A/N: *falls onto knees, sobbing* I'm so sorry, people! Well, we got out computer back (yay for that one!), but then school started, and I've pretty much been doing nothing but homework, studying, and reading (for school) *sigh* Well, that's no excuse, but still! I'm sorry!

By the way! I'm looking for someone to beta my stories, so if any of you readers want to, or know someone who might, please tell me!

REVIEW APPRECIATION TIME! (you guys are the absolute BEST and the ones that keep me going! *glomps*):

ShortSarcasm

xXLoveXxXIsXxXDeadly

Yuti-Chan

SweetIcecream

The reviewee is very greatful! (Great, now I'm turning into Tobi, talking in 3rd person… But Tobi is pretty awesome… Hmm…)

Oh, and not to forget everyone who put me on their Alerts/Favorites List! Thankies! *hands everyone who reviewed/favorited/subscribed cookies, brownies, ice cream, and popsicles*

And now for the disclaimer… I. Do. Not. Own. Naruto. I only own my original characters and plot.

Again, sorry, but read and forgive? Updates will probably take longer due to school, because the only time I'll have to write is on the weekends…But I'll try! So…here you are! Read and review! Please? I'll shut up now…

Ch. 8: Frustration

Konan, Deidara, Kisame, Itachi, Hiroki, Miyako, and I were sprinting as fast as we possibly could across the gently sloping and ever-changing sand dunes towards the mass of buildings in the distance, otherwise known as Sunagakure. Too far, too long… Run! Hurry up, you useless chunks of flesh! I screamed inwardly at my legs, which were burning terribly in protest at running so hard, especially after having only a few hours rest after yesterday's exhaustingly intense training session.

My breaths came in short gasps and sweat ran down my body in rivers, a result of both physical exertion and overheating from the arid desert conditions. I struggled to keep up with the others, who all wore equal expressions of determination, anger, and desperation.

I felt frustration well up inside me, surfacing like a great wave and flooding my conscious. We had to get to Suna in time. There was no other option. We couldn't allow Gaara to be captured by the Akatsuki. Despite my fervent thoughts, I had a sinking feeling in my gut, and no matter how hard I pushed it away, one thought continually wormed its way into my head: You're too late. They've already begun fighting; you can sense their chakra. And you'd know one of those chakras anywhere. Sasori of the Red Sand and Gaara, the Godaime Kazekage, are fighting at this very moment. And you know, even if you won't admit it, that Gaara's chances of winning are—

I shut out the thought, refusing to listen any longer. I looked up and saw that we had halved the distance to Suna, but we were still too far. Too far… I could sense their chakra much more clearly than when I had woken up almost an hour ago. Then, I could only sense two indistinct shinobi fighting. Itachi, Konan, Deidara, and Kisame had noticed as well, and we set off immediately, fearing the worst. Our fears were confirmed as we realized the Akatsuki had beaten us: they had already reached Gaara.

Kisame snapped suddenly and yelled to no one in particular, "Dammit! How could this have happened! How could that bastard slip past our fingers like that?"

Konan shook her head. "No… We should have been faster, we should have sensed him, and we should have been more prepared… I…underestimated both their skill and their audacity…"

Deidara cursed quietly. "There's nothing to do about it now… But… Argh! I'm going to kill him!"

Itachi "Hn"d his assent. Even though he said nothing more on the matter, I could feel the anger rolling off of him in waves. I looked over at him as we ran and saw that he had activated his Sharingan. Shivers ran down my spine, both from my experience/memory induced fear of that legendary kekkai genkai and the sheer killing intent that radiated from his red orbs.

Hiroki stayed silent and I turned my head to face the great city in front of us, growing larger and larger with every passing second. My heartbeat pounded in my ears in time with my footsteps, and another minute passed.

Suddenly, I felt one of the chakras, which had been steadily decreasing, almost disappear, and the other chakra started moving away from the village at a rapid pace. I glanced at the others, who nodded at each other, and we veered away from our current direction to follow the chakra, which was unmistakably Sasori's.

We steadily drew closer to him, and I could sense him fighting someone else. Dammit… We're too late, I though as I felt the other person's chakra dwindle away as well.

