Sai arrived on the scene first, and then Sakura - fully dressed, thankfully - and Naruto skidded into view, just as an unconscious Itachi was being heaved over a large male's shoulder. A sort of familiar male. Hidan's partner.

Hidan himself dropped from the trees to land beside Kakuzu, grinning. "Fuck yeah!" he cheered, watching the others arrive.

Naruto held Nina carefully, and set her down once he'd stopped moving. Sakura gasped, realizing who Kakuzu held. "Itachi-san!" she cried, taking a step forward.

"If you follow, we'll kill him," Kakuzu threatened, stalling her advance.

She hesitated. Sai had pulled out his scroll again, but he dove to the side as a bomb dropped out of the air and exploded, shattering several trees and scattering enough earth to cloud the area with dust. When it had settled, they were gone.

Sai was assessing the situation. "Where is Shikamaru-san? In the event that our captain is killed or unable to do his duty, captaincy falls to him."

Sakura longed to rescue her comrade, but he was alive, and her duty was to see that her team was taken care of. "I sensed his chakra that way earlier," she said, pointing North.

"Dickless, you and I will walk Hime-sama to that location. Ugly, you go ahead," Sai said.

Sakura ignored the nicknames and obeyed without thought. She was glad she did. When she found Shikamaru, he lay in the middle of a battle-enlarged clearing, staring up at the clouds. He turned his head when she knelt next to him, hands already glowing.

"Hey," he said. "This really hurts."

"It looks like it," she replied, then looked away. "They took Itachi-san."

Shikamaru sighed. "I know." He hesitated, then made a decision. "We can't go after him. We have a priority, and it is Nina-san."

She closed her eyes, unable to answer, and focused instead on the chakra slowly rebuilding his muscles. She vaguely noted the others' arrival, and Naruto standing just behind her. "This will take a while to heal," she mumbled. "But I can do it now."

"How much chakra will it deplete?" That was Sai.

"... about a fourth," she replied after a beat, assessing.

There was no reply to that, so she focused. Carefully, she stalled the bleeding and rebuilt the essential muscles, then the skin. She was about to do the last fifteen minutes' work when someone shook her shoulder.

"Sakura-chan, did you hear him? That's enough. Don't waste anymore chakra."

Sakura reluctantly obliged, opening her eyes. Shikamaru offered her a grateful smile, then turned serious. "As I told Sakura-san, we have a priority. We must take care of the mission first."

Naruto stiffened from where he crouched next to Sakura, but Sai spoke up. "I agree. The mission comes first."

"And what? Leave Itachi to die!" demanded Naruto angrily. "He's the best chance we have of finding Sasuke!"

"That doesn't matter right now, Naruto!" Shikamaru retorted. "You're not even supposed to be here? Do you know the fit the counsel will have when they find out how close you were to Akatsuki? If they weren't preoccupied with Itachi-san, I have no doubt they would have tried to take you!"

The blond flinched, and looked away. "It doesn't matter?" he asked, prompting Shikamaru to curse his bad choice of words. "Sasuke matters more than anything, right Sakura-chan?"

The medic started, and stared at her friend. "Well... I... he..."

"When did you stop caring?" the blond snarled, chakra stirring. "When you started your fucking dance with the devil?"

Sakura flinched. "Itachi-san's not-!" she began, but he cut her off.

"He doesn't matter, but he's our best chance of finding Sasuke, dammit! I'm not about to let him slip through my fingers!" The blond surged to his feet. "With or without you, I'm getting Itachi back!"

xXx

He stepped into the confines of his own home. It was his last stop, his last few kills. His father stood waiting for him in the sitting room. His mother was nowhere in sight.

"Itachi? You're uninjured," the man said, eyes sweeping over his son's body.

"Of course," Itachi replied softly. His face was blank, and eyes devoid of any light or feeling. Even his chest felt numb. The scratch on the palm of his hand - a lucky shot - was barely stinging now. He would be able to completely ignore it in time.

Fugaku's eyes rested on the only speck of blood that had touched his son's clothing. His lips thinned. "It's you."

"Yes." Itachi already held a cool black kunai. It was a special kunai, given to him by Fugaku himself, and made out of a type of metal that absorbed light rather than reflected it. It was made for stealth.

"You are killing us." The accusation was said without feeling, but even so, there was a sense of disbelief to it.

