Simple Manipulation

.:Thirteen:.

...No time permits to open up...

When you finally came to, it was close to sunrise, marked by the beautiful glow illuminating the horizon. You rolled over onto your side only to find Sasuke seated on a log staring at you and Itachi leaned against a tree with his back to you both.

"Good morning, (y/n)." Itachi murmured, not bothering to move. Sasuke only nodded.

"Where are we?" You asked, taking your time to sit up due to the stiffness in your joints from sleeping on the hard ground.

"Near the border of Fire Country and Water Country." Sasuke answered, getting up to hand you a plate with cooked white rice, a biscuit, and eggs on it. "Here. You should be hungry since you slept through dinner."

Unable to refuse, you accepted the plate with a slight bow of thanks then began eating.

"(Y/n)," Itachi turned slightly to face you, "We'll need you to convince Kohana to come with us."

"What?! Why would I--"

"She's the only one in Konoha with most if not all of the details of that night." Sasuke cut in. His eyes were huge, pleading with you. "We know she's been investigating the murders since she was able to free you. She could help us find the murderers so that we can get revenge--"

"Itachi's your culprit!" You stated plainly.

Sasuke glanced at Itachi briefly. "No. He managed to injure one of them. That was the blood you saw on his katana. The person had went after me and Itachi stopped him."

"So why did he tell me he did it if he was truly innocent?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't have been able to handle the truth. Even I was having trouble thinking clearly at the time. Why run if I'm innocent? All I could think of was tracking the murderers down..." Itachi finally turned to face you fully. He was no longer the cocky teen you knew and loved in school. His eyes flashed blood red as he spoke. "I thought they were assassins. I took Sasuke with me to protect him. I left you behind in case they decided to give chase. At the time, you were safer with the village idiots. I had an idea they would blame me and possibly try to mark you as an accomplice...but I didn't foresee the magnitude--"

"You're lying." You whispered staring down at your plate.

"Despite what you think, (y/n), we need to recruit Kohana." Itachi stated in an even, cold voice. "She has the most knowledge and details; she'll be able to tell us exactly who did it."

"If she knew, Itachi, she would have told me."

"Would she?" Itachi challenged with an interested look in his eyes.

"Yes! You think she'd willingly not tell me who I spent three years in prison for, if she knew who did it?"

"She's right, Itachi." Sasuke cut in. "Kohana wouldn't keep something like that from (y/n), of all people."

Itachi frowned but turned away. "I guess. (Y/n), I hope you can forgive me for leaving you be--"

"Sasuke, can I have more eggs?"

~---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~

...When you've been hiding thoughts so strong...

"The trail is warm, Ko-chan." Hiyori gazed up at Kohana with his sapphire blue eyes; the rest of his face except his golden blonde spiky hair was covered by his mask.

Kohana nodded. "From this point onward, keep your guard up. I doubt Itachi would purposefully leave us any sort of trail. Expect anything."

"Hai!" Hiyori and Arai chimed in. The three lept up into the threes and began jumping from branch to branch.

Itachi's sensitive ears heard the movement first before Sasuke did, but gave the order to do nothing yet with a slight shake of his head. Seconds later Kohana and her teammates dropped down in front of you and the Uchiha brothers, weapons drawn.

"By order of the Hokage, (y/n) is to return with us to Konohagakure...immediately." Kohana declared giving Itachi a lethal glare and allowing hatred to emphasize the last word.

Your mood instantly lifted. "Ko!" You attempted to run to her but Itachi grabbed you by your hand. "Let go."

"...No."

"Itachi." Kohana kept her eyes on you but used her peripheral vision to watch him. "If you simply let (y/n) go, the Leaf Village will cease all attempts to capture you."

For the first time since you'd laid eyes on him, Itachi smirked. "What about Sasuke-kun?"

Kohana's eyes left your face and found Sasuke's, causing her to gasp and her blade hand to tremble. "N-no..."

"He's alive." Itachi whispered and gave the slightest nod.

On his cue, Sasuke stepped forward. "Ko-chan."

"He's alive." Kohana murmured to herself and lowered her katana along with her guard. Finally, it dawned on you. The look on her face, the slight blush, the tears forming in her eyes--Kohana had a crush on Sasuke! Seizing the moment, Itachi and Sasuke vanished. Before you could turn your head to look around, Hiyori and Arai suddenly fell forward unconscious. Itachi stood behind Arai and Sasuke behind Hiyori, both pointing their katanas down at their bodies.

Kohana snapped out of her daze and swore loudly. "You never fought fair..."

"Come with us and we'll leave them alive." Itachi stared at Kohana.

"What makes you think I'd fall for that? They knew the dangers when they agreed to take this mission. No real shinobi would take the easy way out."

Itachi's eyes narrowed dangerously and Kohana found the razor sharp edge of Itachi's katana pressed against the delicate flesh of her exposed throat. "Then what do you think of letting (y/n) watch you die?" Itachi hissed in your ear with murderous intent lacing his tone. Her body went rigid with fear as she thought about you being left deal with Itachi on your own. All that she'd ever done to help you would have been for nothing if you fell into Itachi's manipulative hands. She lowered her gaze to the ground. "Okay."

"What?" You demanded. "No! Ko, we can leave!" You started towards her but Sasuke grabbed your wrist and yanked you back to him. "Stop it! She doesn't have to--"

Kohana fell limp in Itachi's arms and he smiled victoriously. "Come get her, Sasuke, and let's go."

"Hai." Sasuke nodded and let you go, moving towards his brother to pick Kohana up.

"No!" You tried to run towards them but Itachi caught you and held you tightly in his arms, planting a firm hot kiss on your lips.

~---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------~

"Ko, you need to eat."

"Sasuke, you need to let me shove my foot up your--"

"Ko." You glanced at her.

She sighed and unconsciously pulled at her ropes that bound her arms behind her back. "I swear they practiced bondage techniques."

Sasuke tried to hide a smirk. "If you and (y/n) would behave we wouldn't have to resort to this."

Kohana mocked him then replied, "If you hadn't run off with your psychotic brother in the first place, I wouldn't have to be tied up at all. I can't believe you!"

"You make him sound bad." Sasuke whispered, not looking at her.

"Sasuke, please tell me exactly what's 'good' about being psychotic." Kohana gave him a flat look.

"Ko--"

"You two should stop it." You cut in, getting tired of their pointless banter. They stopped talking altogether leaving you alone with your thoughts about your situation.

"Sasuke, I need to go check out some information I came across. Can you handle these two on your own for a while?" Itachi broke the silence hours later. Sasuke only nodded.

"I should be back within an hour or two." Itachi vanished. You shook your head and tugged slightly at the ropes that bound you. They were awfully tight for someone who had absolutely no ninja skills of any sort. Kohana waited several minutes before speaking again.

"Sasuke, just what the hell has this moron told you to make you think he's a good person?"

"What?" Sasuke turned and looked at her.

"Sasuke, he's..." 'The one who killed your entire family.' She finished in her head. She sighed. Without proof, she knew Sasuke would never abandon his brother's side.