Soon, we reached the site where Sasori had been just a moment ago, but said man was nowhere to be found. I cursed silently as I was unable to detect any trace of his chakra and instead focused on the black-clad shinobi before me. Konan approached as well and kneeled down to check his pulse. "This isn't good… It looks like he's been poisoned, no doubt by Sasori. He won't last long like this; we need to get some help for him."She and I looked up and saw a team of ninja approaching.

They came to a stop before us, and Deidara called out, "Wait a second! Before you guys start freaking out, you should know that your man's gonna die if he doesn't get some help, and quickly, hmm. We're on your side, yeah!"

They still looked highly suspicious, but nodded all the same in acceptance of our offer. Kisame knelt to pick him up, and with one final look in our direction, the shinobi before us turned around and headed in the direction of Suna, our group following close behind.

It took a few hours to arrive back at Sunagakure, and when we did, the team of shinobi quickly rushed into an operating room, where Kisame laid the injured shinobi on a table. Medic-nin rushed about and a flurry of activity ensued. One of them frantically motioned for us to back off, and when we did, a man with a white cloth covering half his face approached us. "I'm sure you can understand, but the village is in a very chaotic situation right now, and I, along with many others, are curious as to why you seven happened to be coming to Suna with apparent knowledge of what was going to happen, as well as the fact that you were at the site where Kankuro was found. Not to mention the fact that several of you," he glanced at each of us for a moment, "are listed as missing-nin. I don't care what you say, but his all looks very suspicious."

Konan sighed and suggested, "We will answer all of your questions, but perhaps here isn't the best place to be discussing these things." The man acquiesced and led us into a large chamber which held a long, wooden table and over a dozen chairs. Hiroki looked around with surprise as Miyako sniffed around. He gave me a nudge as Konan motioned for me to begin talking. "Well, you see…"

The man named Baki nodded, processing all of the information we'd just thrown at him. Turning to me, he began, "So you're a Jinchuriki…" I nodded. "…And you joined up with these ex-Akatsuki members to try and stop the rest of the Akatsuki from capturing the Bijuu. This is… unexpected to say the least."

Deidara then said, "There's something else you should know, hmm. The man that took you Kazekage—well I guess he can't really be described as a man, but whatever—is Sasori of the Red Sand." From the look of shock on Baki's face, I could tell he recognized the name. "Yeah, he came from your village, and as I'm sure you already know, he's a master puppeteer. Also, he excels in poison making, antidotes for which only he has, and that's most likely what your ninja back there is suffering from, hmm. I'd give him three days before—"

Baki shook his head once, before yelling, "No! Kankuro will live, no matter what you say." Turning around, he began walking away. "I have to go find someone… Talk to one of my assistants to find out where you'll be staying… And…" He paused, tilting his head slightly. "I may still not trust you fully—I would be a fool to do so, but… Thank you, nonetheless, for the help you have provided. I have a feeling that you wish to stop the Akatsuki as much as we do…at least, I hope you do." With that, he walked away down the corridor, quickly disappearing from sight.

Kisame sighed and looked around. "So that's it? After all our trouble, I was really hoping to get to fight someone…"

Hiroki laughed at the shark-man's remark and said, "Well, I guess it's a good thing, not getting very much sleep last night… I'm exhausted." He then yawned to prove his point.

Deidara went off to figure out where we would be staying for the night, Konan paused to think for a moment. "Sasori must be heading towards one of the hideouts, in order to extract the Ichibi, right? Itachi, wasn't there was one nearby?"

"Hn…Yes, I believe it was by a river about a day or two's journey away from here."

"That's good…" Kisame grinned, showing his pointed teeth. "We'll take care of business here, and then we'll head out… This should be good."

I then gave voice to one of the worries I'd been harboring since we set out this morning. "Still, Sasori was the only one who came… Should we expect more of the Akatsuki to be nearby and prepare to fight them?"

Konan pursed her lips and said, "It would be wise to prepare for any possibilities, but I do agree with you: it's suspicious that only Sasori came… For now, though, we should concentrate on regaining our strength."Her words earned nods of assent from the rest of the group, and a bark from Miyako. Hiroki bent down to scratch behind the ninken's ears as Deidara returned with directions to our lodgings. The rooms that we would be staying in were adjacent to each other, a few minutes away from where we had been previously. Itachi and Kisame took the leftmost one, Deidara, Hiroki, and Miyako in the middle, and Konan and I on the right.

