It was hot in Earth country. Konoha was hot enough, but somehow the sweltering heat, undisturbed by cloud banks or a merciful breeze, seemed to slide under her skin and cook her alive, innards first. The climate here was usually much more forgiving, but the entire continent seemed to be experiencing a heat wave this summer. She wiped sweat from the nape of her neck and leaned against the bark of the tree she had just landed on, surveying the opening.
Great. Swamplands. I didn't see this on the map.
She felt the strain of her shoulders and thighs, and decided to stop in the marsh to rest. She had been traveling for two days straight, attempting to gather rare medical herbs which were now even rarer thanks to the Hidden Village of the Rock's unwillingness to share resources with the Leaf. The two were at a political stalemate, but Tsunade-sama couldn't wait for things to cool down (literally and figuratively); their stocks were running low in the heatwave, which had caused a threatening drought in Fire country. The Hokage didn't even bother writing up a mission file; she just told her to get her ass there and back within four or five days.
Sakura lifted some water out of the ground and placed it in her traveling pot, heating it quickly with chakra to boil and disinfect it. She filtered it with a simple water jutsu she recently learned. She smiled as the water coiled pure and clean in the air. She refilled her canteen and checked the position of the setting sun.
An hour later, Sakura had eaten and was camped out in the safety of the tall pinewoods, thankful for the slight wind blowing through the leaves and the moon emerging to swallow some of the heat. Cicadas cried out and frogs bellowed and crickets chirped and the swamp smelled heavily of salt water from the brackish sound nearby.
Checking her pack, she realized she had almost everything she needed and would probably be able to head home, luck willing, before tomorrow had reached its end.
Easy. Though she was technically in enemy territory, she hadn't run into any ANBU patrols or other shinobi so far. It was a simple mission, but in truth, the ease of it left her a little disquieted.
Tch. I'm too used to all the crazy missions shishou sends us on all the time.
There was nothing wrong with the relative stillness in the air, she reminded herself. The bugs were loud, and even if there was stiffness in the night, she would know if something was really wrong. She just felt as if she was being watched. She shuddered despite the heat; being a shinobi, your instincts are usually right.
She woke early, slinking across the marsh, hidden thankfully by its tall grasses. It was quiet. She felt her shoulders bunched up towards her ears the farther she traveled. She hated Earth country, she decided. She only needed a couple more bundles of the herbs last on the list, and she could take her leave of the place for a good long while.
A bird cawed a ways off and the air around was suffocating as usual. The last couple of nights had her unsure if someone was truly tracking her or not. There had been no direct attempts either in her sleep or during her day traveling. She was unsettled, to say the least.
And today…
She felt constricted as she moved through the stinging grass with deftness. She was lucky enough to find the last of what she needed fairly quickly, delayed only by distance. However, there was a strange but slight shift in the air; she wasn't certain, but it felt like she was no longer alone in the marsh. She needed to leave, and leave now. Avoiding trouble may save more than just time; you never know who could be out there.
However, she had never expected to find the likes of him out here. Kneeling at a particular pool of muddy water, cutting out some delicate flowers from the crop, she felt someone's chakra flare up behind her. It wasn't aggressive, but it loomed, haunting. It was sinister. Familiar, she added. Sakura decided not to waste time. She spun around, sending a kunai flying in their direction, when she felt it opposite 50 yards from where she had felt it just seconds ago.
Whoever they were, they were fast.
Shoving the bundle less than delicately in her bag, she pulled three senbon into her fist and sent them flying approximately 5 feet apart, hoping to catch her visitor as they moved to evade one or the other. Nothing. The birds were silent again.
It was extremely hard to see through the grass (which was much taller than her), but she knew they were playing with her. The signature grew closer and heavier almost each time, flickering around her, teasing almost. She grew tired of waiting.
"Stop fucking around and come get me already!" It was a stupid ploy, but she knew her chances of escape were much smaller since she was on the defensive and lacked in speed. By drawing them out, she could land a blow up close and personal. Poised carefully with another kunai in her fist, Sakura listened. The only sound was that same damn bird calling loudly in the forest.
And then he was behind her, and she flipped to evade his blow, watching him streak by, black and red, beneath her. Too fast. She landed with a chakra laden kick to the earth, and the marshland quaked and splashed around her. It didn't catch him off guard as much as she would like, but he had to avoid falling into the sinkhole she created, giving her a split second to identify him.
Luckily, or maybe unluckily, she barley needed that long. Long black hair was streaming behind him as he recovered, eyes alight with bored amusement, spinning red.
Oh, Kami. Why.
She was fucked. She didn't have to think twice before she tossed a handful of her kunai, grabbing more senbon in her fist as she quickly raced between the grass. He would catch up to her without trouble, but this was her only option. She heard the grass sway ever so slightly and she launched the senbon behind her, hoping she would make it to the tree line before he-
But of course, in the blink of an eye he was in front of her. Sakura skidded to a halt before quickly rotating her body to land a kick at his ear, chakra pulsing through her body evenly despite her spiking adrenaline. She threw punch after punch and kick after kick, trying to find an opening she could use to escape. There was none.
She could barley see his movement he was so fast. He landed a punch to her stomach, ear, a kick to the knee. He grabbed her wrist painfully as she lost composure, reeling from his last offensive. He twisted her flush against him. She tried to flip him over using her body weight, but he merely forced her to her knees. Uchiha Itachi pressed a kunai at her throat.
