She felt so stupid.
So pathetic and useless and weak. She’d been in the ANBU in Konoha—where some people had been scared of her power and what she could do—and the Akatsuki had been considering letting her join. But now she was being taken Jashin knows where…and Imi didn’t know what to do about it. She didn’t want to be like this; in a perfect world she would be fighting back right now and taking care of things herself. But every time she considered the idea, and she felt herself just…freeze up. Like a hand gripped her throat each time she tried. The only thing left to do was to lie there and let them take her, and she hated that fact. But she couldn’t help it.
Even her sensing abilities weren’t helping. When she attempted to use them to search around and figure out where she was and how far away she now was from the hideout considering she’d been unconscious for a while, all that happened was the images came back. She was filled with memories that were only heightened with the close contact with these guys, and at this point Imi had reduced how much she could sense, blocking off most of it so she wouldn’t have to deal with it anymore. The only thing she could be glad of was that they wouldn’t try and go after the Akatsuki, after they told her that they’d heard about her working with them—in Konoha she’d slipped under the radar. Missing nins didn’t really know what was going on in the ninja villages. But now was different. She was the only one they wanted, and that’s the way it would stay.
A little part of her was wondering—fearing—that if the Akatsuki did see she was gone; did see she’d been kidnapped…that they wouldn’t do a thing. They hadn’t actually asked her to join. At the moment Imi was just giving them information, after all. There was Itachi—and once again Imi was torn. She wanted to believe in all of them, but there was still a small piece of her that worried that, along with the Akatsuki, Itachi, too, would sit back and do nothing. Though they’d been close for a portion of their lives, things weren’t how they used to be. He’d simply got up and left this morning—or even last night for all she knew—so why would he go to all that effort after that?
But what would happen now?
Imi hadn’t felt this lost in a long, long time, and it left her paralyzed.
Itachi, by this point, however, had reached the hideout again, having headed straight back. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say to Imi, but he didn’t want to leave her alone, so he wasn’t going to waste anymore time wandering around the forest, prompting him to go inside and towards his room once more. It wasn’t as quick as he would have liked it, with the others greeting him and asking why he’d been outside this early, but placating them as quickly as he could, Itachi tried to pass on by, when he was stopped once more by Kisame. Though slightly irritated, considering how Kisame had helped him before Itachi halted and let him speak, narrowing his eyes as he questioned,
“Do you know where Imi is, though? We need to talk to her about the mission.”
Itachi frowned, wondering why he hadn’t gone to look for her, and countered,
“She should be in my room,” only to freeze as Kisame responded bluntly,
“No. She’s not in her room, not in yours…she’s nowhere in the hideout, Itachi. I figured you must have seen her since you’ve been outside.”
But Itachi had no idea how to reply to that, and his mind went into overdrive as he tried to figure things out. If she was nowhere in the hideout, then Imi had to be somewhere outside. However, Kisame was right; it made sense to assume that if Itachi had been outside, he should have seen her—so why hadn’t he? He hadn’t gone far, even with his tumultuous thoughts, and they were partially centered on Imi to begin with. Imi herself wouldn’t have bothered to wander far—if anything, the only reason she would have been out of the hideout would have been because she had woken and seen Itachi was gone, so she had tried to come after him and figure out what was wrong.
It was possible that they had passed each other without noticing one another there, too focused on their thoughts to realise someone else was around and meaning Itachi had come back to the hideout and Imi was still walking around in the forest…but that didn’t seem right. Even in deep thought Itachi would have sensed Imi if she had been close, and Imi definitely would have been able to sense him; he was what she was focused on. So the fact that Itachi hadn’t sensed her…the fact that Imi still wasn’t around…could only mean that something had to have happened. Something had to be wrong; and with the shiver that ran up his spine, Itachi was starting to think he was right.
Kisame could see the worry and concern in Itachi's eyes, narrowing his eyes with unease and followed on behind as Itachi dashed outside of the hideout once again. Though he contemplated performing a physical search of the nearby forest, he quickly realised there was a much quicker way of determining whether Imi was alive and conscious. She possessed the ability of telepathy, and although it wasn’t one he himself possessed, because she so often contacted him, it was more two way between them both now, and if Itachi searched for her, he could make contact first.
It was what he tried now—but at first it seemed impossible. Everything appeared to knock him out of his concentration, and he couldn’t find that ‘inner peace’ that he required in order to reach a connection with Imi. But as his thoughts passed over her again, Itachi realised just what was at stake. If something had happened, and Imi really was in trouble, then he had to do whatever he could to make sure she was safe. He had said when Imi came to the Akatsuki that he would do whatever was possible to protect her—and nothing had changed now, prompting him to take a deep breath and calm down. Immediately his heart and breathing rate slowed, and focusing entirely on Imi, he felt a surge of relief as he felt that familiar feeling of his mind connecting with hers. She wasn’t dead; and she wasn’t unconscious, either.
With that in mind, Itachi called out a greeting to her—freezing Imi where she lay. For once she was glad they were carrying her like this; they couldn’t see any change in her expression. But she hadn’t expected to hear from Itachi telepathically; let alone so quickly. She was going to respond; only she couldn’t talk for long. The ninjas carrying her were starting to talk amongst themselves, and it was clear they were almost to their destination. Imi had also blocked off most of her sensing abilities off, and as much as she wanted to be back with Itachi, her fear remained. Her doubts about Itachi were hovering a little as well, and as such she did the only thing she could do, replying bluntly, explaining everything in a few short sentences,
“It’s them. They’re back. They came for me. Just like I always knew they would.”
