Summary: Sakura gets a midnight visitor. The forecast is bloody rain. ItaSaku
A/N: This is the result of several influences. One is Lady Massacre. I've only read one of her fics- Sacrifice- but she's awesome and deserves more support. Go read some of her ItaSaku stuff! She's awesome!
Someone else is ElfLady88. Her story "Am I Allowed to Feel Happiness After All I've Done" helped me find the feel of Itachi as a martyr. Go read it, peoples!
I also was influenced by Hogan's Heroes. Awesome show. For those of you that are not familiar with Hogan's Heroes, it's a TV show about WWII POWs engaged in sabotage and smuggling escapees and people out of Germany. They are stationed in a POW (prisoner of war) camp and are led by Colonel Hogan. Hence, "Hogan's Heroes". Anyway, that's where I got the "Unsung Hero" idea. They used that as a code name in one of the episodes.
I had planned on doing a separate one-shot titled "Unsung Hero", but it would up getting grouped with this "Whisper of the Night" idea. That one came from brainstorming for a penname for a friend, and I wound up with a story idea, lol. Funny how things turn out.
Anyway, I'll stop talking now. I hope you enjoy this story!!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I own this story, though. Don't get them confused and sue me. You won't get money. I'm broke.
Whisper in the Night, the Unsung Hero
The humidity spread dew across the summer leaves as the breath of night tried to extinguish the midnight's unusual fever. The air's weighted stagnancy began to prove the attempt unsuccessful.
The night was dead. Only the nonliving should've been crazy enough to traverse through it, unless they desired suicide through asphyxiation.
A shadowy ghost moved through the higher foliage of Fire Country with a spirit's tread. On this suffocating night, there was no one to catch a fleeting glimpse of the passing blackness, much less one with good enough eyes to pierce the dimly lit darkness.
His could, though. It was his burning eyes that told him that there was no one there to see him.
He was safe for the moment, he thought, landing on a high branch just outside Konoha's outer wall. His chest was heaving slightly in the heavy air that was so familiar on summer nights. His eyes of fire had led him back to the fire village that had once been his home.
And as he finished restoring his breath and heart rate, he jumped from the branch to alight upon the wall, letting his eyes scout his surroundings before guiding him down the familiar streets.
There was the majestic Hokage monument, the faces staring blankly ahead with blind strength. There was the Hokage tower, where he had received so many ANBU assignments, and where he had accepted his last in the secrecy of the damned. There was the Uchiha complex, where he had once called his home, where he had killed his heart and blood for the sake of the ignorant many. Where he couldn't kill his younger brother, and where he had subsequently turned him against himself. He had to atone. He had to have it from the hands of his younger brother. There was no one else from whom he could die until then.
The night lay still in serene silence, listening. The wind came to gently caress his bangs against his face, whispering sweet nothings as if it could console his sorrow and offer him quiet strength. The blissful village slept on, sleeping in ignorance of its past, just as unaware of the person whom it tarnished as he watched.
It was for this that he had martyred. It was for this spiting village that he had placed himself into exile; that he had murdered his own family, his clan; all he had ever attained. He gave up everything he could give. And still they chased him, ever hunting him for his crime. The crime he had committed to save them.
He had lost everything….
Gone in the fires of a forsaken martyr's retribution for his sins.
His life….
His reputation….
His home….
His family….
His younger brother….
His happiness….
Itachi blinked. No, that wasn't right.
They hadn't taken away all his happiness. Part of it still remained here, nestled away in a little apartment, a burning flame in a blooming flower that grew more beautiful each time he stopped to admire her passionate heart, bursting with love each time he came to call.
And it was his. The mighty cherry blossom's heart belonged to him.
He wasn't forsaken, the forgotten scapegoat lost in his suffering.
There was a flame of love within him. It was time to let it flame once again, and burn away all the despair of his heart. To remind him that there wasn't only darkness in the world, but the warmth of life and love. His star, the hope to which he continued to exist.
***
The dim moonlight illuminated her form as though through translucent glass. Watching her from a nearby rooftop, Itachi could see her sleeping form once again tangled in her sheets and her hair cutely tousled. He knew she would be embarrassed once she awoke and fuss, thinking herself defiled even at feminine-decided perfection; but, to Itachi, Sakura was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, no matter what condition she was in.
He waited outside for a few moments, just soaking in her radiance as she lightly snored. She was deeply resting, and he was loath to wake her, but this was the only night he could come. He wished he could spend it entirely with her, but he had also come to pass foreboding news to her and the village, just as he had always done when it came. He had gotten a little sidetracked with the unplanned dredging of his past life, but he had to perform the duty he came for.
