arai said. "I'm not here to hurt her, I just want to visit. She's my best friend."

"Be that as it may, I am under strict orders from Kenta-sama has given orders that no one but those approved by himself may see Haruno-sama."

Arai gaped at the masked ANBU in shock, though whether it was over his orders or his use of 'sama' in reference to her brother she wasn't quite sure. Her eyes jumped from mask to mask searching for the familiar owl that marked the identity of Itachi's best friend, Yotaro. He wasn't there. Arai frowned. Something was very wrong here. She knew for a fact that Yotaro couldn't have been dragged away from Hikari's side, they were practically siblings and unless he was given orders on pain of death he wouldn't leave her alone.

Mere seconds had passed by the time Arai smiled at the ANBU guard and gave a slight bow before she reached into her bag and pulled out the package Senbei had sent along. Straitening she held it out to the man making sure to keep perfect contact with his eyes through his falcon painted mask as she did so.

"Senbei-san, a member of the Uchiha clan, sent this along for Hikari-chan. She said that she wanted to make sure she had enough iron when she woke up."

Falcon's shoulders dropped slightly in regret before he shook his head. "I'm sorry Arai-san, but I am under strict orders that nothing that hasn't been approved may be delivered by any friends or family of Haruno-sama."

Arai's right eyebrow lifted and she pursed her lips together in thought. "I see. Then perhaps you would like them? I'm sure that you must be tired from standing here all day and I would hate to see them go to waste."

For a moment the ANBU man seemed to hesitate before he took the package and opened it to find some yakiniku, sushi rolls, and boiled eggs. Slowly he wrapped it back up and glanced behind him before he looked back down at Arai.

"It seems I packed an extra lunch today. I wonder if Haruno-sama would like the other when she wakes?"

Arai grinned. "I don't know, but if you get the chance I hope you'll ask her." She gave him a quick salute as she turned to leave. "Have a nice day Falcon-san."

Falcon nodded and tucked the small bento into the folds of his uniform before he turned back to his post; ignoring the other ANBU that were snickering at him behind their masks.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"So I have a question? Just how exactly are we going to get in to see Yamataro Makoto?" Kiba said. "It's not like we can just walk up and say, 'hey, lower the bridge, we want to interrogate a couple of your prisoners."

"We have our ways," Sasuke said and Kiba gaped.

"You're going to break into the prison!"

Sasuke nearly tripped from surprise before he turned to Kiba with an annoyed glare. "No. My cousin Natsui is a guard at the prison. He'll let me in."

"I thought that you were disowned from the Uchiha clan," Chouji said between mouthfuls of chips. "Why would he want to help you?"

"Natsui is one of the few that supported my position in the clan. His parents, Raito and Senbei, have always been good to me."

Sakura nodded thoughtfully. "That's good to know. I'm glad that we don't have to resort to force. If we did that we would probably end up in the Special Ninja Felony Prison ourselves."

"Yeah, I want to wait a few years before I spend the rest of my life in jail." Everyone stopped and stared at Kiba until he shrugged. "What? I was joking!"

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome."

Sasuke ignored the lazy genius as he reached out to press the button on the call monitor. For a moment the monitor was silent before it cracked and the voice the gate keeper floated through.

"Name and business."

"My name is Uch—Sasuke. I'm here to see Uchiha Natsui."

The line was quiet for a moment before it cracked again. "I'm lowering the gate."

Sasuke smirked at the rest of the group as the bridge began to lower. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, so you can open a gate. Big deal."

"It is a big deal," Sakura said. "This means were one step closer to saving Itachi and finding Hikari's attacker."

"Perhaps," Shino said, surprising everyone. "Or perhaps we will find ourselves two steps behind."

Before anyone could ask him what he meant the bridge had lowered completely and a man dressed in black stepped out of the prison's shadow. His black hair was kept cropped short and his eyes were an unusual shade of brown, almost gray.

"Sasuke," he said, lifting his hand in greeting. "What are you doing here? If you want to see your brother I'm afraid he's in lockdown. No visitors."

Sasuke's mouth tightened at the mention of his brother's situation but before he could say anything Sakura had stepped forward and set her hand gently against his arm. He relaxed for a moment before he shrugged her off and stepped forward.

"I'm not here to see Itachi. I want to talk with Yamataro Makoto."

"Yamataro?" Natsui said, lifting his eyebrow. "Any particular reason?"

The group was silent for a moment before Naruto spoke up. "My cousin was attacked yesterday. We think he might know something."

