Chapter 18: Rescue and Retrieval

As it turned out, the person that Yamato introduced to help them track down Orochimaru was Inu. So when the four of them stood together in the same clearing, eyeing each other up as they tried to determine how trustworthy the other person was, it felt like a weird case of meeting distant relatives for the first time.

Maybe a coincidence that Yamato happened to know Inu, who happened to approach Shisui, but Itachi had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't. Was Yamato actually a spy for Inu instead? It didn't matter; Inu had done nothing but help them this entire time, so Itachi chose to trust him.

For now.

"So you're saying you think there's another entrance to Orochimaru's hideout and you want my help in finding it?" Inu summarized, after Itachi finished explaining his theory.

Itachi nodded.

"In order to track someone down, I would need their scent, so preferably an object they've carried around for a while. If you can get me that, then I'll be able to help you."

"Every Thursday, Orochimaru pays a visit to the tea shop," Shisui supplied. "That will be our opportunity to snag something off of him."

"So why don't you just follow him after he leaves the tea shop to see where he goes?"

Shisui shook his head. "I've tried. He's too slippery, always finds a way to throw me off of his tail. Finding the entrance and then staking out would be a better option. Of course, unless we find a way to break in."

Inu nodded. "Well, I'll leave that mission to the three of you. In the meantime, I have some business to take care of. Have Yamato summon me once you get the item."

Upon seeing a familiar figure casually strolling through the clearing with a body bag slung over his shoulder, Kakashi jumped down from the trees. Kakuzu didn't even flinch; Kakashi hadn't bothered to hide his presence after all.

He jutted his chin towards the body bag. "Another kill? How much is it this time?"

Kakuzu scoffed. "Not much. The kid was killed much too early. If given another few years, he would have a much bigger bounty on his head. I guess I can't complain though, I wasn't the one who killed him after all."

"You weren't? Then who?"

"Konan did. It's the kid from the Sand, the one who killed the Third Kazekage."

Sasori. Kakashi remembered Konan advocating for him to join the Akatsuki, and even seemed reluctant when Kakashi told her to kill him off instead. Not that Kakashi expected for her to kill him; the Ame trio was still too soft to do such a thing, so to hear that Konan was the one who assassinated him was a pleasant surprise.

Not only was it a testament to her strength, but also a show of her resolve. One domino in the trio had fallen. The other two wouldn't be too far behind.

"I see. I'm working on another bounty that might interest you. If you want to collect, don't stray too far once you drop off the body."

"How much?"

"Twenty million ryos."

Three years ago, the project to create the next evolution of the Sharingan, the Rinnegan, began. After three years' worth of cultivating his test subjects, experimenting and conducting trials after trials, the project was finally on the brink of success. Although countless bodies had been buried during the process, one survivor remained. Orochimaru held onto hope for his final and remaining test subject.

After all, one survivor was all that he needed to be successful. There had only been one survivor in his project to create another Wood Style user too. Yet while he had been successful that time in infusing Hashirama cells into that young boy, for some unfathomable reason, this girl's body rejected the Senju cells.

Rejected but still didn't die.

It had taken a painstaking amount of time for Orochimaru to force her to unlock all of the tomoes of her Sharingan and then the Mangekyo. The Rinnegan was the final step; one that had his progress at a standstill for over a year. Yet the girl was a fighter, still barely hanging onto the last dredges of life.

If the project was going to be successful, it was going to be her. Orochimaru had no need for more test subjects; they were all bound to die anyway.

Only, Orochimaru needed to figure out how to get her body to accept the Senju cells first.

It had been a slow progress. In the initial stages, when her body was a lot stronger, she rejected the cells completely. Gradually as time passed, her body began to weaken, and she had begun to accept the Senju cells. In hindsight, the healing power of the Senju cells were what kept her alive for so long.

But that's all that it did: heal her.

There must have been something that Orochimaru was missing, perhaps a triggering event to cause the Sharingan to evolve. Orochimaru had already exhausted all of his ideas. Danzo was completely useless when it came to contributing suggestions. Zetsu wasn't able to provide any insight beyond the things he told him when he first approached Orochimaru with a proposition to collaborate.

Orochimaru was on his own. Keeping himself holed up in the hideout all day, seven days a week wasn't going to enlighten him, so Orochimaru made a point to visit his favorite tea shop every Thursday. The quaint tea shop was never too busy in the mornings, the bright lighting and the soft music playing in the background provided a soothing atmosphere for Orochimaru to brainstorm. Others seemed to find the tea shop quite relaxing; a scan around the shop revealed three other civilians reading a book, while two others were writing something in their notebooks. Aside from the five of them, two employees could be seen popping in and out of the kitchen as they restock their pastry selection.

