The Dango Gesture...

Chapter 13 The Screams

Another hand was set on her left shoulder. Kimimaro.

"Never..." They said together.

And you couldn't really blame her for the tears that followed after that.

~*~*~*~*~

A week had passed since Itachi's sudden attack. And while the week passed everyone's anxiety continued to get higher.

He had yet to wake up after a week. Tsunade checked on him every day, and she would always pull her hands away from him with a shake of her head. Muttering along the lines of 'deteriorating lungs' and 'stupid Uchiha bastard'.

"Hey blonde bitch, when will the Uchiha wake up from his long-ass nap?!" Hidan snapped at the older woman.

She didn't answer and completely disregarded his rude words, instead, she continued to walk, away and out of the room that they had rented.

The room became silent as the four awake men looked at each other, their insides churning at the silent response they received from the worlds best medic. Whatever had been going through her head was most certainly not good. Typically she would retort back with a response that was sure to leave a sting, but now she would only leave the room silently muttering things and shaking her head.

After the silence began to be too much, Kakuzu spoke.

"We need to go back." He closed his eyes and folded his hands beneath his chin.

Silence ensued again as the statement settled heavily on them. It was true they needed to go back, and soon. Their Leader was already not happy with them, and with the events that had just taken place, he was sure to be even more upset than last time.

Sasori was the first to shoot back. "To where? To Leader-Sama, who is sure to kill you, because you put Itachi in this state?" Hidan nodded and Kisame sighed looking worriedly at his still unconscious partner.

Kakuzu himself sighed and glared at the puppet. "You know just as well as I that he cannot kill me," This was where Hidan was about to make a smart-ass comment but was interrupted by the hand on his mouth. "for various reasons. One of them being that he needs me, he would not be able to complete the Bijju extraction without me or any of you for that matter." They all knew that was true, so they nodded and continued to listen. "Secondly he needs every member he can get, as he is planning on invading Konoha soon, and if my memory doesn't deceive me he will be at the location in approximately two weeks."

"And if any of you have half a brain," He stood and grabbed his cloak, swinging it over his shoulder.

The implication that was to come was left unsaid, they knew. And Kakuzu, knowing who he was talking to, spoke the words anyway, just in case it didn't get through their fucking heads.

"You will be there unless you want to be slaughtered when he does get his hands on you..." He left the room and went to what they assumed was the bar downstairs as he had been doing for the past week, drinking away his guilt. They lowered their heads as the door slammed shut after him, the guilt ate away at them as well.

Kisame could not fathom the feeling in his chest, it was tight and just overly crowding. It made a knot form in him, and he couldn't help the tenseness that gathered in his body. He knew somewhere in him that this was partially his fault if he had listened to his heart rather than his Leader everything would be fine. They had all been ordered to kill Sakura, and even when he succumbed to darkness he couldn't escape the green eyes that held that look of utter betrayal.

Soon after he could no longer stand the suffocating aura the room held and left, he needed to find something to eat, or kill. Maybe a brothel, at this point he just wanted his body to be doing something so his mind would leave for a little bit.