Natsui's eyes softened and he nodded. "I heard about Hikari-chan from my parents. I don't believe for a second that Itachi had anything to do with it. I'd be glad to let you in but only four of you can go in. Standard procedure."

Sasuke nodded. "That's fine. Sakura, Naruto, Nara. We'll go in; the rest of you should find Yotaro. He may have other leads."

The others nodded their consent and left quickly leaving the remaining four to follow Natsui across the draw bridge into Konoha's largest concentration of criminals. All they could think of as the gate closed behind them and the bridge was raised was that they really hoped their investigation was worth it, because none of them believed it would go well.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Arai wasn't particularly surprised when she ran into Kenta on the street but she couldn't say that it was the most desired moment of her day. In fact, she could probably live the rest of her life content to never see her brother again. To bad life didn't quite work that way in the Uchiha clan.

"Hello Kenta," Arai said. "I see you're out abusing your power, as par-usual."

Kenta's eye twitched at his twin's words but he quickly replaced his irritation with a smug smirk. "Well, if it isn't my favorite baby sister. Shouldn't you be cleaning something?"

"It's my day off."

"Strange, I didn't know that the council granted days off to people on probation."

"Well I guess you don't know as much as you think you do." Arai said. "My probation ended two weeks ago. I'm staying on now as a full-time maid. I make more then you do."

"I doubt it." Kenta said. "Seeing as I am the new clan head money is no longer an object for me."

"Not like, say, Hikari might be?" Arai said. "I know what you're doing Kenta. Don't think for one second that I believe this nonsense about Itachi. He would never hurt her. He loves her."

"Love is nothing to a ninja, Arai. If you had managed to pass your genin exams you would know that."

"And whose fault was that I wonder?"

Kenta sighed dramatically. "Are you still blaming me for you're failing the exams? Honestly, was it my fault you decided to assist in homicide the night before you were supposed to take them? You're lucky you only spent those two days in prison."

"And four years on probation with no chance of becoming a ninja for the rest of my life." Arai said with a scowl. "You really enjoy screwing me over don't you? Is this your latest plan to make my life miserable?"

Her brother snorted. "Don't flatter yourself Arai. Whatever I may have planned out for the rest of my life has nothing to do with you. You're merely a stone I've already cast aside."

"That hurts big bro." Arai said as Kenta turned and left. "I'm crying inside, really."

"Don't cry to hard," Yotaro said, coming up from behind. "You'll need to save some of those tears for his fall from glory. I here it's a really long drop."

"Yeah, but those would be tears of joy." She said as she turned to face Yotaro. "I've been looking for you."

"Well, you found me."

"Actually, you found me but that's beside the point. Why aren't you at the hospital?"

Yotaro's teasing look quickly morphed to one of mild anger. "When Kenta requested guards for Hikari's room he asked for me not to be included because I was 'to close' to the situation and that I wouldn't be able to protect her properly because of my 'grief over the situation'."

"Ah. Did you hit him?"

Yotaro snickered. "You know, I was about this close. You hungry?"

"A little, why?"

"I'm heading over to the Ichiraku for lunch and I'm going to be having some company that I think you might like to meet."

"Really?" Arai said, taking his offered arm. "Sounds interesting."

"You don't know the half of it."

End Chapter Fifteen


Kaliea: And there it is. Let me know what you think.


Review Answers:

TheBeastlyKunoichi: I was hoping to surprise people with that one. Most of my surprises are usually foreseen by everyone so it's nice to catch you guys off guard every once and a while.

autumn-annette-19: Okay. I'll try.

ChristinaAngel: I'm sure they'll stumble upon something useful.

Music 1s my s0ul:…Yeah, sorry about taking so long on the update. Forgive me?

King Hawke: It's a mystery…No really, it is. I'm not even sure who the real bad guy is yet…

grim reaper sakura: Yeah still no luck with my book or Job but I finished school for the summer. With flying colors might I add. (can you tell I'm a little proud of myself?)

Taeniaea: Thank-you!

rosieweasely: Yeah I actually am one of those writers. My bad. I'll try to do better in the future but no promises.

waveblader213: Yep. We all hate Kenta. Fortunately, it's easier to find evidence if everyone is on the same page.

Music 1s my s0ul: She isn't dead!...Yet. Though the way she's going it's only a matter of time. After all, who wants to live on life support?

Lover of Stories 24: As always, thanks so much for your review and if I ever decide that I'd like a beta I hope you'll be open to the job.

Dragon Man 180: He does deserve it but unfortunately Sakura is too nice to dish it out. Don't worry though; I'm sure humiliation will come in time.


Kaliea: Thanks for all of your reviews! You really keep me going. Till next time, ja ne!