Chapter 37
The bed was ridiculously comfy, add in the pyjamas and Kakashi never wanted to leave his newly found nest. Mr. Kidnapper had left him to do business, but Kakashi didn't want to get up. He was enjoying snoozing. He was buried in blankets, and surprisingly his old, green yukata that Mr. Kidnapper had previously dressed him in was here too, smelling of his scent, without the softness that came from the baby. Kakashi had his head snuggled into it, breathing in a scent he hadn't taken in what felt like years.
He used to kick people's asses in that scent, or at least shove his fingers up their asses to traumatise them. Now he rarely got to do that. Sure, there were those bandits during his training with Sasuke, but he still had to be careful he didn't take any hits!
He missed being able to just beat up people without worrying about himself.
"This bed is the best trap ever..." Kakashi grumbled.
It took him a while to muster the will to sit up. He made the mistake of looking at his pillow and found himself wanting to lie back down, but no. He grabbed his nightgown and slipped it on and put his feet in the padded slippers.
He was being spoilt.
Okay, first things first, he needed to investigate. Mr. Kidnapper was obviously a close advisor to the Damiyo of the Land of Water, considering he had his own wing of the castle that belonged to him. The guards knew Kakashi was here, and possibly that Kakashi was pregnant and restrained by a chakra suppressor.
Okay, yes, he had never tried to escape anywhere while being pregnant before, but this wasn't the worst situation. Not by far. Right now he'll look into all the rooms and see if there were any clues that might lead him to an escape strategy, then afterwards he'd find out where food was.
He was in the mood for pancakes.
.::.
"Sasuke, calm down a minute!" Shikamaru ordered. "There are plenty of blonde kids and old men around here. We need to take some time and search."
"We'll need to search door to door-" Sasuke began, already marching for the first inn.
Shikamaru grabbed him. "They could have went to rest anywhere, besides they might not even be in this village. They could have went even further out."
"Then what do we do? We have to find them. I have to find Izumi-" Sasuke snapped. "I can't just stand here and do nothing! Izumi could be dead and he could be killing Naruto right now and I can't stop him-"
"So somebody said Itachi Uchiha is here and you believed them?" Ino frowned. "How do you know they weren't lying?"
"Why would they lie about something like that!" Sasuke bristled.
"I don't know, but I don't understand why Itachi Uchiha would be after Naruto of all people-"
Sasuke shook his head. "I don't know, but we can't just stand here chatting about it!"
Shikamaru caught Sasuke with his shadow when he tried to sprint off. "Yeah, Itachi could be with Naruto right now, and what are you going to do about it when you're panicking so much? You need to calm down-"
"How can I be calm in a situation like this? I need to kill him and fast-"
"As if anyone here could. Stop freaking out and let me think a minute." Shikamaru eyed Choji. "Choji, can you scout the road leading out of here? Check the tracks, see if they look fresh."
"I'm not a very good tracker, Shikamaru..." Choji whined.
"Then ask people at the road leading out." Shikamaru frowned. "Sasuke, we're going to check the inns together. We're not splitting up. Choji can meet us when he's done asking around."
"No need to search the inns."
Shikamaru flinched, releasing Sasuke automatically from his shadow. Sasuke's shoulders, the tension in them, finally eased and he spun on his heel to face Izumi who approached them with a smile. Izumi reached out and brushed Sasuke's hair back tenderly.
"What are you doing here?" she asked softly.
"You weren't back home. I thought Itachi had killed you-" Sasuke shivered. "But you're okay. Good. Now we have to help Naruto-"
"Easy, easy." Izumi raised her hands. "I've already seen to Naruto. Jiraiya of the Sanin is with him. That's as safe as anyone could get."
Sasuke breathed out shakily. "Then Itachi can't... He can't hurt him?"
Ino smiled. "That's great news, right, Sasuke?"
"Nah he can't get Naruto, not unless he wants Jiraiya to kick his ass." Izumi grinned.
Shikamaru frowned. Why was Izumi so easy-going about all this? This was her murderous mate. Shouldn't she be just as stressed as Sasuke? She could be acting to try calm Sasuke down, but there should be something nervous about her right? She was a jonin though. Izumi would know how to act differently. But when he met Sakura's gaze she had a distant look in her eyes. Like she was trying to figure something out.
Sasuke took a few more deep breaths, finally easing up. Izumi ruffled his hair. "C'mon, I'll lead you to them and you can see yourself that Naruto is okay, yeah?"
"That would be good..." Sasuke smiled, a surprisingly shy smile. "But, uh, don't tell Naruto that I was worried, alright?"
Choji laughed. "Trying to show your mate that you're tough?"
Sasuke flushed. "I'll never hear the end of it if I was acting concerned over him."