The perfect environment to concentrate, except–

Laughter. The laughter of the three children sitting in the table behind him grated his nerves. The noise was loud and piercing, completely disrupting his concentration. In an indignant fit, Orochimaru raised his head, mouth open and ready to snarl at the children to shut up, but promptly closed it again when he noticed the other patrons were completely unbothered. Instead, his anger transformed into a tightly balled fist on the table.

The children remained blissfully unaware of his annoyance.

Orochimaru would just wait until they left. Children's attention spans didn't last that long, as soon as they finished their tea and dango, they would leave and peace would be restored. All Orochimaru needed to do was contain himself until then—

But that was the hardest part. Orochimaru wasn't a patient man. He had no tolerance for

such annoyances in his life. Yet this tea shop was the place where Orochimaru made all of his major breakthroughs and he had a feeling he was getting close to something…

Too bad that something was disrupted by those children.

The legs of the chair scraped noisily against the wooden floor as the children hopped out of their seats, so carelessly that they almost knocked over their teapot. The tallest of the group, a brown-haired boy dressed in nondescript civilian clothes, walked up to the counter. The other two kids trailed behind him, bounding in excitement. Once at the counter, the two kids took turns tugging at the bottom of the taller boy's shirt, and pointing at the various pastries in the display.

Orochimaru scoffed underneath his breath and turned his head away. Why was he so concerned about what a trio of rag-tagged boys were doing?

His feigned ignorance of their actions didn't last long as a stream of giggles placed his attention back on them again. The two younger boys were carrying two small plates, the black haired one egging on the blond to race back to their seats. The taller one trailed after them, admonishing words at the tip of his tongue.

The black haired child didn't watch where he was going, too focused on looking over his shoulder to see if his friend had caught up to him. Right as it dawned on Orochimaru where the boy's trajectory was carrying him, the boy's shoulder rammed into the leg of the table. The force rocked the table, jolting the teapot and knocking over the tea cup. On instinct, Orochimaru jumped from his seat, hissing as the hot liquid seeped through the fabric of his pants and touched his skin.

The boy looked back and forth between the spilled tea cup and the growing wet spot on Orochimaru's pants.

"I'm sorry!" the boy blurted out. He dove for the napkins on the table, reaching to wipe the tea from Orochimaru's pants. On instinct, Orochimaru recoiled from his touch, but the boy was too busy profusely apologizing to notice. The older boy also joined in to assist, placing a hand on the black haired boy's shoulder to gently maneuver him out of the way. The blonde boy just silently stood off to the side, clutching onto their snacks like his life depended on it.

Orochimaru brushed off the older boy's attempts to wipe the tea stain. "That's enough."

The older boy bowed his head. "I'm sorry, sir. I'll make sure my cousin watches where he's going in the future."

Orochimaru merely grunted as a response. Anything more, all of his previous frustrations would come pouring out.

The two younger boys retreated to their table while the older one lingered behind to clean up the spill on the table. Curious eyes drifted towards the paper scattered on the table; Orochimaru quickly snatched it out of his sight before he could make out anything of importance. The boy ducked his head, ashamed to have been caught looking.

Children were such a nuisance.

With his papers carefully tucked away, Orochimaru threw a couple ryos onto the table before leaving the shop.

Fine. Orochimaru would admit he had been no match for the kids today. Unfortunately with their disruption, he accomplished nothing.

Tomorrow. He would have to come back tomorrow.

In the dim lighting, Orochimaru watched the numbers change every few seconds. For the past hour, the numbers fluctuate within a range of five, plus or minus. So far so good. Her vital signs remained stable.

Orochimaru stood up, clutching a stack of research notes in his hand. Walking over to his filing cabinet, he fiddled with the lock to untangle it from the rest of the chain. Hand slipping into the right pocket, Orochimaru expected to touch warm metal but instead came up with nothing.

Alarmed, he pulled out the inner lining of his pocket.

Still nothing.

Orochimaru searched with equal frenzy in his other pocket and all of the pockets of his flak jacket, flicking open every single clasp. An assortment of scrolls and weapons were scattered over the surface of his lab counter, but no key.

His key was gone.

Had he misplaced it? Or had someone stolen it?

Orochimaru was certain that he left the hideout with the key in his pocket; he remembered retrieving his research notes from the filing cabinet before he left. He went to the tea shop…then lingered around the library in the afternoon, searching for any source of inspiration, stopped by the ramen stall for dinner, and then came back to the hideout.

