They walked for two more days, wading through the river as to not leave tracks or a scent.
They were getting tired and Miko could feel her health degenerate. Her sides were never looked at besides being washed and some of Shikamaru's herbs. It was getting harder to breath and if this kept up she would order the other two to leave her behind.
She already had a hard enough time opening her senses with all her energy being sapped away by her wounds.
All she sensed was wildlife and old chakra paths from ninja who traveled through here from more than a month ago. Granted, this was far away from where they had landed, but eventually, someone would figure out what they were doing and in that case, they needed to be moving as often as possible.
After the deer left, she led the way, using her abilities to make sure the area was clear. Shikamaru knew a lot about navigating forests, due to the Nara forest and Hinata periodically activated her eyes. She led the way, carrying the kunai in front of her.
But it was Miko who sensed them coming first.
At the edge of her senses and closing in rapidly.
"Run! Caves over there!" A crack that was barely enough for a small child to squeeze through. Shika went in first, Hinata second and Miko-
-Didn't go in.
"Miko!" Shikamaru yelled.
"Shut up!" Miko jammed a rock the size of her head a little ways in, almost impossible to remove from the inside and not visible from the outside and turned around.
The signatures were closing in on her, they sensed her flaring out her chakra while looking for hostiles. This was exactly why she didn't want to use her ability, dammit! It was a two way street, a doubled edged sword. It dramatically sapped her of her energy and was almost unreliable now.
But they only knew she was here, not the other two.
Trembling, Miko held the slightly dulled kunai to the main vein in her arm and pressed. A small trickle of blood dripped down her arm and she flared out again to sense them less then a hundred feet away.
50.
20.
And then they were there.
But Miko couldn't tell if they were root or not. They had the same damned masks as the root agents had, nondescript porcelain animals. They skidded to a halt in front of her, masked eyes on her hand holding the kunai dangerously close to a vital point.
"Don't move." She croaked.
They paused, the one on the left trembling as his muscles strained.
"Miko. We are here to take you back to the village. Where are the other two?" Said the man in what he must of thought was a calming voice. He stepped forward and Miko growled, digging it in deeper until a small spurt of blood showered the pebbles at their feet.
"Don't. Move."
The one on the left was wound up like string. They trembled and their fist clenched. Miko's eyes darted around the clearing from behind a waterfall of bangs, taking in one other presence.
"How do I know?" She asked desperately." H-how do I know I can trust y-you? The other people where dressed like you and they hurt us." Her voice cracked.
Miko could tell she dropped a bomb by their surprised stillness.
The one on the left, with his hands up, slowly walked over to her until he was standing right in front of her about five feet away. He knelt down and his right hands slid slowly-as not to startle her-to his mask.
"Clink." He lifted it.
"..."
"...I-Itachi-Nii?"
His face had deep eye bags and his hair was greasy and unwashed.
"Our dream is peace." He said.
Miko threw down the kunai and jumped into his arms, bawling horrendously loudly. She clutched onto him and he broke his ANBU facade even further and drew her closer to him, trembling as he was before.
Unable to form words, she pointed at the otherwise unnoticeable crack.
The ANBU operative she now recognized as Kakashi removed the stone and helped Hinata and Shikamaru out from the crack. A medic-nin hands were lit green as they scanned them.
Miko was still bawling in Itachi's arms, and she felt him lift her onto his hip like he did when she was a toddler. Still unable to speak, she pointed as Shikamaru.
"Danzo! It was Danzo and Oro-orochi- a snake man! They're gonna attack the Uchiha! They kidnapped us!"
Miko passed out.