"…Are you quite finished?"
He sounded bored. He turned her around to face him and she stared pointedly at his throat. Gods, she wanted to rip out his jugular in her teeth. Sensing her rage, the kunai was pressed slightly harder against her neck. She squinted, waiting.
"If you're going to kill me, you might as well get it over with. I will do nothing for you nor tell you anything."
"…If I wanted information, kunoichi, I assure you it would be far from laborious to extract it from your mind." He took her jaw in his hands, trying gently to shift her face up so her eyes would meet his. She kept them trained at his Adam's apple, watching it move as he spoke quietly to her. She imagined the warmth of his blood between her teeth. She imagined Sasuke's face if he ever found out she was the one who took his vengeance for him, in an ugly swamp in the middle of nowhere.
Her ex-teammate wouldn't be very happy, regardless of circumstance, though the thought didn't quell her overwhelming desire to end this mans life if she could. It wasn't like she really gave a shit about Sasuke, though the idea of stealing his reason to live made her falter. She doubted she could really manage to kill the fabled Uchiha, but she wondered how close she could get him to the brink before he killed her.
He was watching her carefully, released her chin as he knew it would make no difference. He saw the anger behind her eyes, the raw energy radiating from her.
"You cannot harm me. You know it is futile."
Her eyes moved to focus on something behind him, dulled. He wondered if she was willing to contest him on that point.
"I am requesting your assistance. But I will kill you should you continue to prove yourself… difficult"
She stilled completely. She was stone.
What the hell? She glared intently at his throat again, confused and still panicking. Why does Uchiha Itachi, murderer, a more than formidable shinobi, need her help? There was no doubt that even though she was training for ANBU, Itachi was still S-class, probably beyond S-class by now.
Think about it. He somehow knew your whereabouts while you were on a off the books mission. If he needed just anyone, or any Leaf shinobi, why was it you? You, knees deep in swamp muck miles from civilization?
None of it made sense. She was lost. But she gambled that the situation was too coincidental for it to be his good fortune. He was bluffing.
The only thing she could feel now was her heartbeat in her ears, a steady thumping that she wondered if he could hear or see. He was so close to her.
Thump.
"I don't believe you."
"Oh? Is that so…"
He flickered out of sight, only to reappear behind her.
Thump.
He wrapped his arm casually around her, though she could feel his muscles tight with too much tension to really feign innocence. She imagined the sight of them from a distance, probably seeming like a young couple, enjoying the scenery of the early night. But his cloak, the shining black knife in his hand, they betrayed him. No one would interfere.
Thump.
She knew he was showing off, reminding the jounin of her inability to escape him.
Too damn fast. Shit.
The smell of metal lingered under her nose, the kunai pressing at the hollow of her throat again. She wondered if anyone would hear her when he killed her, where she would die. Maybe he would toy with her first, like he was now.
Thump.
They had to be 10 miles from Iwa at least. A village she could not look to for safety, considering she was in this entire country illegally. She couldn't get her heart to quicken even though she felt the instinctual fear, her body seemed trapped. A rare breeze swept across the marsh and her pink hair tickled his cheek.
Thump.
His hold on her was almost loving; gentle, warm, somehow reminiscent of one of her friends or mentors instead of an S-class killer with the ability to end her life on a whim. His breath evenly fanned across her ear. Arm taught with enough intensity to keep her still, he leaned in even closer to whisper,
"Should I behead you," he turned slightly, watching her still. "Or let you choke on your own blood…"
His voice was like silk in her head. Deep and smooth and seemed to cling to every part of her brain. The pad of his thumb dragged across her cheek. She couldn't think straight. She was sure Itachi wasn't the type to play with his food; this was unreal. Her heartbeat in her ears, his voice echoing in her mind.
Thump.
The kunai slid across her throat, drawing a little blood. It was then replaced by a calloused hand. He yanked her head so quickly her vertebrae cracked, and she was so shocked she didn't have time to shut her eyes.
Crimson met her. She couldn't look away even if she wanted to. The spinning wheels of the Sharingan watched her closely, but there was no genjutsu. He allowed this realization to sink in, his face emotionless.
"Do you believe me now?"
The unspoken hung in the air around them. I could but I won't.
Thump.
She could only feel one thing at a time it seemed. Her heart rate continued its slow beat, and the pulsing in her ears was like the tempo of a summer as hot as this one, ringing out calm and deep. One thing at a time. She tried focusing on something other than the fear rippling quietly in her stomach, but she couldn't drop her stare. One thing at a time.
"Do not be difficult, Sakura-san." He insisted.
Thump.
"I am a shinobi of the Leaf. I wouldn't help you even if my life depended on it."
One thing…focus…
"Unfortunately for you, it does."
She stared into his eyes, at his face, at the grass behind his head.
Then she would die.
She felt her concentration slipping from his face; she registered the rest of her surroundings now, delayed, coming back to her attention all at once. The slow blood dripping like sap. The heat pressing in around them both, the sweat in her hair. The movement of the kunai somewhere outside her vision, the cool air as his presence around her vanished. The cicadas screaming into the humid dusky air. His fingers delicately, then hard, against her spine.
And then this was the only thing she could feel; an inner darkness swallowing her and a pair of disconnected arms slinging her over a shoulder.
Fuck.
Then nothing.
Itachi's mouth twitched, but his face was indiscernible as ever.