All throughout the day, he didn't touch his pockets once, so he couldn't have accidentally dropped it. And there had been no one sitting close enough to him to swipe something from his pocket without him noticing except…

The children.

Orochimaru let out a string of colorful curses underneath his breath, enraged that he was bested by a group of children.

If they even were children. They must have had a deeper motive for taking his key than to simply play a prank on him and if that was the case, then…

His thoughts ran wild with all sorts of scenarios of what they were up to and none of them seemed particularly promising. Pacing rapidly around the room, Orochimaru grabbed the nearest bag and began packing his essentials.

Changing hideouts with a test subject was risky, but it was even riskier to stay here knowing that he had likely been compromised. Danzo would help him move the test subject; it wasn't like the Hokage paid attention to anything that the old man did.

Yes. Orochimaru would pack and take what he could with him and leave the rest to Danzo–

A rumbling explosion knocked Orochimaru off of his feet, his hands reaching out to grasp the edge of the lab counter just in time to prevent him from face planting on the floor.

Shit, it was too late. They had come sooner than he anticipated. Unfortunately for them, Orochimaru had predicted that this day would come and long prepared an escape plan. Unfortunately for him, this day had come much sooner than he wanted.

He had been so close to success.

Scrambling to his feet, Orochimaru darted over to the bookshelf at the back of the room. Stretching to reach the backside of the wooden shelf, his finger made contact with a button. The tiled floor swung out underneath him. As Orochimaru fell into the dark abyss, he couldn't help but to sneak one last glance at the girl lying on the cot.

His test subject, one that he had worked on for three years. Leaving her behind would be his greatest regret; Orochimaru could feel how close he was to success.

That was too bad.

Saving himself was more important than a test subject. After all, if he was caught, there would be no one else to carry on his experiments.

Tch, whatever. He could still find a way to kidnap her from Konoha. If he was able to kidnap so many children right under their noses, Orochimaru had no doubt he could accomplish it again.

The shout of "I found her!" was the last thing Orochimaru heard before the tile floor swung shut with a loud thud, drenching him in complete darkness.

Inu stared blankly at the key in Itachi's outstretched hand. "Are you sure that he won't notice it's missing before we find him? Cause if he does and escapes, all of our efforts will be wasted."

Itachi shrugged. "It was the only thing we could get."

Inu nodded. "Alright. I'll do my best to find him as quickly as possible." Snatching the key from Itachi's hold, Inu started walking towards the woods. He tossed a look over his shoulder, "Wait for my news."

Itachi still didn't fully trust him, just like Inu still didn't trust him either. But he nodded anyway because what better choice did he have?

The entrance to Orochimaru's hideout had been right under their nose the entire time. In the archive room of the Konoha Library. The back left corner, triggered by pulling a book on snake species off of the shelf. Shisui and Itachi had spent the last two hours attempting to figure out how to activate the door, failing so many times that they even questioned if Inu had led them to the right place. However, when the bookshelf suddenly swung open to reveal a narrow tunnel, all of their doubts dissipated.

The two of them exchanged a solemn glance. Shisui wordlessly signaled that he would go first. Itachi didn't fight him on it.

The tunnel system was practically a maze. With Inu's nose, finding the proper way wouldn't be a difficult task, but unfortunately as soon as he led them to the archive room, Inu had disappeared. Yamato was also unavailable, pulled away by Danzo for an unexpected

mission. That just left the two of them, the two with the least tracking skills on the team.

That didn't mean they couldn't do it; they were just agonizingly slow. And probably wasted more time than necessary to get on the right path. Even in this tunnel system, Orochimaru was still cautious enough to cover up his tracks.

Just like how he covered up the trails of the missing children.

A true veteran shinobi.

By the time they reached the hideout, Itachi was too impatient to wait anymore. Brushing past his cousin, a quick burst of chakra to the soles of his feet propelled him into the open space. The soles of his feet dug into the tiled floor, slowing down his momentum before Itachi was sent careening into the edge of the lab table. The consistent, but soft beeping noise to his left captured his attention.

Izumi laid utterly still on the cot that was barely wide enough for her body. Multiple tubes extended from her frail, bony arm to connect to the machines – the same ones that informed him that she was still alive. If not for the steady beeping, his first thought would have been to presume her dead.

"I found her!" Itachi shouted, his voice hoarse and raw, mixed in with utter relief that they had made it in time. His shout was followed by a loud thud, like the sound of a door closing. The two cousins exchanged glances; those three seconds were all that were needed for them to know what they were supposed to do.

