The meeting room was filled with different conversations that echoed in everyone's ears. It was normal for everyone to come together and discuss a plan, but it was a different story when a fellow co-worker's life was on the line, especially when a dangerous group as the Akatsuki were involved. In the middle of the room, Shikamaru Nara was lecturing different squads about their purpose and what needed to be done to make this maneuver successful. Others were contemplating whether or not the pink-haired detective could still be alive and if she is handling herself well. A sun-kissed blonde stared out the window and into the night, with his hands gripping the ledge.

Naruto felt a hand grip his shoulder and he slightly tilted his head to the side, catching a glimpse of the emotionless icicle. Sai gave him a reassuring, but false smile that always made the detective cringe, because he knew Sai's smile was never true.

"Don't worry, Uzumaki. I'm sure Ugly is fine."

He moved his shoulder out of his co-workers grip and shook his head, "That's not what I'm thinking about." There was a pause, until he turned to Sai and said, "I know I'm not one to think too hard about certain things, but this situation has me wondering," The Uzumaki looked him dead in the eye and said, "What could possibly be the reason the Akatsuki want Sakura? I get they found out she and Nara discovered their hideout, but they should have enough common sense to know Nara was going to tell us about it, leading to their defeat."

Sai's smile turned into a frown and he replied, "I've thought about it as well. I have no logical answer, other than bombing our whole unit when we get to their hideout."

"Well geez, that's a little dark."

He shrugged, "Deidara is known for his infamous bomb attacks and all three of them want blood. It would be a thrill to them if they took down a majority of the police force in the area. Ugly is known for the cases she's solved."

Naruto shook his head, "That seems like a little too much for them. They don't kill people for their own amusement. It's always been about 'changing the world' to them."

"But if they are at risk of getting caught what else do you think they would do?"

Naruto's baby-blue eyes fell to the floor, a grave expression of sadness crossing his features of the unexpected turn of events that led to his friend's life coming to risk, until the familiar voice of the pineapple-haired detective sounded in his ears.

"Everyone come over here! We have to go over our plan one more time to ensure this is successful."

~*~*~*~*~*~

It was always quiet in this dark place. Only the candles aligning the cement walls illuminated the floors and walls of this underground hideout. Only the sounds of slow footsteps sounded as the man walked down the hall, the sound of water droplets frequently echoing. The yellow of the burning candles showed the contoured, dark outline of his silhouette as he kept moving forward. He turned a corner, but stopped when the familiar person stood in front of him. He opened his eyes, revealing that beautiful onyx color.

"We need to talk."

Itachi stared at the red-haired man, suspecting what this discussion was going to lead to, "How's the detective?"

Sasori winced at his response and said with sharpness in his tone, "Don't change the subject," he stepped forward to intimidate the Uchiha, but Itachi's blank expression never changed, "What are we doing? Why did we capture the girl? This is absolutely pointless to me and now she wants answers."

"Did you inject her with the poison yet?"

"Dammit," Sasori punched the wall beside Itachi, "What is this about? Tell me now or I will kill you right now."

Closing his eyes and sighing slightly, he responded, "I told you, she's here to lure my brother here."

"I know that, but what even makes you think he knows where we are?"

"Simple, I know she told him."

A chuckle escaped Sasori's lips, "You seem so sure of yourself, Itachi. Yet you don't even know if he actually cares about her. Your brother is just like us, a criminal, someone who will do anything to not get caught. He could go as far as using his Uchiha charm to trick a detective into thinking he actually cares. Ever thought about that?"

Opening his eyes, Itachi responded, "I guess there's no use in keeping you confused," Sasori's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but the Uchiha continued, "Despite never being in my brother's life for the majority of his existence, I still know him like the back of my hand, as well as the ways of the Uchiha. Despite having this hereditary 'charm' that you speak of, we don't use it for our own personal gains."

The brown-eyed man tilted his head, "What are you saying?"

"Believe it or not, my brother is in love with the woman we have captured. The Uchiha don't fake love and we are very emotional people. When the people we love are taken from us, we become detached from our joyous and outgoing ways and become dark and cold towards others. I already took our family away from him, yet he has finally allowed himself to love someone again. Unfortunately, his love has been taken away from him once again, so he's going to come for her, killing us in the process."

Sasori's facial features showed anger immediately, "You planned this-"

He was cut off when the sound of a door barging open in the distance echoed throughout the hallway, making Itachi look up for a moment, before saying, "Sounds like my brother has arrived."

The puppeteer glared at his 'friend' and to Itachi's surprise, pushed him roughly against the wall, with his arm placed on his neck, "You know what, Itachi? I'm going to kill your brother myself without leaving anything for you," He smirked and whispered, "First, I'll kill that pitiful detective right in front of his eyes, breaking down his emotional barriers and then I'll kill him. But after that. . . I'll kill you."

He released Itachi and walked away, smirking at his plan.

~*~*~*~*~*~

After he climbed the latter down, he kicked the door open, gritting his teeth angrily, but narrowed his eyes at the hallway. Sasuke gripped the handle of his katana, then pulled it out of its sheath. The sound of metal scraping against plastic echoed down the long and narrow hall, causing him to halt and look forward to see if anyone was coming. The Uchiha began to walk slowly and warily down the hall, but once he saw the doors scattered along the walls, the thought of the pink-haired detective made such an impact on him, that he began to run down the hall and open door after door. It seemed like a century was passing as he opened door after door, not finding her.

Where are you?