I stepped into the spacious room, which had two medium-sized beds, and flopped down on the nearest one, not bothering to take off my gear. I heard Konan laugh slightly as I inhaled the fresh linens, feeling my eyelids close, weighed down like a ton of bricks, before sleep finally pulled me into its dark arms.

I woke up to bright morning sunlight as I moaned gently, stretching out stiff arms and legs. Opening my eyes fully, I saw Konan across the room, sitting on the other bed and making final adjustments to her outfit. She looked up as I groaned again, not wanting to get up, and chuckled. "You're a really heavy sleeper, you know that? I think at one point I tried yelling at you to wake up, but you just kept on sleeping…" Quiet chuckles erupted into full-blown laughs as I grumbled murderously and threw a deadly projectile (a pillow, in this case) at her madly cackling form. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up in my bed and cracked my neck, still groaning at the soreness of my body. Getting up, I walked slowly into the bathroom and winced at my appearance. Messy black hair stood up in all directions and the circles under my eyes stood out against my pale skin.

"Kami… I look like hell…" With a defeated sigh, I began repeatedly splashing handfuls of water on my face and brushing out my hair before pulling it up into a messy ponytail.

Konan appeared beside me and grinned. "You got that right." I glared at her reflection and she rolled her eyes in response. "Geez, calm down! You look fine!" At her last remark, she looked like she wanted to say something else, but settled for a smirk instead. I cocked an eyebrow at her but decided to let it go. After fixing up my clothes and giving myself one last once-over in the mirror to make sure I was halfway decent, I motioned for Konan to lead the way out of our room.

As I stepped outside onto the street, I was greeted by the rest of the group, all of whom looked tired, bored, and fed-up with waiting. I grinned sheepishly and waved with a timid, "Ohayo…"

Kisame responded by glaring at me. "How much sleep do you need, woman?"

Hiroki rolled his eyes as Miyako ran up to me, nearly tackling me as she tried to lick my face. "Still the same as always, I see, eh, Ayano? I remember one time you just wouldn't wake up, even when we dumped you out of your bed, out the window, and into the yard. My mom was worried you were dead or something and Chihiro—" said, "Don't worry 'bout it. If you really want to wake her up, dump a bucket of water on her head, I finished in my head with a sad sense of humor. He stopped abruptly, looking concerned.

I waved it off with a smile, shaking my head slightly. "No worries, Hiroki… Come on, everyone… We should get going. I took off towards the biggest building in Sunagakure, where we had been yesterday. I heard the others begin walking as well, and someone came up to walk beside me. I glanced to the side and noticed, with considerable surprise, that it was Itachi. He said nothing, but after a couple seconds, he glanced to the side and nodded almost imperceptibly. I grinned and continued walking, my thoughts much brighter as we neared what I assumed was the Kazekage's office.

We were greeted at the entrance by a Sand shinobi, and he led us to the operating room where the man we had found the previous day lay on a bed. His purple face-paint had been removed, as well as his black hood, revealing messy brown hair. His eyes were closed and his breathing was labored. Then, I noticed an elderly, wrinkled, and lavender-haired woman tinkering with various glass vials and scrolls, producing different results with each concoction. When we entered, she looked up. "Who are these people? Don't tell me you've brought in more outside help! Nothing good ever comes from relying on others…"

The man whose face was half covered, Baki, replied with a sort of forced patience to the woman. "Chiyo-sama, they have valuable intel on the Akatsuki and are quite a skilled group of shinobi."

She examined each of us, sizing us up, one by one. I allowed myself a small grin as I imagined what our motley little crew must look like. Kisame, with his blue skin, gills, and shark teeth, was grinning in an animalistic fashion. Itachi gazed upon the scene before him with emotionless, onyx eyes as Deidara shifted restlessly, clearly eager to chase down Sasori and the rest of the Akatsuki. Konan stood calmly on my right, but we had a mutual understanding of each others' anxiety. Hiroki was to my left, and he looked a little… lost. Well, not lost, but more like he didn't quite know what do to, a feeling I could identify with. I felt kind of bad, dragging him into this, but he seemed genuinely eager to help. Miyako was her usual happy, carefree self, laying on the floor beside her master and panting.