Itachi didn't bat an eyelash, and didn't twitch a muscle. "Yes."

Fugaku and Itachi locked gazes, and that was when Fugaku lost. Itachi jerked his arm back, catching his mother in the stomach. She crumpled too.

Now for Sasuke.

xXx

The Akatsuki stopped for a moment when they figured they were far enough away. Kakuzu dropped to the forest ground with Hidan, but Deidara and Tobi remained in the tree-tops.

"We're going on, un," Deidara declared. His hand idly brushed over his left hip, where his pouch of clay hung, as if subconsciously reassuring himself it was still there.. "Leader assigned us a secondary mission." Beside him, Tobi was sitting on a branch, kicking his feet and humming softly, tunelessly. Perhaps it was a good day.

Kakuzu shrugged. "Get lost," he replied, cast a glance toward Tobi, and darted forward again.

Hidan laid a false trail and then followed.

xXx

Sasuke threw the doors open. Itachi stood in the shadows, unnoticed at first. Mikoto and Fugaku were dying in the middle of the floor. Nearly dead.

A small miscalculation, one that would soon be corrected.

Sasuke's eyes were wide, and he raised them to take in Itachi's shrouded profile. Itachi planned on turning and killing him, just like all the others. When his gaze slanted to the side, and took in that face, he froze for a beat.

This was Sasuke. His little brother. His most treasured person. Sasuke. He couldn't do it. He couldn't kill his little brother. So instead, he turned toward him.

xXx

Shikamaru swore when Naruto took off and scrambled for a plan. It came quickly enough. "Sakura, follow Naruto, keep him alive. Sai, you come with me. We'll be taking Nina to the village and return to back Sakura and Naruto up."

"With Nina-san slowing you down, it's a five hour trip," protested a worried Sakura.

Sai held a hand out to the princess, smiling his borrowed smile. "I'll have to carry her. Shikamaru-taicho, you are well enough to keep up?" he asked, fingers closing around the woman's.

Shikamaru nodded and gave Sakura a strained smile. "See if you can't slow him down, Sakura-san. If we hurry, we can halve our travel time, but that still means we will be gone for a while. Hopefully, the Akatsuki will try to outrun you both. At least until we get there."

"Or lure Naruto into a trap," the kunoichi replied uncharitably, and then sighed. She tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, and then rolled her shoulders to loosen them up. "Alright. Be careful, though."

"You too," the prodigy replied, climbing to his feet. "You gotta finish my arm tonight, eh?" He smiled at her.

She smiled back and went after Naruto.

xXx

He stood outside the village, hours past and miles away. Finally, he'd been forced to stop, and now leaned over, emptying the contents of his stomach. His whole body shook. He'd killed his family, left Sasuke all alone.

He'd killed okaasan! What had she ever done to him?

And Sasuke... what had he been thinking? What if Sasuke never came looking? What if he blocked it all out? Had Itachi been too rough? But no, Sasuke needed to be strong. He needed to be brave, and driven. He needed to come after Itachi, eventually, for what Itachi had done.

Itachi had done the right thing...

But still, he was scared.

xXx

Naruto wasn't a great tracker, but he knew a few things from hanging around Kakashi over the years, and as such, when he finally found a trail, he was elated.

His feet carried him along beside the very faint trail, and his nose picked up the fading scent of Hidan. He was getting close, but the scent was fading quickly, carried away by the wind. His speed increased the further along he went, desperation spurring him on.

Sasuke... This is the best chance I've got to find you, and I'll do anything to keep it! Cerulean eyes narrowed. So, even if it means saving the man you hate with every centimeter of your being, I'll do it, and I'll get you back.

And then the trail ended. The scent was gone as well. Naruto threw his head back and roared with his fury.

xXx

Sakura's eyes widened at the sound her friend had made. "Naruto?" He was starting to lose it! What on Earth was that man thinking? Why go so far? Just because of the reasons he'd stated? Then again, Naruto always had lost his temper too easily when it came to Sasuke...

The kunoichi bit her lip, eyes narrowing in sadness. Sasuke... "We'll get you back," she mumbled, and hurried in the direction Naruto had gone.

xXx

Hidan snickered, glancing back over his shoulder. "Hear that? Fucking music."

"Tch." Kakuzu sped up his step. "He'll fucking eat you for breakfast," he retorted.