Deftly and skillfully, he soundlessly jumped onto her window ledge, peering inside as he carefully steadied himself. Gentle raps on the glass resounded in the air softly as he tried to awaken the sleeping figure. Nothing. Patiently, Itachi repeated the window-tapping. This time, there was a slow stirring and a quiet moan, but Sakura didn't wake.
"Sakura," Itachi murmured.
She stirred a little, moaning again, something about 'it was impossible it was morning'.
"Sakura, your whisper's here," Itachi tried again, trying for an inside joke to jog her brain.
This time, he got some reaction. "My whisper… in the night….?" Sakura mumbled groggily, still not awake.
Itachi smirked to himself. She was always a bedhead. Deciding to try the nickname she had given him for a hopefully better response, he whispered, "Your unsung hero is here, your whisper in the night."
This time, Sakura's head shot up, her eyes blinking blearily. She must've finally cut through the fog, Itachi thought amusedly to himself. After rubbing her eyes a couple of times with her pajama sleeve, she turned to the window. Her emeralds glowed when she saw Itachi's illuminated form. "Itachi!" she whispered joyfully, leaping up to unlatch the window.
A quick click followed, and Itachi was soon climbing into her bedroom. As soon as his feet were planted firmly on the floor and the window was newly shut, Sakura threw herself into Itachi's arms with a quiet exclamation of, "I missed you so much!"
"I missed you, too," he murmured, pulling away slightly to take her in. "And I wish I could say I'm here only to see you."
Sakura's face tightened slightly, her eyes more alert. "Is something about to happen?" she questioned.
This was another thing he really loved about her, Itachi realized. Her ability to quickly adapt to situations. His eyes set, Itachi nodded.
Sakura's face hardened. "Whom, and when?"
Itachi let the silence rule for a moment before replying, "Akatsuki will attack in a week. The goal is the final Jinchuuriki."
Sakura's face fell, and Itachi knew she was worried for her nine-tailed fox friend. "Naruto…" she murmured. Shutting her eyes briefly, she was silent. Then she murmured, "Everyone?" She reopened her eyes.
Itachi nodded. "Yes."
She sighed. "I need to pass this to Tsunade as soon as possible."
"It would be best."
"Same correspondent name?"
Itachi smirked slightly, remembering the name Sakura had come up with. He gave a slight incline of his head to indicate his affirmation. Sakura grinned.
"Is that all?"
Itachi nodded.
Sakura melted into a serene smile. "Then we have the rest of the night to ourselves?"
Itachi's face became her reflection. He murmured an affirmative.
She drew him into another hug. "My whisper in the night…"
Itachi contented himself to hold her tightly in his arms for a moment, before drawing her into a kiss. When they finally broke apart, Sakura intertwined her fingers with his and pulled him toward the living room, where the apartment was cooler and they could talk and spend time together in peace.
The night was theirs.
***
The white stone was bathed in a golden glow as the morning sunlight washed the walls of the Hokage's office. The morning was warm, but cooler than the night before. Pleasantly warm, and the light gentle.
It was the calm before a storm. A storm that would bring torrents of bloody rain. It would destroy the world if the rain extinguished the flames of Fire.
Sakura stood before Tsunade, telling her the news of the impending attack. As Tsunade listened to her with her chin resting in her hands and her eyes a serious glint, she asked, already knowing the answer,
"Who is this intelligence from?"
Sakura responded, the hint of an internal smile coloring her voice,
"The whisper of the night, an unsung hero."
Tsunade quirked a small smile, deciding once again that it was in her best interest not to ask who it was if she wanted to continue getting information. The informant had never before failed them in accurate intelligence.
Raising her head from her hands, Tsunade called for Shizune to assemble the ANBU captains and Jonins in her office immediately. It was time to prepare for battle.
A/N: Okay, I know it sounded like there were a couple of lemon insinuations, but keep your dirty minds out of the gutter, people. I was trying to keep it from sounding that way, but oh well. I just don't prefer lemons. Some of you might've filled in lemons anyway. Can't stop that. Your perverted minds and sins of adultery. Lol. xD
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this. It's my first actual ItaSaku one-shot that isn't a song-fic. I feel proud. ^^
Surprisingly, Tsunade listens to Itachi's intel without asking who it's from, and there wasn't any other way to do that, so I guess that's what happens.
Well, please R&R! I appreciate your thoughts! (Also, please, if you're going to flame, I only ask that you be constructive and tell me how I'm supposed to fix whatever you found at fault. Honestly, flaming without constructive critism is no help at all. Destruction for destruction's sake is only that. Destruction. But I guess that's just my opinion.) Thank you all!! :D
~Spirit Seer