With one last distasteful glance at Miyako, she spoke. "I do hope you don't expect me to trust you. This matter is of the utmost importance: our Kazekage has been kidnapped and his brother is in critical condition. Now why don't you make yourselves useful by helping our shinobi repair any damages to the village? And please take your dog with you. This is supposed to be a sanitary environment, ne?"

Kisame, with an annoyed look at the old woman, said, "You do realize that they've already started using the Nine Phantom Dragons Sealing Jutsu to extract the Ichibi, right? And that in three or four days, your Kazekage will be dead? Admittedly, they'll be slowed down by the lack of members, but is this really the time to be delaying action?"

The lavender-haired woman glared at him, and Baki took this as a sign to leave, motioning for the rest of us to follow. Hiroki looked like he wanted to say something to Chiyo about her dog remark, but wisely kept his mouth shut. I sent him a grateful look as we exited the room, following Baki. Once Deidara closed the door behind him, Baki sighed. "My apologies for Chiyo-sama. As you can see, she doesn't look kindly upon our village relying on outside help, but…it this case, it is necessary. Now, judging from your previous membership in the Akatsuki, I assume that the majority of your relationships with your respective villages are…tedious, to say the least. A team from Konoha should be here tomorrow, and I think it would be best for all of you if you would work alongside them to reduce, however slightly, any distrust. This is going to be a hazardous situation, to say the least, especially for you, Uchiha Itachi." He gave a pointed look to Itachi, who stiffened ever so slightly. What…? I understand that all of the members of the Akatsuki were labeled as rogue ninjas by their villages, dangerous shinobi who must be eliminated… But why would he mention Itachi in particular?

Turning to me, Baki said, "As for you, Kiyomizu-san, it would be best if the Konoha shinobi were informed of your status as the Dragon Juubi Jinchuriki, as well as all the details surrounding that subject. And about helping clean up the damage from Sasori's attack, there isn't much left to be done, so I would suggest you prepare yourselves for the coming days. Any information you could provide our shinobi would be greatly appreciated."

With that, Baki left us, and I stood staring at the space his body had occupied just a moment ago. "What the hell? Kami… So we just have to sit around, waiting for another day? This sucks!" Everyone else nodded their agreement. Remembering what Baki had said, I glanced at Itachi for a moment. Almost as if he felt my gaze, he turned and met my eyes with his onyx orbs. He said nothing, and I had the distinct feeling that he would not answer the plethora of questions running circles in my mind, no matter how hard I pressed him. With an irritated sigh, I turned around to follow Konan, who had started walking out of the building.

"Well, we might as well go talk to the village's shinobi. We can build trust and share information, though I'm not so sure about the trust part just yet…" I trained my gaze on the back of her glossy, blue hair for lack of a better place to look while momentarily spacing-out. This was beginning to get very irritating. First, why was that woman so pissed off at us?

"Doesn't like outside help…" I muttered to myself as we walked through the stifling hot village. "Give me a break…" I, for one, was under the impression that villages cared for their respective Kage a lot more than this. So why? Why stop a group of random ninjas from running off to fight an enemy against whom you have no chance? Was she thatCrazy old bat…

The sun was at his peak, resulting in my newfound hate for the desert rising even more. Why do people subject themselves to this? Who in their right mind would voluntarily live in a boiling-hot, dry, sandy, windy hell like this? Not to mention wearing a black, full-body suit, I thought, remembering the strange gear the poisoned Suna shinobi had been wearing. Baka…

I was jolted from my thoughts as I ran into Kisame's rock-hard back, at first thinking I had hit a wall. Well, he might as well be one with his height and muscles... Moving slightly to peer around the large shark-man, I saw we were standing before a decent-sized group of shinobi whose expressions ranged anywhere from surprised, distrust, or hate. Konan addressed them first, fearless woman that she is. "Hello there, everyone. My name is Konan, and this is Kisame, Deidara, Itachi, Ayano, Hiroki, and Miyako. We're here to tell you everything that you'll need to know when dealing with the Akatsuki, which, hopefully, none of you will have to. The first thing you need to know is…" I tuned her out then, becoming absorbed in my thoughts once more. Wow… I never really gave it too much thought, but I wonder how Konan, or Itachi, Deidara, and Kisame, for that matter, are feeling about this. They said that they'd been planning to desert the Akatsuki for a while now, but still… do they truly feel nothing for their old comrades? Sure they're all S-ranked criminals, but there must be… something…