"Asswipe."

"If I wasn't holding a dead weight, I'd decapitate you for that."

Hidan sneered and matched Kakuzu's gait. "How far?"

"Two hours, by my reckoning, so hurry your ass up," Kakuzu growled. He cast a glance over his shoulder.

"He took the fucking fake trail," Hidan cackled gleefully, and then added, "Hey, if they catch up, can I fight Tits?"

The money monger snarled and would have thrown a kunai at the other male if they weren't busy with a damn mission. He made a mental note to do so later. "Shut up and hurry up, or I'll leave you behind for Tits to grind your bones to dust."

Hidan's eyes narrowed. "She can do that?" No answer, and cherry eyes widened dramatically. "She can fucking do that?"

Kakuzu carefully hid his smirk, amused at the zealot's panic. Heh. Payback was sweet. Speaking of payback, he got first dibs on any money Itachi was carrying...

xXx

Sakura caught up with Naruto after only a few minutes. He looked pissed, and was apparently trying to find the trail again. "Naruto!"

The blond whirled, took her in and smiled guiltily. "Sakura-chan! … I lost the trail."

She decked him. "You moron! It was fake! Pay attention, would you?" she railed on him.

"Sakura-chaaan," he whined, rubbing his head. "That hurt!"

"You big baby," she growled. "C'mon. We have to save Itachi-san, right?" She smiled at him and jerked her thumb to her left. "That way."

Blue eyes widened. "Wah, really?" He sniffed at the air, and pouted. "No scent, though..."

"Oh, stop paying attention to your nose and pay attention to your sense of chakra, moron," Sakura retorted, annoyed. "Their chakra - and Itachi's - is heading in that direction."

Naruto's brows furrowed, and he hemmed and hawed for a moment, before nodding. "Sakura-chan, you're right. C'mon! We've gotta get him back."

The kunoichi smiled and nodded. "Yeah!"

Naruto abruptly darted off in that direction, following his sense of chakra as Sakura had instructed, and she had to struggle to keep up. When had the blond gotten so fast? "Naruto, don't slow down on my account," she said half sarcastically, then added, "Just go! I'll catch up, okay?"

He cast her a worried look, nodded and darted off. Damn, but that boy was fast! Was it the Kyuubi's influence, she wondered. It must be. No normal human was so fast... She bit her lip as she realized that she'd directly disobeyed Shikamaru's orders. 'Slow him down'... But... Sasuke-kun...

And, on the tail end of that thought, Itachi-san.

xXx

"Shit," Hidan swore, glancing over his shoulder. "Did the jinchurriki's speed just fucking double, or am I crazy?"

"Both," Kakuzu retorted. "C'mon. We don't have the time to waste on this potential battle. We have to lose him."

"Ain't gonna fucking happen," Hidan replied, bending slightly and dropping to the ground for speed. He was barely careful enough to not leave a trail, not that it mattered at this point. Uzumaki had their scent, figuratively, and wasn't about to give up.

Hidan had to admire his determination. Maybe he'd keep his head. For decoration... and oooh, he could put it over Deidara's bed in the nearest hide-out! Oohh, that pyro would be pissed, but it'd be awesome.

"Stop giggling and move your ass!" Kakuzu snapped, glaring daggers at his partner. What the hell was that zealot thinking about now?

"I ain't giggling, bitch!" Hidan retorted. "And didn't I fucking tell you it ain't gonna-"

And a wordless scream announced their pursuer's arrival.

xXx

Sakura ducked underneath a branch leaning into her path, and grabbed it to toss herself forward. Naruto was so far ahead of her, it wasn't even funny. He had almost reached Itachi and the others, and here she was, slowly inching her way along. Well, that was a slight exaggeration, but still!

Luckily, it seemed that two of the Akatsuki had split off from the others - to where, she didn't know, but neither were around - so she and Naruto would only be dealing with the two. And she planned on giving Hidan a story to tell...

Growling softly, she tried speeding up. It wasn't much. She was going as fast as she could. But she was getting closer. Naruto had reached the others, and she was maybe five minutes behind them... but... what was that?

There you go, sorry it's so short, but I promise the next chapter will be back to usual length. It was important that I cut it off here... for cliffhanger purposes of course. XDD

R&R! Thanks very much for reading, and as always, thanks to azhwi for beta'ing this for me. I less than three you, az!