Shisui dove in the direction of the loud thud, while Itachi hurried over to Izumi's side.

"Izumi?" Itachi whispered quietly. No response. Not even a miniscule of a movement.

His worried eyes soaked in Izumi's state for the first time. Limbs so thin and frail, looking like the slightest mishap would snap her bones in half. Her once tanned complexion from hours of training under the sun was gone, replaced with a sickly white complexion. Full round cheeks now completely sunken in and hollow. Long and always well kept brown locks now reduced to a choppy bob cut, all of its shine long gone.

Itachi's eyes flickered to the screen once more, the steady beep once again reassuring him that Izumi was temporarily okay. And would be okay until Itachi could get her to the hospital–

And suddenly, Itachi was eating all of his words when the steady beeping became rapid and alarming. Itachi jumped backwards just as Izumi's eyes snapped open, bony arm reaching out to grab him.

The Mangekyo Sharingan. A trickle of blood slipped from the corner of her right eye just as Itachi felt flames licking his right cheek. Glancing down, Itachi noticed the tendrils of black flames caught on the shoulder pad of his flak jacket, the flames climbing higher with each second. Without hesitation, Itachi unzipped his flak jacket and tossed it as far away from him as he could.

Izumi didn't stop there. The black flames were spreading everywhere.

And her target? Him.

Itachi rolled underneath the lab table just as another batch of flames appeared in the spot where he had been moments before. Jumping to his feet, Itachi shouted for Shisui. He ducked behind a shelf, using it as a shield as he bought time for his cousin to arrive.

The three tomoes in his Sharingan spun rapidly as Itachi used its predictive abilities to continue avoiding Izumi's attacks, while attempting to make his way closer to her.

"Oh what–!"

"Watch out!" Itachi shouted. Luckily, Shisui reacted just in time to sidestep the black flames that had just appeared next to his feet. Attention now captivated by Shisui, Itachi took the opportunity to sprint to Izumi's bedside. Untying his hitai-ite, he managed to pull the cloth over her eyes right as her eyes swung towards him.

Itachi held on tightly as Izumi's sharp nails clawed viciously at his hands, deep enough to draw blood. By the time Shisui teleported to her bedside, his Mangekyo Sharingan had also been activated as well.

"On my signal, let go of the cloth. I'll need to make direct eye contact with her to force her to shut off her Mangekyo Sharingan."

"Are you sure you'll be able to do that before she creates more of these flames?"

Shisui nodded firmly. "These black flames are called Amaterasu. My left eye also has the ability to create these flames, so worst case scenario, I'll be able to extinguish it as well. Alright Itachi, on my count."

At the end of the countdown, Itachi loosened his hold on hitai-ite. Her hands immediately pulled the cloth away from her eyes, head turning to face Shisui upon hearing him call his name.

Red on red. Mangekyo on Mangekyo. When nothing happened after the first ten seconds, Itachi began to worry that it wasn't working. Only when he saw the pinwheel pattern start to fade from Izumi's eyes did he relax marginally. Within a few seconds, the red completely faded from her eyes and Izumi's eyes rolled over.

Itachi was there to catch her before her back hit the bed.

Shisui let out a sharp exhale. "I can't believe Orochimaru succeeded in forcing her to unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan. Very few of us are able to unlock it under natural circumstances, I can't imagine what she endured to unlock it in a controlled environment…"

"Where's Orochimaru?"

He shook his head. "Gone. Must have escaped before we got here."

Always one step late.

"Itachi, get Izumi out of here and take her to the hospital. After you get her to the hospital, inform the Hokage about what happened here. I'll stay here to extinguish these flames."

Bleary-eyed, Itachi stared at the numbers on the monitor. In the darkness, the red was harsh against his eyes, leading Itachi to turn away despite his constant need to be reassured that Izumi was okay, was still alive, and hadn't fallen into critical condition.

It wasn't his fault that she had gotten kidnapped, but it was his for being too damn slow, for taking so many years before he rescued her.

It was a miracle that Izumi was even alive in the first place.

The doctors didn't tell him anything Itachi hadn't already anticipated: extremely malnourished and likely to suffer from fatigue until her stamina could be rebuilt. In Itachi's mind, those weren't big issues – anything physical could be healed with time.

The worrying issue was her mental instability. Since arriving at the hospital, Izumi remained unconscious the entire time. The doctors informed him that she had fallen into a coma to help her body recover and that it was unknown when Izumi would wake up, if ever. Yet the doctors hadn't seen what Itachi and Shisui witnessed.

