Impossible to Foretell

Chapter 25: Too Easy

Anzu and I were being held over the shoulders of the large body guards that accompanied Kanaye, and the group of four rogue ninja started running through the trees at a very high speed.

Every single one of the lumbering giant's footfalls jarred my hip horribly, but I refused to cry out or even let my pain show on my face. After Sasainako had tortured my hip, I was very aware of how an enemy could manipulate a physical weakness.

As we ran, the only thing I could think about was if my absence had been noticed yet in the village. Surely Kakashi would realize it right away since I'm at my office every single day at about five in the morning. By eight, he would probably start to get worried, and then by ten, I figured that he'd go by my house. I would just have to pray that he'd figure out what was going on. I mean, there was the candle that I had broken and my ring hidden there. Also, the two cards that Kanaye had thrown at me should still be on the ground, and I could only hope that he'd recognize the Broken Kunai after we'd run into it on our way back from Kabuto's orphanage. In fact, I was positive that there was no way that Kakashi wouldn't be able to find me right now.

Wait.

This was too easy. Kanaye, the man who had broken in and out of the Leaf Village completely undetected without even breaking a sweat, would have been able to capture me without leaving behind such obvious clues. I was so stupid for not realizing this sooner, but for some reason, for some part of his devious plan, he wanted Kakashi to track me. He wanted Kakashi to come after him.

I had fallen in to his trap. Of course he knew what I'd done with the candle wax when I'd thought that I was being super clever, but he let it slip past because that would only make it easier for Kakashi to follow me. It only furthered his plans. I had been completely fooled. I was the willing bait that was unintentionally leading Kakashi into a trap. Hiding my shock and anger, I began to think harder than I ever had before in my life. I was going to save this situation; I was going to save Kakashi. I just needed to figure out what Kanaye was trying to gain and why. If I could uncover even a tiny bit of his motivation, then I could make some sort of plan.

The sky was starting to get lighter when we stopped running. At our pace and based on the direction that we were travelling in, I would guess that we were near the border of the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Patties. On the list that Kabuto had given us, there had been a hideout that was near the border of the two countries and the now-disbanded Hidden Sound village. And the hole in the ground that Kanaye started to lead us through definitely had a pre-war-Orochimaru feel to it. This was all that I needed to confirm my suspicions that Kanaye wanted Kakashi to find me. Not only was he using a hideout that he knew was on our radar since he had left me a little gift when we were returning form Kabuto's, but I also hadn't been blindfolded and was allowed to memorize his location.

After all of my thinking, I was only able to come to one conclusion: I was not the main target. Kanaye probably took some sick sort of joy in getting to capture me, but Kakashi was his actual goal. Was it because he was the Hokage, or was there more to it than that? And, Kakashi had been Sasainako's main target as well since she said that she needed the Hokage under her genjutsu to defeat "that bitch." I was starting to wonder if there was more behind her actions as well. There was something big going on, and I was pissed that I had no idea what it was.