To Doddlehead: Wow…you really boosted me up big time! Thank you very much… (a very, very tight hug*)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

-o-o-o-

Chapter Fifteen

(f) Konan turned her back to them and walked back into the house.

When the violet haired woman was nowhere in sight, Hinata pulled away from the man's grasp and staggered on her feet as she tried to balance herself upright. "I…I can walk on my own Itachi-san."

Itachi did not say anything but decided to humor her. He did not offer her any assistance as she tried to take small baby steps to a thick group of trees. Crossing his arms, the Uchiha leaned on a tree trunk as he observed the small entertainment unfolding before his eyes.

Hinata stumbled and she dived into the soil face first.

Wincing, she wiped the dirt from her face with her sleeve. Konan must have taken a lot of her chakra to make her this weak and unstable—making her wonder what might have happened if Itachi did not removed her from the paper binds in time.

Talking about Itachi, the Konohan rebel was just looking at her—as if he was observing what antics she might come up next. Standing up again, she continued to take small steps until she reached the nearest tree to her. Using the trunk for support, she leaned on it and took a deep breath. Beads of sweat were starting to form on her brow as she felt small pains on her eyes.

"Itachi-san…" She called in a low voice, knowing that with the sharingan user's heightened senses, he could hear her clearly—besides, they were not that far from each other.

Itachi tilted his head into her direction.

"I still mean it." Hinata took a deep breath as she pressed two fingers on her temple. "I'll die before I'll be part of the Akatsuki."

The man looked at her, his long ponytailed hair being blown by the forest wind. Raising his right hand up, he let her see the ring on his finger—the ring that was identical to what Pein forcibly gave her. "You are already an Akatsuki.

She shook her head weakly as her vision was staring to get blurry. "I am loyal to the leaf…I would always be."

Hinata dropped into the ground, unconscious. (f)

Uchiha Itachi stopped in front of a door, one hand carrying a small bowl with rice gruel on it. Kisame was the one who cooked the food for tonight—and just by looking at its contents; the Uchiha figured that the main ingredients were curses, malice, and killer intent.

Diverting his attention from the food, he pushed the door with a free hand.

Only it wouldn't budge.

"Open the door."

Inside, Hinata shook her head and her eyes landed on the desk that she used to bar the door shut. "No." She said firmly. A few minutes ago, she woke up and found herself inside a room again. Only this time, there was no one with her. Not to mention that she was shocked at finding herself in new, fresh clothes.

"Open it."

"No." Hinata answered, suspecting that the man outside was the one who changed her clothes for her. He has done it before hasn't he?

"Hn."

Hinata gave a startled yelp as the door suddenly broke into pieces right in front of her. There were small electric flashes and then it was followed by smoke. Taking a few steps away from the now destroyed entrance, she saw Itachi stepped in—carrying a bowl filled with mush.

"I said I won't eat…and you can't force me." She declared and then pointed at the bowl. "I-I won't eat that."

Itachi placed the bowl on the floor. "And I suggest you don't."

That made her blink. "Wh-what?"

"Kisame's cooking skills…can kill." Itachi answered gravely. For a moment, Hinata wondered if she really heard some sort of humor on his cold voice. Looking at him with a puzzled frown, the heiress bit her lip as she tried to assess his words. To be honest, she really doesn't know what to say.

Then Itachi threw something at her.

Even though she was not paying attention and was not expecting it, her ninja skills were fast enough to make her hands move and caught whatever it was in mid-air.

It was a pear.

Hinata stared at the fruit like it was the strangest thing.

"Eat it." The Uchiha told her.

"I won—"

"I said eat."

-o-o-o-

Shino adjusted the straps of his pack as he leaped into the trees with his team. Looking behind him, he saw that the rest of the unit was hot on his heels— following the direction that he was leading them. He was not really the fastest, or the strongest, but his beetles are very useful and accurate sensory weapons.

They can detect chakra from miles away.

"Shino." Kiba called, catching up to him while riding behind Akamaru. "I smell something funny." Looking at his Ninken, the Inuzuka noticed that his dog was baring his teeth. "And Akamaru too…the scent is too different from anything I have smelled before."

"My bugs are tracking an unusual chakra…"

Kakashi pulled out a kunai. "I think I know who the owner of the chakra is…"

Neji frowned, leaping next to the Jounin teacher. "Who is it sensei?"

"Kakuzu of the Akatsuki."

"Akatsuki?" Neji suddenly tensed. "But how do you…?" They have been tracking Hinata's abductors as best as they can for the past days and they never really have any notable progress—and mentioning a member of Akatsuki at this point was like a wildfire, making his insides burn and blood boil.

His Hinata-sama was still in their hands…and no one can really tell what happened to her after she was abducted.

"I have encountered him in the past…and I can never forget the unique chakra his body was giving off." The Hatake raised his forehead protector from his sharingan eye—making everyone raised their guard. If Kakashi was alert like this, it only means that they might encounter a very strong opponent.

Hyuga Neji activated his Byakugan and scanned the area around him. "Good. I will make this Akatsuki spill everything that he knew."

" Be warned..."The silver haired nin shook his head. "Try not to be hasty Neji…Kakuzu is very hard to capture let alone kill. He is not an ordinary man. He is even considered as one of the immortal ones."

"But he could die right?" Kiba asked, baring his teeth like the dog he was riding with. "No one lives forever."

Genma smirked. "He could…but that devil has more than one life. In the past, it was told that Kakuzu has been assigned to assassinate Hashirama Senju. He failed. I think that was the reason why he left his village in the first place. The man doesn't like being defeated."