His pace began slowing, but opened one last door. Sasuke's onyx eyes slightly widened at the sight in front of him. So many emotions flowed through him at the exact moment he laid eyes on her. He was worried, angry, and exasperated, which was reflected at the fast pace of his heart beat that sounded in his ear drums.

There she was, laying on her side with her emerald eyes closed and her hands tied behind her back. Her clothes were covered in filth and the only sound Sasuke heard other than his breathing was the dripping of fluid coming from the hung up bodies that surrounded her. He sheathed his katana and ran to the pinkette, kneeling before her with a worried expression plastered on his face.

Putting a hand on her shoulder, he shook her and kept repeating her name in a whispered tone. She wasn't waking up and the same feeling he had as when he saw his parents laying lifelessly on top of each other, flushed him out of his thoughts. He was on the brink of being broken, because he couldn't lose her.

A wave of relief washed over him once he saw her eyes wince and they finally opened, revealing those forest, green eyes he could never get enough of. She looked at him and barely whispered, "S-Sasuke."

The Uchiha once again unsheathed his Katana and swiftly cut the ropes that tied her wrists together, "Are you hurt?" He asked, trying his best not to show how worried he was.

It took her a few seconds to find her words, "I. . . I can't move. He. . ." Sakura couldn't find her words, due to the poison that was injected into her. Sasuke lifted her head, craning her head to him, trying to assure her that he was there.

"Try to look at me," he whispered and she opened her eyes slowly. Despite her condition, just seeing this man made Sakura so unbelievably happy, but his words cut off her reminiscing, "Who did this to you?"

She noticed his tone was sharp, protective-like, but she responded with all her might, "Sasori, h-he injected me with a poison that. . . That enables my body to move." After saying that, she felt as if she was able to talk now.

Sasuke's jaw tightened and he placed one arm under her legs and the other under her back, picking her up and holding her securely to his chest.

"No," she said softly, "You can't do this."

He darted his hypnotizing onyx eyes at her and replied, "What are you talking about?"

She slowly blinked at him, "You—your main goal has always been to kill your brother. He's here, so don't let me get in the way of avenging your family."

The Uchiha didn't think twice before saying, "You're my main priority now."

Sakura's eyes teared up at his response and all she wanted to do was embrace him, but she couldn't do so. She was assigned this case to take Sasuke Uchiha to jail, but she fell hopelessly in love with him. She should feel guilty, but the pinkette isn't.

A tear left her eye and with a high tone, she asked, "Why are you doing this? Revenge is just out that door."

Sasuke stared at her, before saying, "We'll talk when you're safe, but for now-"

Sakura cut him off, "They'll be coming for me soon. You have to kill Itachi and get out of here now, otherwise you'll get caught and you don't deserve that fate."

He gave her a slight glare and responded, "You don't seem to understand, Sakura. I-" Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw a clay bird land next to his feet.

"Shit!" He hissed once an explosion of smoke clouded the room.

He jumped to the wall, covering Sakura from the impact by hovering over her. Sasuke stared down at her, making sure she wasn't hurt, but peeled his eyes off of her. Gripping his Katana, he stood up, looking around the room. A harsh punch to his cheek caused him to wince and he stumbled against a wall.

Sasuke heard a snicker and wiped the blood from his lip, groggily standing up. The smoke dispersed and a blonde man was revealed, closing the door to the room. The Uchiha glared darkly at him, but Deidara gave him an arrogant smirk.

"This should be fun."

~*~*~*~*~*~

The red-headed puppeteer jogged down the hall, the events to come replaying through his mind, making him smirk in anticipation. He's never been fond of Itachi Uchiha too much, but crushing his dream of killing his brother sounds incredibly tempting and that is what he shall do.

Finding the door to the room where the detective was kept, he was about to place his hand on the door knob, until it opened, revealing his partner.

"Deidara?" Sasori asked.

The blonde stared at his friend, blood beginning to seep from his mouth and he said softly, "S-Sasori."

His eyes went to the back of his head and he fell on his knees, then finally hitting the floor lifelessly. The brown-eyed man looked forward, revealing the younger Uchiha as Deidara's blood dripped off the edge of the katana and onto the hard floor. The two men glared at each other for a second, but Sasori's eyes averted to the pinkette who was on the floor behind him. He stepped forward, until Sasuke's words stopped him.

"Don't even go near her," he spat angrily.

Sighing, Sasori said, "I was planning on killing her first, but I guess plans have changed." He then revealed a shorter sword with purple liquid dripping from the end.

Sasori lifted the sword, anticipating to strike, until he suddenly stopped, causing Sasuke to break his stance. The man just stood there, then fell to the side, blood spilling from the back of his head. The younger Uchiha was confused, until the familiar figure was shown holding a sharp-edged knife.

"Sorry to interrupt," the deep, monotone voice began, "But he was going to use up all of your energy that you need now."

Sasuke's eyebrows furrowed in rage and he said with hate present in his tone, "Itachi."

~*~*~*~*~*~

YES I KNOW! I finally updated, woot woot! Sorry for the delay, but I already told you guys updates are going to be short from now on. This story has 3-5 chapters left, I believe, so begin anticipating the end!

Please, please, PLEASE leave a comment and let me know what you thought of this chapter. I have been dying to read some comments, because they are my main motivation and I noticed a lot of regular commenters didn't comment on the last chapter, which had me like: ;-;

And I'm writing my first action scene in the next chapter and I'm nervous, because that requires a lot of detail and I'm hoping a do okay XD

But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

~Kit_Katzzz