Imi’s voice disappeared from Itachi's mind the moment she finished that sentence.
And for a moment afterwards, Itachi wasn’t sure what she had meant.
After all, they had worked in the ANBU in Konoha. That meant they’d made their fair share of enemies during those missions. Any ninja who worked for a ninja village did as they carried out missions, especially if they were high level ones. Or had she meant Konoha itself had come back for her? When it came down to it, Imi had never truly defected from Konoha. If they had found out she was with the Akatsuki, they might have thought she had been kidnapped and therefore tried to take her back. But that didn’t make sense. How the hell would Konoha have found out she was in the Akatsuki? They might only have a vague idea of his position in the organization, and that was because he gave them information when he could! But Imi hadn’t been there long, and Konoha hadn’t even known her location in the first place! There was no way they’d found out about her joining the Akatsuki.
Not to mention there was what Imi had said at the end. ‘Just like I always knew they would’? That didn’t sound like something Imi would say about Konoha. When Imi had explained why she had decided to help the Akatsuki and come to see him again, she had told Itachi about how her situation had been in Konoha. How she didn’t truly do missions anymore and wasn’t on any team. If that was the case, they wouldn’t have been looking for her—Imi had never been expecting them to care about the fact she wouldn’t return. They had stopped noticing her going off and didn’t speak to her unless necessary when she came back. No; it couldn’t be Konoha. So who was it? It had to be someone Imi knew, and knew well. From the sounds of things, their presence was affecting her, and that in itself was unusual. Imi didn’t get affected by a lot. Ever since he’d met her she’d—
But then it occurred to him that Imi had been affected by someone. The very first time he’d met her she’d been affected, and it had continued to affect her from that day on. It was the reason he had been introduced to Imi and probably why he had felt so connected to her on so many levels. Not long before he had met her, Imi’s family had been massacred by a group of ninjas, leaving her the only survivor. Konoha had always suspected that she had been the target all along because of her abilities—it was the reason they had kept an eye on her afterwards and had ANBU bodyguards at her house for several days. But no one had ever shown up and gradually the idea had dissipated from people’s minds, though Imi had never forgotten. How could she, when they had been the people to take her family from her?
Only it was obvious they hadn’t forgotten either. They’d just been biding their time, waiting for the perfect moment. But because she’d gotten stronger—gone into the ANBU—Imi had gone under the radar, and it had become harder for them to try and go after her. They must have kept a look out where they could, but it was never enough. Then Imi’s situation changed. Konoha didn’t see her in the same light after Itachi defected, being suspicious of her, and she began wandering around, eventually joining the Akatsuki. That was when they must have heard of her again. Being missing nins they heard of other missing nin activities more than ninja villages, so now that Imi was around, they knew she was there and knew they could do something about it. Especially considering she was only giving information at the moment—they might think they were at an advantage; that the Akatsuki wouldn’t try and take her back.
But having figured it all out, Itachi clenched his fists, the Mangekyou Sharingan flashing up into his eyes. He blamed himself. No doubt Imi had frozen when she had seen them again, confronted with the memories of her past and her family dying. It was because of him that Imi had left the hideout in the first place; she had woken up, seen he hadn’t been there and had left to find him. She had been wandering the forest alone. If she had been with him, however, then she might not have been taken. He could have fought for her and protected her. It was his fault—and after he had promised himself he would keep her safe while she stayed in the Akatsuki! But Itachi knew that he was going to get her back.
No matter what happened now, he was certain of that.
“Itachi-san! What’s going on! Imi-chan isn’t here, and I need to know why.”
Pein's voice brought him from his thoughts, and realizing that the others needed to know what was going on, Itachi turned round to see that not only was Kisame and Pein standing there, but everyone else in the Akatsuki as well, prompting him to hide a smile. It was typical of Imi. Regardless of the people she was around, she managed to connect to them. But quickly he shook it off. He didn’t have time for this right now—he had to save her. So he explained what had happened as quickly as he could, and was ready to continue on otherwise. Whether Pein was accepting of his decision or not, Itachi was going to save Imi, and he was just going to have to deal with it—
So it was a slight surprise to find Pein was asking where she was being held captive.
Narrowing his eyes in confusion, Pein swiftly explained that he’d been impressed with Imi’s abilities from the beginning. And more than that; her aura and intelligence were also to be admired. All in all, Pein wanted her to stay, and that meant he’d have to get her back. But in order to do so, he needed to know where she was—which was the point where Itachi admitted he didn’t know. Normally Imi would be able to tell straight away, but with whom the guys were…it put her at a major disadvantage. In almost every other situation her sensing abilities were a blessing and a gift. But here they were almost a curse; because just by being near these guys she was reminded of her family’s murder at their hands. It was only made worse by the fact that she had been present and had to watch them die.
Only if that was the case…then how were they going to find her?
Silence fell over the clearing as everyone tried to think of something. No one had seen the ninja appear, and they hadn’t left a trail for them to follow. The only person who had any clue of their location right now was Imi…but she wasn’t in any state to fight her way out! Itachi closed his eyes and sighed inwardly, searching for a way to get around this. He wished he could talk to her again—then again, he could, telepathically. There was nothing stopping him, as long as Imi was still conscious. Itachi doubted they’d knocked her out, either, considering they reveled in the power they had over her. They knew they affected her, and that Imi wouldn’t be fighting back any time soon.
But what good would talking to Imi do? If he didn’t know where she was, then nothing would change. Maybe if he could convince her to fight…but he didn’t want to. She’d dealt with a lot in the past because of them, and Itachi couldn’t change her mind through a few words that weren’t even face-to-face—especially after the way things had been between them anyway! So what could he do? There had to be something. He’d let you down enough already, he couldn’t do it anymore.
Then suddenly it occurred to him.
Maybe he didn’t have to convince you to fight exactly—
But there was something you could do.
