Unbroken Bonds

21: Konan.

TW: Choking in this chapter.

Red-colored visions swept through Yuna as she felt nothing but darkness. Then, finally, she was drawn back into a memory of the hospital, where she woke up to Shisui completely knocked out and a brooding Itachi. She could feel Itachi's chakra gently thrumming next to hers. Still, when Yuna opened her eyes, they were instead focused on a forlorn Itachi sitting next to her.

"Itachi?" She breathed out a heavy sigh. The purple-haired Kunoichi watched as his head snapped up to meet her eyes. Yuna could briefly see the relief settle through him as he sighed and reached to grab her hand. Looking at her surroundings, she was in a dimly lit room. As she sat on the bed, Yuna took in the empty void of space. She turned her gaze back to her best friend again and watched as he ran a hand through his hair. When his eyes met hers again, she could almost feel the unspoken thoughts running through his mind.

"Welcome to the Akatsuki Yuna Senju; I'll let leader-sama know you're awake." He muttered, squeezing the wide-eyed woman's hand one last time before standing up and heading for the door. His tone sounded colder than the Senju had heard in a while. Yuna let out a sharp exhale at the thought of her mother finding out about her whereabouts. How much trouble was she really in for?

As soon as Itachi left the room, Yuna's eyes stayed glued to the door as a blonde boy popped into the room. The boy had to be only a teenager. Yuna was more curious about why his gaze was one of an interested child who had just been given a new toy.

"Uh, hi?" Yuna croaked out, confusion lacing her features as she shuddered at the thought of this kid being an S Ranked criminal. How could someone so small be in the Akatsuki?

"Deidara, enough." A gruff voice commanded behind the boy. Yuna's gaze instantly lifted up to meet a pair of purple eyes. The Rinnegan? Yuna had always thought everyone who once had those eyes had died; Shisui had told her all about them. So how did this teenager have them?

"Get up and follow me." The orange-haired man's commanding tone reverberated throughout the small room, and Yuna found herself standing. Sucking in a deep breath as soon as the chill air hit her skin, she was not clad in her standard attire but dressed in one of Itachi's shirts. Although, faintly, she could smell his familiar woodsy scent on it. She fought the urge to smile at how tall he had gotten seeing as his shirt went down to just above her knee.

The cold jolted her into shock for a second as her bare feet walked across it. Yuna always had immaculate chakra control. She pressed the chakra into her feet and followed the Akatsuki leader throughout the compound. Yuna could briefly feel strong chakra signatures as she walked down the hallway.

Why am I not in chains? The Kunoichi tried to calculate why they had not taken safety precautions toward her. What if she attempted to escape? Yuna is an S Ranked ninja with a "Do Not Engage" tag in the bingo book. They must not see me as a threat if they haven't chained me. Keep a good poker face Senju. Stay away from their games.

Yuna looked up to see she was led into an open area, almost like a lounge room. Yuna fought the urge to smirk when she noticed most members of the Akatsuki were watching her pass by. Her eyes scanned past them all, onyx eyes meeting Itachi's gaze as he gave his best friend a subtle nod of approval. The smirk finally crawled onto her facial expressions. This was the perfect opportunity to destroy the Akatsuki in Yuna's eyes.

The man led her past a couple more doors before they reached the end of the hallway. The orange-haired man opened a door, and Yuna found herself being pushed inside. She resisted the urge to hiss as her knees hit the rough ground before she found her footing and stood up. Blood trickled down her right knee, and she inwardly sighed at wasting chakra to heal the gash. The man slammed the door behind himself. Yuna focused her energy on her hand as she healed the wound. Simultaneously, she glanced around the dark room. An old fireplace sat in the corner, with a wooden desk pressed against the wall. When she glanced up from healing her knee, she was met with the mask of the man who kidnapped her and a purple-haired woman with amber eyes whose gaze was fixated on Yuna. Annoyance flickered through her expression.