Tsunade sat in her chair while she concentrated. She stared hard at the surface of her desk, her brow furrowed in neat rows of wrinkles. Itachi had got to her. She didn't know what he said exactly that tugged at her heart but something he said made her come straight to her office, forbid anyone from entering, and just sit in silence.

She had been sitting there for over an hour, contemplating her next action. She had a traitor in her prison, something very rare and very exciting for the village. If she made the wrong move, took the wrong turn, the result would end up on her shoulders. It would damage her title as Hokage and, even though she didn't want to be Hokage in the first place, the title had grown on her. Tsunade found that she quite liked the responsibilities and respect that came with being the leader of the village. After all, only great ninja become Hokage.

It had been an hour and Tsunade still hadn't come to a conclusion yet. This is ridiculous. I should just keep him locked up until he dies. But Tsunade couldn't bring herself to give the order. Why was she feeling so weak right now? Too much Sake, she thought. Way too much. She had to cut back. She had been drinking more and more lately; probably due to all the excess work she had been given. Tsunade stretched her neck, trying to rub out the kinks. This job became too much sometimes, there was no room to breathe. It was one thing she hated about this job- the demand was great, the stress was overkill and the long nights did hell on her skin. But what could she do? There was work and ninja to look after, people to protect, alliances to be made, enemies to battle, buildings to maintain and create, kids to teach and-

Tsunade huffed. So much work, so little time. That was why the Hokage didn't have a time limit until there was a new one. You served until you died. Or resigned. That was it. But that was something Tsunade wouldn't have to worry about. What she had to worry about now was the oldest Uchiha clan member left alive. What should I do?

There's a part of me that wants to let him go. But how can a Hokage do that without leaving the village vulnerable? It's my job to protect the people, not put them in danger. If I let him go he could come back and attack the village, kill everyone, take Naruto…Come on, woman! Think with your brain, not your boobs. What if he 'escaped?' That couldn't go against me. Hell, our prisons could have some faulty walls that I didn't know about.

After a moment, Tsunade sighed, falling back against her chair. Look at you, Tsunade. Trying to help a murderer escape from your own prison. What would Sarutobi-sensei think?

Sarutobi's wise eyes and gentle smile appeared in her mind and Tsunade couldn't help but feel a little guilty for what she was trying to do. She tried to reason it out in her mind, to justify it, but no matter which way she traveled, there was no justifying it. Letting Itachi go would be the dumbest action she would make since she became Hokage. Maybe she should just go against her better judgment and fulfill her duty as Hokage. Forget his seemingly honest words and his lack of spirit in him and just toss him to the fish. For the umpteenth time that sunny afternoon, Tsunade sighed. She had no choice.

Just then her office door slammed open, banging into the wall that no doubt caused some drywall to break. Startled, the Hokage's head shot up and looked at the frazzled messenger. She didn't know his name by heart but she had seen him before. His breathing was coming in large gasps as if he just ran all the way from Suna and the scent of sweat emanated from him. Despite herself, Tsunade wrinkled her nose.

"Lady Hokage," he said between breaths,"I have urgent news from the Kazekage. He sent this."

Maybe he did run all the way from Suna… Tsunade thought, half amused as she took the messenger scroll from him and unsealed it. Her eyes scanned the contents in a rush, her face growing more and more strained with each word.

"There is an attack at the village hidden in the Sand. We must send reinforcements. I need the three best teams we have on standby to get to the sand village as fast as they can. Hurry and locate them before we run out of time!" Tsunade ordered, pulling on her coat that she had discarded earlier.

"And post guards around the Leaf Village in groups of two. We don't want any surprise attacks while we're aiding the Sand."

As the messenger rushed out the door another one came flying in. Tsunade was already in the process of writing a respond note to send back to the Sand village.

"Lady Hokage, you're needed at the gates. There are members of the Akatsuki headed this way!"

That son of a bitch lied to me.

Tsunade's anger skyrocketed; she wanted to run down to the prison and send a fist full of chakra right at Itachi's face. Once a traitor, always a bastard.

Tsunade quickly descended the Hokage tower, her stress level increasing her thirst for a bottle of sake.

~W~

Itachi heard shouts and the running of footsteps outside the doors of the prison. His ears perked up so he could see what all the commotion was for. Something was going on. Did Hinata do this? What was her plan to get him out? How could she get him out? If these restraints weren't cutting off his chakra he could break out of here himself. Then he wouldn't need to be rescued. Although it was kind of cute the way Hinata promised to save him. Itachi let the idea bring a smile to his face, something he wasn't used to yet.

He had hope thanks to Hinata. If she promised to break him out then he believed her. What happened after that Itachi wasn't sure, but he would worry about that later. He had to work on the now before the later.

A short while had passed without Itachi hearing anything. Maybe it was just someone having to use the bathroom. There was always stale food in the house and someone getting sick by it. Itachi assumed that's how every home was based off of his own. But, it sounded serious, the footsteps. Nobody ran unless there was an emergency, and the shouting said it was an emergency of some sort. Itachi had no idea and nothing to do but wait, so that's what he did.

Lost in thought, Itachi jumped in his bed when the prison door slammed open. His heart raced for a second, hoping it was Hinata. To see her beautiful smile again would send him into a flurry of happiness. But the man who came earlier to give Itachi the note appeared on the other side of the bars again. Itachi made his way over to him, managing to not stumble and fall on his face on the way over. The man said nothing and focused his chakra onto the restraints around Itachi's wrists. The only way these restraints could be sealed and unsealed was with a strong amount of chakra; the one doing it would need to rest and regain their energy back due to the amount required. Once they were broken Itachi was relieved to be able to move his hands freely again. He rubbed his wrists, enjoying the pleasure of his own skin. The man moved on to the ankle restraints.

"I don't have the key for the cell door." The man realized, his look of determination starting to fade away.

"I'll take care of it. Get out of here before you get caught." Itachi said, stepping back to the edge of his cell. Before the man ran out of the room, Itachi thanked him.

Itachi had to wait anxiously for some chakra to come back to him. Those restraints didn't vacuum all of your chakra up but only left some in your system. Itachi needed just an ounce more so he could use his fireball jutsu to destroy the cell. It would cause a hell of a ruckus, but by the time anyone got here he'd be gone. Looking for Hinata.

Thankfully nobody came in to check on him by the time his chakra was restored. Itachi did the necessary hand signs, passed down through the Uchiha clan, from his father to him. With one final hand sign, Itachi breathed a huge breath and his fireball jutsu came to life. It knocked into the prison doors, destroying them on impact. The walls shook with the power of his jutsu, dust from the ceiling began to fall as if the tower were going to collapse. Before anyone could figure out what was going on, Itachi left the prison and made his way toward his angel. She had saved him twice now.

A/N: Thank you guys for continuing to read this story. I'm going to end it soon and finish my other unfinished stories as well. That way I can start new ones! I wanted to make a part 2 to my Marked story, if you haven't read it already it's a Naruto+Sakura Story that I personally love. Part 2 would be the aftermath of that story so let me know if you guys would be interested in that and any other stories or couples you'd like to read about. I'm sorry if my writing is not as good as it used to be, I'm trying to get it back to that point. I don't know how many more chapters I'll be uploading before this finishes so we will see. My off days are Tues and Weds so that's why I've been uploading on these days. I just appreciate your guys' support and feedback so much so I feel guilty when I don't upload. Forgive me. Thank you again!

Xoxo~ Clover