~Uchiha's Compound Bottom-Level~

Thursday, 10:59 a.m.

"Ino-chan... Ino-chan what's wrong" Hinata asked, her concern clear on her face, as she tightly grasped the wide eye kunoichi by her shoulders. For a response Ino merely stayed on her knees, breathing hard, as she visibly shook from the sudden painful rush of emotions and sensations she had felt being lanced through her from the bracelet.

The feelings had been so strong it had felt like she could actually see the image the bracelet had tried to express, like she had been there herself.

She could feel Naruto's, she didn't know how she knew it was him, but none the less she knew it was, last moments, the desperation, the realization, and the desperate hopelessness.

She had to resist the growing urge to empty her stomach as the painfully numb knot that had formed there began to grow, and she had to fight the tears as she raised her quivering left wrist to eye level steadying it with her other hand.

'Naruto' she thought forcefully refusing to accept what the bracelet had just revealed to her. 'Show me Naruto!'

Slowly the leaf on the bracelet began to rise and hum softly. Ino had to fight hard from tearing up in relief.

"What happened?" Kakashi asked firmly as he kneeled in front of the young Yamanaka. His eye going from her face to the odd bracelet adorning her thin wrist.

Hinata took a step back sighing gratefully from her own overwhelming relief seeing that her friend had recovered from whatever episode had taken her moments earlier.

But Ino herself was oblivious to both ninja as she continued to focus on the glowing humming needle, that was pointing up and back over her right shoulder.

'More, I need more' she commanded remembering how clearly the thing had 'spoken' to her seconds before.

As she closed her eyes, her mind focusing on the blonde shinobi lost on the floors above her, she could feel, or rather sense, the 'needle' as it began to change it's vibrations intensity as if searching for a particular frequency.

Slowly, so very slowly, and weakly a second set of emotions began to form in her mind. Distinct and separate from her own. Absentmindedly she could feel her left arm becoming numb, but this she ignored as she focused her entire mind on the second set of emotions occupying her head.

The emotions were not enough to give any clear image of thoughts or of what happened, but it was enough to assure her that the young baka that had so deftly stolen her heart was still alive though unconscious.

She could feel his emotional turmoil as the numbness in her arm began to change to pain breaking her concentration, and as a result extinguishing the emotions that had been blossoming in her mind.

With them gone she found her head seem to suddenly become a very lonely and empty place. Despite the suffering the bond had been showing her she had found it comforting, and now that it was suddenly gone she was filled with an odd sense of lost.

Slowly she began to open her eyes, breaths still heavy, as she realized just how much energy that little check in had cost her.

The first thing she noticed was how Kakashi's one revealed eye followed the invisible line that the 'needle' seem to indicate, and than back to intensely study the bracelet she wore, until the leaf began to dim as it lowered itself back to it's resting place.

At this point he returned his focus to his young charge as he studied her expression. Something about his intensity convinced Ino that he had guessed much of what the bracelet signified, no doubt in part to his experience and her unmasked reactions when the thing had went off.

"Is he still alive?" though was all he said. Ino could only nod as his expression noticeably relaxed.

"But" she continued as she stood, resolve permeating her voice and stance, eyes hardening "I think their in trouble. We've got to hurry up and catch up with them."

It was Kakashi's turn to respond with a simple but sharp nod. Hinata stood to the side confused, but with growing apprehension until three sudden barks tore away all their focus.

"They've picked up Neji's trail" Kakashi translated "come on, it's time we got to the bottom of this." And with that all three took off in the direction the canine squad had signaled.

~Uchiha's Compound Top-Level~

Thursday, 10:56 a.m.

Shikamaru just had time to process what his companions behind him was discussing, when what Naruto said struck him like a brick. As he turned to ask what the blonde had meant he had gotten his answer in the form of intense flames lancing out of the walls like snake trying to engulf him.

'Damn it' his thoughts tried to run rampant as the pain of his searing flesh racked his body. Desperately he threw his hands together, pointedly ignoring his companions as they were consumed by the dancing yellow tongues the walls had sprouted.

"Release" his cry rang out against the roar of the flame. He could feel his chakras race through his skull as the flames seemed to try to sear him to his very bones.

And like that it was over. He was left hunched over wheezing loudly. 'That wasn't any ordinary Genjutsu, that's for sure' he thought bitterly. Sweat beading on his forehead.

His eyes scanned around the vast room, not surprised that he was no longer in the strange hallway. The room was large and mostly condemned from what he could tell. The once polished wooden walls had become dark with discoloration and mildew. All around broken pitfalls laid bear and other odd assortments of traps left out in the open clearly having out lived their expiration date.

"I see, so that's how it is," Shikamaru spoke aloud, still breathing hard "you divided us before we even knew what happened. Than you took the most susceptible of us, and with the aid of this places Genjutsu trap, been leading us in circles to keep us out of the way. That is until we began to catch on, than you tried to overwhelm our psyche." he finished bitterly.

"Still, I guess I should be grateful. Had you'll had more time to get this room back in order you could of just had us blindly walk into any one of your pitfalls at any time, am I right?" Shikamaru asked as he turned to face the two masked-man who had replaced the now missing heirs to the Abarame and Uchiha clan.

"Tsk" The man who had been impersonating Shino snorted as he reached into his back pouch "not bad guess work kid but it- urkh.. what the hell!" The man gasped as his body froze his hand clutched tightly around the kuni he was retrieving.

