Author's Note: Kabuto: >_> Ok then . . . By the way, since Rurouni is mental she has messed up the amount of time Itachi has lost his memory over twice.
Rurouni: Ok, since it's a year later, he can't remember the past . . . four years! Yes, Itachi has lost his memory of the last four years. (Even though he remembers it now . . . ^^;;) Well, thats cleared up now.
Chapter 18: Broken Mask
Tenten looked upwards at the man that was beginning to blur.
*Not now, damn vision! Stay focused!*
The man shifted the blade in his hand, trying to get a better hold. The kunai that Tenten had thrown had hit him in the right arm, but it wasn't to bad of a wound. Once he had got his grip, he drew the sword back and sung it at her head. The blade whistled as it sliced through the air.
*Damn it, I don't want to die. Not like this . . .*
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Gaara walked around the hotel lazily. It was bad enough that the sand had made him and Temari stay at Konoha for awhile to try to make peace between the two villages, but now he had been dragged off on this stupid vacation too.
*Where is she?!*
Gaara mentally howled. After dinner he had quickly become bored, and had begun to look for his roommate.
*She'll have something to do . . .*
After searching all of the hotel, he finally concluded that she must be outside in the village. He then heaved a huge sigh and walked out the glass hotel doors to go find the leaf genin.
*So annoying.*
As Gaara walked, he could here a strange sound coming from the woods. Turning his head in the direction, his nose was tingled with the faint scent of blood. Intrigued by the misplaced, yet familiar scent, he turned and headed towards the woods. As he walked along a worn path, he suddenly noticed three figures in the distance. They were hard to make out at first, but he soon recognized one of them.
*Tenten . . .?*
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A sharp scream from behind stopped the blade's progression. The man turned around only to be splattered with his newly fallen comrade's blood. The other mans corpse was unrecognizable, as it had been torn to pieces. The second man looked to find his comrades assailant, who was partially surrounded by sand, staring at to cadaver of his victim.
"G-Gaara . . ." Tenten spoke weakly. Gaara turned to look at her. The living sound nin quickly turned to finish Tenten. At least he could do that before he died. But his blow aimed at her heart slipped and instead hit her near her collarbone. The sand had already encompassed the sound's body and then quickly destroyed him. Gaara walked over to Tenten, at bit of an accelerated pace. Once he stood above her he knelt down and looked her over. Once he had seen all of her wounds, he said
"Why didn't you just fight them off?!" with slight annoyance in his voice. He waited, and when she only replied with labored breaths he spoke again.
"You ok?" He questioned, with a hint of concern in his emotionless reply.
"Gaara . . . thanks . . ." Tenten breathed before collapsing to the ground unconscious. Gaara looked at her fallen for a bit worried now. He scooped her up in his arms and walked hurriedly back to the hotel.
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Sasuke awoke in a cold sweat. As his surroundings slowly came back into focus, he could feel the full extent of the burning pain searing throughout his body. The sky was dark, and it was obvious that it was night. He groaned as he lifted his head to meet blue eyes hiding behind glass.
"You're finally up I see . . . " Kabuto said as he placed a canteen of water in front of the younger Uchiha's face. Sasuke sat up and gladly emptied the container.
"What are you doing here?" Sasuke questioned quizzically.
"I couldn't just leave you here to die could I?" Kabuto replied, drinking from his own canteen. Sasuke sighed, contented with the former sound's answer.
"How'd you know I was captured?" Sasuke then asked curiously this time.
"I was with your brother when he was captured. He's here too." Kabuto replied. Sasuke wasn’t too surprised at this.
"Is anyone else here?" The raven-haired boy continued.
"Nope. Just you, your brother, and me." Kabuto said muffled, taking in another gulp of the clear liquid.
"That’s good." Sasuke said, looking over in the direction of the sound camp. "So what do you plan to do?"
"Soyako has been keeping a close watch on Itachi, and doesn't seem to trust the sound to well. Most of the time he has his own men on guard. But naturally, Orochimaru began to get worried that they still had an agreement, so tonight Soyako put me on shift to assure Orochimaru that the two groups are still on friendly terms." Kabuto informed.
"So tonight’s our best chance of getting out of here?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes. That's why it's such a good thing you woke up now." Kabuto verified. "The others fell asleep awhile ago, so all we have to do is get Itachi and go. Needless to say though, I've been under suspicion ever since I left for so long without notice or word. I believe Soyako of all people suspects me the most. Orochimaru has been a bit wary, but since I’ve served him so long he's erased most of the incident from his mind. But none-the-less, we're going to have to travel fast, because they're not going to believe my lies for a second time."
"Why did you serve Orochimaru? I know you're originally from another village, but why him?" Sasuke questioned.
"Same reason your brother served Soyako. I to had a Kokudo placed inside me, but unlike Itachi's, Orochimaru could activate it at will, so that if I ever disobeyed him he could control me directly. He seemed to find it easier if I worked of my own free will. But eventually I found it, and that’s why I appeared at the leaf so suddenly without notice." Kabuto stated. Sasuke nodded silently. Kabuto then sat up.
"We should go now. Come on." he said as he motioned Sasuke to follow as he headed towards the camp. Sasuke sighed, stood up, and followed the strange shinobi.
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Shortly after Gaara had reached the hotel, he had found Kakashi and the Jounin had rushed Tenten to the hospital; bringing Gaara along. After a bit of rapid work, the hospital staff had finally managed to stabilize Tenten's condition. Gaara walked into Tenten's room as Kakashi spoke with one of the doctors.
"So, how is she?" Kakashi asked.
"She should be fine now, but the wound in her stomach has ripped some of her organs. She should be fine, but there's still the possibility of death." The doctor replied. Kakashi nodded thoughtfully.
"Thanks." He said as the doctor left to go help with another patient.
Kakashi walked inside Tenten's room to find Gaara staring at her pale form.
"I'm going back to tell the other genin what’s going on. Do you mind staying here until I get back?" Kakashi stated more than asked. Gaara nodded, and soon the door closed as Kakashi left the room, and the hospital. Gaara unstrapped his gourd so that he could sit, and then sat next to the bed, and placed his hands behind his head.
*I shouldn't be worried, but still . . .*
Gaara mentally trailed off as he quietly reflected. What was it about this one girl that made him care about her more? Was it that he spent more time with her? Was it that she allowed him to? Or was it because she accepted him . . . as a person . . . Gaara sighed brushed of his thoughts. He sat alone in the silent room, waiting for the Konoha genin to awake.
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Itachi groaned as Kabuto shook him awake. Having wounds of his own, courtesy of Soyako, waking up wasn't a pleasant experience.
"What?" Itachi grumbled as he sat up, placing his hand on his aching head.
"We have to go. Sasuke's already here." Kabuto said as he looked down upon the broken man. Itachi looked up to meet his younger brothers emotionless eyes.
"Hey Sasuke . . . you ok?" he added.
"Fine. Lets just go." Sasuke replied quickly, looking at Kabuto expectantly. Kabuto turned, ready to leave. Itachi sighed and stood up slowly on his weak legs.
"Alright, lets go." He said as he brushed his hair out of his face. Kabuto nodded and the three of them took off into the night.
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Tayuya groaned as he awoke. He stretched as he stepped outside of his tent. Might as well bother that brat Kabuto.
"What the?!" The two headed blond mumbled as he gapped at the empty shackles that had once held the older of the Uchiha. Kabuto was missing as well.
"Son of a bitch . . ." He cursed as he ran to wake the others.
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