"Hashirama Senju? Wait…the first Hokage? That Kakuzu must be very, very, old then."

"His body is twisted….just like his mind." Kakashi answered. "He must have done something to himself to prevent his body from deteriorating…"

"That must be the reason why the scent is different."

-o-

"Damnit." Hidan cursed and glared at his partner—who was currently tending to his wounds with a nasty looking ointment he concocted by using herbs and tree roots. "I thought you were smart enough to figure this mess out? That Konohan Shinobi sure did a number on both of us." He raised his wounded arm. "Look…the wounds he inflicted is hard to heal."

Kakuzu returned Hidan's glare with his own sinister one. "I managed to return your head back to your body didn't I?"

"Well yeah…but our body's healing process is slower." Hidan rubbed his neck where the fresh stitches are still raw and swelling. "They might consider us immortals but we also have our limits. You can die if someone destroyed all your hearts...and I can't regenerate if someone will blow me up into the tiniest pieces that can't be patched together again."

"The man we killed…he was the third Hokage's son…Sarutobi Asuma, so I am expecting no less from him."

Hidan rolled his eyes. "Yeah…yeah. The third Hokage's son…I know who he is."

"Then shut your trap and keep quite."

"It's just want to get back on track as fast as possible. I don't want to stay in this cave with you any longer. You stink."

The man with the covered face smirked. "My body has no distinct smell...just like the way your body emits no chakra signature. We are different. "

"No…that's not what I mean." Hidan shook his head and smiled slyly. "What I mean is your personality."

"As if you have one. "

"I do. I am a religious guy."

"You better watch for your head Hidan. I might remove it myself if you won't close that loud trap." Kakuzu threatened as he dropped the bottle of medicine on the cave floor, making the contents splatter. "I may be the one who returned it…but remember that I can take it off just as easy." Silently reminding himself that he already killed a lot of his assigned partners in the past—and it won't help him if he killed another one— Kakuzu tried to focus his attention on his wounds.

"I want to see you tr—" Hidan stopped in the middle of his insult and stared at Kakuzu. "Did you feel that?" He suddenly stood up and picked his scythe on the floor. "I can feel chakra signatures…Some small unit must be passing this way."

Kakuzu smiled behind his covered face "Whoever they are…they're stupid to walk into Akatsuki territory."

-o-o-o-

(f) Kisame smiled slyly as he took Hinata's arm in a strong grip. "Won't you say hi to your new teammate?" He asked her, inching his face closer and love the way she contorted her face in disgust. "We will be traveling together for a few days you know…"

Hinata tried to pry her arm back but the shark-man has no intention of letting it go.

So Itachi did it for her.

"That's enough Kisame." The Uchiha appeared behind them.

"Itachi…let me have my little fun—"

"I said that's enough. Aren't you assigned to train her later? You can have your fun then."

Kisame scowled. "Damn Uchiha…you're always cutting off my entertainment."

Hinata silently let the Uchiha's broad frame cover her from the other Akatsuki's view. Rubbing her arm, she stared at the Uchiha's back as he engaged his partner in a small argument. She never expected that somehow, she would prefer this Konohan rebel than to be with any of members from the group—though in a small part of her mind, Hinata knew that Itachi could be the one of the worst Akatsuki who existed. He betrayed his village and killed his clan in just one night didn't he?

Looking up, she saw the first cracks of light showed through the clouds. She was informed last night that they were traveling again to another hideout today…

Inside, it made her want to scream and cry…knowing that with every step she took with these people, the harder it was to return back to her village. She tried her best not to show it though, because she doesn't want their satisfaction upon seeing her looking so miserable.

She was after all a Hyuga heiress…

And pride was not a simple thing when it comes to a Hyuga. (f)

Itachi silently watched as Hinata was being helped by Kisame after falling from a tree branch thrice in a row. If there were just the two of them, he would have carried her the way he did when they were traveling a few days ago—but it might arouse suspicion on Kisame's part, and Itachi knew that he doesn't need that. Kisame may not look like it, but the guy is smart and observant.

"Ow." Hinata murmured, feeling a sharp sting on her left ankle.

Kisame laughed. "Oh…you better keep up if you are to be a part of us. I can't always carry you, you know…" Holding the girl up, he wrapped an arm around her waist and leaped back into the trees. "Though I got to say…It's good to have this quality time every now and then." He added slyly.

Hinata took a deep breath as she was hoisted up into the air. She can't feel her legs anymore for they were too tired. They have been traveling without any rest and her body can't cope up with Itachi and Kisame's stamina. Looking ahead, she caught Itachi's gaze. He was leaping from branch to branch, but his head was tilted to the side—his dark eyes on her.

She looked away.

The trio continued with the same pace for a few more hours until Itachi—who was ahead of them—stopped abruptly. His collected demeanor suddenly tensed.

Puzzled at the sudden pause, Hinata lolled her head to the side. She wants to see what was ahead of them and why did Itachi stopped. Maybe it was some kind of boulder that blocks the way?

Then she gasped.

Beside her, she heard Kisame clicked his tongue. "I'll be damned…of all places for them to meet."

A few meters away from where they stood, looking as surprised and startled as them—was Sakura and Sasuke.

-o-o-o-

Here ends the chapter!

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Shout outs to: anauumaki999, .no.1, natsuzu2, miksome, pop daddy, and RiceballXlover,

See you next chap!

-crazygurl12