I sighed, sitting on the roof of one of the taller buildings in the village. It was nearing midnight, with the moon almost directly above me, casting its beautiful light on the village and surrounding barren desert. I'd gotten a few hours of sleep in the late afternoon, tired out from speaking to seemingly endless hordes of curious shinobi. Now, though, when I should be resting up for tomorrow, I wasn't able to sleep. Of course. Konan and I talked for a while after we retired to our room, and when she went to sleep, I tried to follow suit, but failed miserably, staring at the dark ceiling for almost two hours before quietly making my way outside. The desert was considerably less horrible at night: it was quite cold, but I preferred that over the intense heat during the day. I made my way across the rooftops with bitter wind stinging my face, trying to find a nice, quiet place to sit and think.

Since the fact remained that I didn't have anything better to do, my thoughts drifted to today's events, immediately drawn to Hiroki's accidental mention of Chihiro. No matter how much time passed, no matter what happened to me, the memory of my twin would not drift away. Not that I wanted it to, it's just… I can't be distracted right now; I have to remain prepared for anything.

Chihiro… Are you watching me right now? Are you watching me rush into a fight which I know nothing about? Watching me screw up everything that I've done so far while trying to make it better? Why did you have to die? Why not me? If you had lived… You wouldn't have let me die… You would have known what to do… You wouldn't have been captured by the Akatsuki… You would have saved the Kazekage… I know you would have. You were always the smarter, more prepared of the two of us. It's not fair, Chio, it's just not fair. Itachi, Konan, Deidara, Kisame, Hiroki… they need you, not me. They need your brain, your strategies, your strength, your skill…

I laughed, a short, broken sound, while wiping a stray tear from the corner of my eye. Look at me, Chihiro. Isn't this pathetic? You always said I needed to control my emotions, that they would be the death of me, and you were right. If only we hadn't been born with these eyes, with this monster inside us. Ryuu-sama… I guess she isn't that bad, compared to the other Bijuu, rather low maintenance so far, but still… How cruel fate is, how unpredictable… But I'll stop whining, now. I know, I know, "Stop being an emotional idiot, do what you must, and don't look back." I will, Chio, don't worry, just… Watch over me, will you? From wherever you are, if you're even listening… Please, and when I'm done here, I swear I'll come back to you, I'll bring you back home, and I'll rebuild it better than ever. This, I swear, to you, and to Mother, as well.

A few more tears leaked out of my eyes, and when I opened them to the cold night air, I gasped in shock. I saw Chihiro, just a faint whisper of her, but Chihiro nonetheless. Her silver, waist-length silver curls flowed about her shoulders and her eyes sparkled as she hovered in midair about ten feet in front of me, wearing her favorite, green, knee-length kimono, which was swaying gently in the wind. Tears shone on her cheeks as well and her smile was sad, joyous, gentle, worried, and reassuring all at the same time. Chio… I closed my eyes as I thought her name, and when I opened them again, she was gone.

Gone… I closed my eyes once more and laid down on the rooftop, preferring unconsciousness rather than trying to sort out the mass of emotions that clogged my mind at the moment.

"Ayano. Wake up." I felt someone shaking my shoulder gently but relentlessly as I slowly opened my eyes to see raven hair and narrowed onyx eyes. Itachi didn't say anything, but I could feel the question in his silence.

"I… went out to get some air, and I guess I fell asleep…"

"Hn." Yeah right. "The others are waiting in the Kazekage's office." Of course he didn't believe me, but whatever. I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. Straightening my clothes, I commended myself on my snap decision to bring Fang along for my midnight stroll. The sword was in its usual place, secured to the belt at my waist, and after a nod to Itachi, I followed him through the still-sleeping village, the dawn light giving a soft touch to the maze of buildings.