There was no telling what would happen when Izumi woke up once again.

Knowing that Izumi's current condition was a ticking time bomb, after leading the Hokage's men to Orochimaru's hideout, Shisui had dropped by to inform Itachi that he was going to figure out a solution before she woke up. While Shisui was out and about, Itachi's task was to stay by her bedside to monitor her, to watch her like she was an enemy.

A sharp noise from behind him jolted him out of his thoughts. In an instant, Itachi hopped to his feet, already poised in a fighting stance with a kunai drawn. Black eyes bled red, the tomoes spinning rapidly. A blur of a figure sped past the window. His Sharingan caught the figure's movement in slow motion, making out his pointer finger pointing upwards.

And then the figure was gone.

Meet on the rooftops?

Sheathing his kunai once more, Itachi walked towards the open window, undoing the lock and pushing open the pane. A strong, cool breeze hit his face, the gust causing the curtains to billow around him. Sticking his head out of the window, Itachi craned his neck upwards.

There the figure was, waiting for him on the ledge of the rooftop.

After tossing a glance over his shoulder to check in on Izumi, Itachi slipped out of the window. With the grace and stealth of an Anbu ninja, Itachi streaked up the side of the hospital. None of the three lit rooms noticed a blur pass by their windows.

Hand grasping on the ledge, Itachi used his upper arm strength to swing himself over the ledge. He landed softly on his feet, less than a meter away from the mysterious figure.

The figure turned, hand reaching to brush off the hood to reveal his face. Even in the dim lighting, Itachi could make out his familiar features.

"Inu. What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to speak with you."

Why him? Since the moment Inu approached them three years ago, any correspondence had always been between Inu and Shisui. Shisui would then relay that information to Itachi. The handful of times Itachi met Inu in person, they always met as a group.

Inu never sought him out alone, so why now?

What did he want?

"If you're here to ask about Orochimaru, he got away. I don't know much beyond that; I have been in the hospital all day."

"I know."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. If he knew, then why was he here? He could get all of the information he needed from Shisui; in fact, Itachi would bet that he already had met up with Shisui before coming here.

"I'm not here to ask about Orochimaru," Inu continued. "I'm sure that you don't need to be reminded that he's not the only one we're after."

Danzo.

"The other is still in the village and has no intention of running. I did some scouting; even though it's obvious that Danzo was involved with Orochimaru's experiments, the higher council is choosing to ignore that and pin the entire blame on Orochimaru. They're gonna let him walk and I refuse to let that happen."

"Why?" Perhaps Itachi had too much faith in the village leadership; from the moment he put on his hitai-ite, he pledged unconditional loyalty to the village without questioning the possibility the leaders would make decisions he didn't agree with. Even when Inu first proposed the idea that Hiruzen was turning a blind eye to Orochimaru's experiments, Itachi didn't quite believe him. In his head, he made all sorts of excuses as to why the Third Hokage stopped looking for the children, as to why Danzo was allowed to establish the Anbu Root Foundation.

They were thinly veiled excuses, but at that point, Itachi was willing to believe in anything to wash away the picture of a corrupted village leadership.

"Maybe affection," Inu suggested. "Many of the members of the higher council are Danzo's comrades from the Second Great Ninja War. I suppose when you have gone through life and death with someone, there are more things that you're willing to tolerate."

"What are you planning to do?"

"Strike tomorrow. Danzo has been summoned to stand before the higher council tomorrow and he will go without his Anbu Root bodyguards to not raise any suspicions. We'll attack after. Tenzo. Me." Inu stared at him intently. "And you."

"And after that? Is your mission done?"

"Of course not. Danzo isn't the only one I'm after."

That ominous statement sent chills down Itachi's spine.

"Who else?" The inquiry came out no louder than a mere whisper, still in shock at Inu's admission. As long as their goals aligned, Inu had proven to be an invaluable ally. But the moment they were pitted on opposite sides, Inu was a formidable enemy.

Itachi had never seen the extent of his abilities. Even if he had, Itachi wasn't confident he would be able to take him on.

Inu's killing intent alone was suffocating enough.

"You'll see," came Inu's clipped response. With that, Inu disappeared in a swirl of leaves. The moment he left, the intensity of the killing intent immediately vanished, like it had been sucked into the void of wherever Inu had disappeared.

With the weight lifted off of him, Itachi doubled over, gasping for air.

A/N: Hi again!

Hope everyone had a great New Year and holidays! :) What are your New Year resolutions?

-MM