"You two really are growing up," Choji laughed. "First a date, now showing concern over each other? Nice to see considering you two already kissed."
"Kisses and dates?" Izumi teased. "You really are growing up fast."
"The kisses were accidents and it wasn't a date. Naruto just offered to treat me to breakfast, and he didn't even manage to pay for it! He forgot the free ramen tickets he had," Sasuke complained.
"Kisses?" Choji blinked.
"Urgh..." Sasuke groaned. "It happened again..."
Ino and Sakura bristled, but Shikamaru dismissed their anger. There was no way he was getting involved in that.
.::.
Izumi searched for Itachi, tried to smell him out, but he must have blocked his scent off with suppressors. Why the hell hadn't he done that earlier? Was it to lure her out, or was it to lure out Sasuke? He said he wasn't after Sasuke, so maybe he was after her? But why would he need her after all this time? Maybe Sasuke was right. Maybe Itachi wanted to kill her, to try prove himself that he could handle the world without his mate. That he could kill his mate and get away with it. Izumi wouldn't let that happen. But no, he had said about the Fourth's legacy. What the fuck was his legacy?
Was it Naruto? Naruto wasn't exactly his legacy but the Fourth had sealed the fox into him. Maybe that was what Itachi meant? But that wasn't worldwide knowledge, that was Konoha knowledge.
Itachi was of Konoha though, like it or not.
"Izumi!"
She startled and turned around. Sasuke was rushing her way, panting once he reached her side. Izumi froze, then cursed. "Sasuke, what are you doing here?" she asked.
"As soon as I heard Itachi was back I came to find you!" he snapped. "You went after him on your own. How could you-"
"You're the one who came here without any back up."
"It was faster without having anyone slowing me down. Now, where is Naruto? I was told Itachi was after him-"
"Naruto's here?" Izumi frowned.
"Yeah, with a Sanin."
"Well, he should be safe then," Izumi mused. "That's good news, hopefully that means Itachi and the shark guy can be taken down."
"Shark guy?" Sasuke blinked.
"Don't look me like that." Izumi shrugged. "Not my fault he's a shark guy."
"I didn't say it was." Sasuke jerked his head. "C'mon, let's at least go warn Naruto. I don't want him being taken off guard."
Izumi walked by his side as they searched from inn to inn, asking where Naruto was. Sasuke grew more and more frustrated as they went. Adorable.
"So, how did breakfast go with Naruto this morning?" she asked. "Enjoy your date?"
"Eh? Fine I suppose." Sasuke frowned.
"You actually went with him?" Izumi blinked. "I'm surprised, I thought he would have taken you out to ramen."
"He did. It was fine enough."
Sasuke would never have let her call an outing a date. Not in a million years. And now that she got a closer look at his neck, she could see there was a problem. There was no curse mark safely locked away by Kakashi's seal. Izumi's heart dropped as she felt it.
This was a genjutsu.
Itachi didn't know about the curse mark yet.
"You're not Sasuke." Izumi startled. "I'm under a genjutsu. Fuck!"
She quickly broke free of it, and found herself close to the outskirts of the village. Izumi cursed and whirled round, racing back into the village.
.::.
"Sasuke," Sakura called him back. "Something feels odd..."
Sasuke frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know... I just feel off?"
"Are you sick or something?" Sasuke scowled. "Because unless throwing up fazes two missing ninja I don't think you'll be much help."
Shikamaru's shadow darted out, but Izumi dodged it easily. Choji and Sakura immediately got into a defensive stance, while Sasuke froze up, startled.
"What the hell, Shikamaru?" Ino complained.
"Sasuke, get the hell away from her." Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "That's not Izumi. We're all under a genjutsu."
"What?" Izumi scoffed. "Someone's paranoid."
"I know because the real Izumi wouldn't lead us in confusing circles, trying to daze us and take us out of town, and even if she was, she wouldn't hide things from Sasuke." Shikamaru scowled. "She never avoids giving Sasuke information, those two know pretty much everything about each other."
Izumi smirked. "Clever boy."
Sasuke stepped back up next to Shikamaru, scowling. "Then who the hell is this?"
"Nobody? Someone else under a genjutsu? I suppose we won't know until we break it, Shikamaru sighed. "We must have been close to wherever Naruto was, but that means..."
Sasuke stiffened. "Itachi was close by too."
"Yeah, and he put us all under a genjutsu without any of us realising it." Shikamaru gritted his teeth. "This is bad."
"Just stay here," Izumi said, arms wide. "C'mon, Sasuke. We can't beat Itachi. You're a pup, and I'm his mate. He'll kill me, but you? You're so weak."
Sasuke froze. Sakura snarled, but Shikamaru snorted.