All the sudden his hand shot forward releasing the blade it grasped as it mirrored Shikamaru's own motions exactly. The steel edge flew true nicking The shadow master's cheek, who only slightly winced at the thin red line that now marred his face, as it thudded loudly into it's target.

The second masked assailant gurgled out wordlessly as he stopped mid swing, inches from the crouched tactician's throat with his own instrument of death, as his teammate's knife plunged into his chest. With one last futile sputter the would-be killer fell over.

"What the hell!" The remaining imposter demanded "I thought you used up your energy breaking that Genjutsu." The man's anger and confusion was slowly being replaced with fear as he was forced to peer into the eyes of his captor as he made them both stand.

"Your not the only ones who can lead your enemies on" Shikamaru said as he took a decisive step forward, his opponent being forced to do the same. Though by the pull on the jutsu that binded the two together he could tell the man was trying desperately to run away.

'So he's that scared huh?' he thought 'good, that makes this easier.' The man was clearly no more than a street thug bought up by whoever was in charge of this place, and taught no more than enough to know how to use the traps this place offered.

He wasn't personally familiar with the best of interrogations techniques, but he was in a mood to give what he did know a try.

These people thought they could just divide up his team, make him look like a fool, kidnap his comrade, and, far more importantly, they think they could just get away with torturing his friends? He allowed himself to take another glimpse at his slumbering teammates. Both Tenten and Naruto looked well enough, though there was a distinct tightness around their eyes.

He had managed to break the Genjutsu almost immediately, but he knew those two would of taken the full force, both the physical and the psychological pain of watching their friends die before their eyes. Oh ya, he was defiantly pissed.

~Uchiha's Compound Bottom-Level~

Thursday, 11:10 a.m.

Sasuke and Shino had taken the lead, though now in hindsight he knew being there had only played into the enemies hand. One of these days he would get in control of his brashness he had thought with bitterness at being so easily played.

It happened shortly after they entered the compound, when he and Shino heard a loud crash from behind them. Spinning on the spot, both taking a defensive stance, they noticed a thick wall had dropped dividing them from the rest of the rescue party.

"What the hell" Sasuke cursed as he walked up to the divide and experimentally struck the wall with his fist. The thing was defiantly solid enough, assured his now smarting knuckles.

"It would seem they wish to divide us" Shino theorized as he took his own stance preparing to face the obstacle before them.

The sudden whirl of metal, though, caused both to dive to the side as the three shuriken and a kuni bounced harmlessly off the wall that now divided the two from the rest of their team.

Out of reflex Sasuke activated his sharingan, ignoring the sudden spike from his bandaged arm, as he caught the sight of a black cloak disappearing around a corner. And like that the chase had begun.

...

It had been long, it had been tiring, and it had been very very frustrating. At no point did they ever catch more than the corner or sleeve of the unknown assailant's cloak as it would disappear behind another corner. Every time they thought they had lost track of him more shuriken would fly from some random direction and the chase would began all over again.

It was painfully obvious they were being lead, no doubt into a trap, but frankly Sasuke couldn't figure they had to many other options. Besides he knew a trap was only really a trap as long as you didn't know it was a trap.

All the sudden the two genin saw as the tail end of the cloak vanished into a doorway where a bright, though slightly oddly tinged light, spilled out into the comparatively dim hall. Following after both froze as they raced though the doorway.

Shino taking up his traditional battle pose as every muscle in Sasuke's body began to tense. A feral expression beginning to contort his features as his eyes' filled with hate and malice.

The room was massive, maybe as large as the whole of the Chunin stadium. Taking up the majority of the space was a vast pool of purple swirling mist that gave the air a nauseatingly oily feeling. Before the pool sitting, on what appeared to be an intricately carved stone throne, was a young man lounging one leg crossed over the other, with his chin resting on his propped hands, a slash through the leaf on his headband. Red clouds decorated his black cloak.

"So glad you could make it, little brother" the figure said as he leaned back confidently with a smirk.

"Itachi" Sasuke whispered through gritted teeth. His left arm bandages suddenly beginning to smolder.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Here's the next installment, not to long of a wait. Was it? :P

First some good news, I finally got more or less everything set up. My laptop, my life, and even that little rock garden. Will this help me update faster than about twice a year? No, probably not. lol

Anyways there is three points I wish to address right quick, and in no particular order.

A.) What the hell is the Bracelet? Is it a center piece to the plot? Normally I wouldn't give away to much on this since it could lead to giving away plot sensitive material. Let me just say this.

I am borrowing heavily from the works of Robert Jordan with this story, a most amazing writer, and anyone familiar enough with his series 'Wheel of Time' would get the jest of what the bracelet is about by now.

I only felt like pointing this out because considering how much of his work I am using, I felt I needed to give the man a nod.

B.) I may go back and change one small typographical error I had been making without notice concerning the above stated bracelet. Originally the band was meant to be more of a chain or links, but I realize in hindsight I did a very poor job of expressing that. So in the near future I may go back and change that to more fit the original ideal.

C.) This is just to the ones who thought I had actually killed off anyone in the last chapter. First, when I started this story I was the biggest Ten ten bashed I know, but she, as I more or less already stated, grown on me a lot. And believe me she is officially my fav character in this story by a large margin (my least fav is Hinata and Kakashi). Of course this does not guarantee her safety through out the whole of the story. :P

Anyways as always Read, Review, and most importantly Enjoy.