Within a few short minutes, Itachi and were back in the room we had been in the past two days. The man, Kankuro, I think, was his name, was screaming in pain at the poison coursing through his body, and I watched with a grim expression as the medic-nin hurried to inject him with a sedative. The old woman, Chiyo, was there as well, along with an old man whom Chiyo addressed as Ebizo. After a moment of watching Kankuro fall asleep, Ebizo began leading Chiyo to the door. "Pathetic… Having to depend on Konoha…"

We spent yet another frustrating morning and afternoon lounging around the hallway, bored as hell. Baki called us back in to the room, as well as Chiyo and Ebizo, who I learned were siblings. He was about to say something, but then I heard a female voice yell, "Kankuro!" I turned around to see a kunoichi with four blonde ponytails, dark green eyes, and a long, purple kimono tied at the waist with a red obi. She pushed past me, running towards said injured shinobi, but before she could say anything more, Chiyo started running, in a very spritely fashion for someone her age, towards the three ninja that had followed the blonde kunoichi, who were from Konoha, judging from the leaf engraved on their forehead protectors. The foremost male shinobi was young, about fifteen, and had spikey blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and little whiskers on the sides of his face. The kunoichi next to him appeared to be the same age, with pink hair and pale emerald eyes. Behind them, there was a taller, older shinobi with silver, gravity-defying hair, dark eyes, a black mask that covered his lower face, and a forehead protector which covered his left eye. The latter was the one Chiyo seemed to be after. "You jerk!" She yelled. "Prepare yourself!"

The man she was rushing towards seemed genuinely confused, letting out a surprised "Huh?"

Before I could even form a coherent thought, the blonde kid made a couple a shadow clones, which effectively halted Chiyo's onslaught. She jumped back, and everyone in the room was speechless with shock. What the hell is wrong with this woman?

The blonde shinobi seemed to read my mind as he said, "Why're you attacking Kakashi-sensei, you wrinkly old hag?" I laughed inwardly at his remark. Nice…

Chiyo ignored him, still staring at the man whose name I guessed was Kakashi. "I'll never forget what you did back then, White Fang of the Leaf. I shall avenge my son's death by defeating you today!"

The silver-haired man tried in vain to protest her accusations, but before Chiyo could do anything more, Ebizo appeared in front of her, saying, "Take a good look at him, onee-chan. He may look like him, but this isn't the White Fang of the Leaf. Besides, that guy died a long time ago. Remember? You were so upset when you heard because you didn't get to kill him yourself!"

The old woman hesitated for a few seconds before replying, "Gotcha! I was only pretending that I had gone senile!"

Everyone in the room deadpanned as she let out a mad string of laughter. Then, Kakashi finally looked around at all the others who were in the room. His gaze slid over each of us in turn. "Who... You!" He stopped abruptly, staring hard at Itachi and pointing an accusatory finger at him. "What are you doing here?"

Before the situation could get out of hand, Baki stepped between Kakashi and Itachi, raising his hands to both. "Wait a second. I understand your concern, Kakashi, but right now, we need to set aside our differences if we wish to save Gaara-sama. Please, I beg of you, do not fight right now. This is already—" Baki was cut short, however, by a strangled scream of pain from Kankuro, who was thrashing violently on the bed.

The pink haired kunoichi ran to his side, pulling up her hair and saying, "Please, all of you, stand back for now. I need to take a look at him." I followed Kakashi, the blonde shinobi, Chiyo, Ebizo, and the rest of the group outside into the hallway. Only the blonde Sand-nin stayed behind, along with the medical ninja. Kakashi's critical gaze never left Itachi as I leaned against the doorway, watching what the Konoha medical ninja was doing. After briefly inspecting the injured man's body, she stood up and said, "It appears that they used a heavy, metal-based toxin, which damages the muscles by destroying the cells." She paused to take a clipboard from one of the other medical nijas and continued. "The cardiac muscles will be destroyed and his heart will stop beating at any moment. Consequently, it isn't safe to say whether or not we'll be able to produce an antidote in time…"

The blonde Sand kunoichi in the purple kimono looked shocked by her conclusion. "Nani? You can't mean that! There must be something we can do!"

The medic closed her eyes, and after a moment, she continued. "Please collect the items on this list. I don't know if it will work, but it's the best I can do…"

There you are! I dunno, I'm not overly pleased with this chapter, but please let me know what you think! Oh, sorry about the excess of lines, but there were a lot of time skip thingies... Hopefully it wasn't too boring, but the next one will be better! I think... *sigh*

Like I said, please be patient as far as my slow updating speed goes. As always, thank you for reading, and please review! Ja ne!