"Stay in the genjutsu with you?" Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "Give us a break. You'd say anything to mess with us right now. And if Sasuke's weak then we're all screwed."
"I'll try break us out, but this genjutsu is making my head foggy..." Sakura admitted, shifting through hand seals.
"You think you can break Itachi Uchiha's genjustu?" Izumi chuckled, a dark, nasty chuckle. "How adorable. You're just a scared little girl, Sakura. Nobody will ever value you. You have no skills."
Damn this sucked. Shikamaru didn't know if this was deliberately being done by Itachi, pulling out their deepest fears and weaknesses, or if this was a part of Izumi's personality, a very nastier part of it. If so, that sucked. A lot. Tears gathered in Sakura's eyes, but she still kept going. Still trying to break them free.
"And you, Shikamaru, are you ready yet?" Izumi crowed. "You'll be pumping out babies soon if Danzo has his way." Izumi smirked. "You're just lucky the other Elders aren't around anymore."
Shikamaru felt vomit rise up his throat, strangling him.
"Those Alphas nearly got a hold of you." Choji stiffened when Izumi said that. "If Asuma hadn't saved you-"
"What is she talking about?" Choji whispered.
Izumi smiled. "You, Choji. You're a failure."
Shikamaru snarled. "Like hell!"
"Shikamaru tried to help Naruto while you and Ino slept during the Third Hokage's assassination," Izumi singsonged. "Shikamaru held back nine Alphas, was it? Once his shadow possession ran out though, they were going to rape and murder him."
Ino and Choji paled. Choji trembled, and Shikamaro felt him grab his wrist. "Shikamaru, t-that didn't happen, r-right?"
Ino trembled. "A-Asuma sensei had to save you?"
Shikamaru gritted his teeth and lowered his voice. "I'm fine. We're fine. But if we don't give Sakura time to get us out this genjutsu we're screwed."
Sasuke's eyes sharpened. "Yeah," he whispered back. "We need to keep 'Izumi' distracted."
Sakura was sweating, but her hands still shifted through hand seals. She fumbled several times, took a deep breath, and had to start over. She was the only one who could break them out of this. She had to.
"Maybe I should show you kids what true strength is." Izumi unsheathed her sword. "How about it? A little stab here, a little cutting there. Not so bad, is it? Just like what Itachi did to our entire family, Sasuke."
Sasuke shivered and stepped back. "I-Izumi..."
A deadly wave of murderous intent crawled out from Izumi. Sakura gritted her teeth, still struggling to release them. Her chest was heaving, sweat was pouring down her brow, but she still kept going.
Sasuke gritted his teeth and braced himself. "Damn you, Itachi! Leave Izumi out of this. Don't change her personality just to mess with us! You want a fight? I'm here, I'm willing to fight, but stop dragging Izumi into this. She deserves better!"
"Is that your final words?" Izumi crowed. "How adorable."
She slashed her sword. Shikamaru froze. They were going to get cut apart. They were going to die-
"Release!"
They all found themselves heading towards the outskirts of the village. Izumi disappeared, flickering away, much to Shikamaru's relief. They hadn't just been following some random stranger about then. Sasuke shook and pressed himself against a fence lining the pathway, breathing heavily. Shikamaru groaned and collapsed on the ground. Sakura landed on her knees, panting, while Ino steadied her. They were all shaking and pale.
"That was a nightmare!" Shikamaru complained.
"Yeah," Sasuke grunted, his shaking had eased, but he was still breathing heavily.
"Who knew Izumi could be that scary." Shikamaru shook his head. "Bloody hell. She's always so easy going."
"You obviously haven't seen her in a bad mood," Sasuke said, forcing himself back up. "We need to go. Naruto's in trouble."
He turned to leave, but paused, eyeing Sakura. "Thanks for getting us out." He nodded at her, and sprinted off back into the heart of the village.
Sakura flushed, but Shikamaru ignored her. He groaned and rushed after Sasuke. Choji followed after him and Sasuke, leaving the girls behind. Ino holding Sakura up, while Sakura stared at them in a daze. Shikamaru grimaced. Sakura probably used up a lot of chakra to release all of them from that genjutsu. She'd need to rest for a bit.
"Sasuke, slow down!" Shikamaru yelled.
"We don't know how much time has passed. Itachi could have Naruto, he could have killed Izumi or she could be bleeding out and I don't want to be alone!" Sasuke yelled, a wild, desperate look on his face.
Shikamaru could barely keep up. But that was fine, he had Sasuke's scent well in hand by now, the distress and anger stank up wherever Sasuke went after all. What had Shikamaru more curious was the fact they had all been placed under a genjutsu when somebody like Itachi could have slaughtered them. Was Itachi Uchiha just messing with them? Did he just want to torture Sasuke even more? Damn, it was way too complicated!
