Soutou "Struggle"
Chapter Two: Clobbered
Struggle - the process of, or an act of, or instance of struggling.
The foreboding staring contest would have been impossible to miss by even a casual observer. Wide jade eyes locked onto black and red lifeless orbs. His eyes were exactly like the mug shot in his ANBU personnel file. He seemed emotionless, empty, blank. A hollow person, who had long since died even though their body continued to live.
Sakura was certain that she was giving herself away. It would be obvious to him now that she recognized him, and knew of him, by reputation at least. Her primary concern though, was how much he knew about her, and where he had gotten the information in the first place. Maybe he had guessed at her name? Maybe he was just teasing her the same way the other man had called her a princess? Her name was a little… ironic.
But no matter how she tried to rationalize her situation, fear kept her eyes glued to his. He looked down at her calmly, almost uninterestedly, but he too refused to look away.
"Do you two know each other?" the other man voice broke her trance and Sakura's head snapped suddenly to the side to look at him. He was easy to recognize as well, from the same Akatsuki file that Sakura had learned about Itachi from, only she hadn't gotten the chance to read more than his name; Hoshigaki Kisame. The pale blue mutant man had a hairless brow ridge raised in confusion at the behavior of the two people across the table from him.
"Not personally," it was Itachi who answered flatly. Seemingly unaware of or unconcerned by the earlier situation, he returned his attention to his food, picking up a tea cup and taking a tiny sip.
"What the hell does that mean?" Sakura wanted to interrogate him, but decided that it would be safer to stay silent, in case he knew very little. If she started questioning him, it might give him more information than her, which Sakura was certain was a bad idea.
Several minutes more passed. Kisame stared blankly at the wood grain of the table and sighed in boredom every few seconds. Itachi picked at his food, and Sakura, hoping to keep everyone happy, picked at hers as well.
Her mind rambled at her in an attempt to formulate an escape plan, which would have been somewhat likely, if Kattan hadn't gotten curious and toddled in from the front room. The chubby little black puppy cocked her head at the two strange men as if deciding what her next action should be.
"No, no! Ka-chan, run! Go away! If they mean to hurt me, they might hurt you too!" Sakura tried desperately to communicate the urgency of the situation to Kattan with eye contact alone. It didn't work out in her favor.
Kattan whined softly, and Kisame turned around to look at the little wolf behind him.
"Hey, look. A pup," Kisame pointed at Kattan for Itachi's benefit, who continued to ignore everyone equally in favor of stirring even more sugar into his already syrupy tea.
Kisame just seemed pleased to have something other than his tea to occupy himself with, "Hey there, Pup. Is Hime-chan your mum?"
Kattan yipped and wagged her tail happily before prancing over to the trio. She scrambled onto the bench beside Kisame and plopped her big puppy paws on the table in front of her opposite of Sakura.
Sakura held her tongue and stared at her tea, hoping things would sort themselves out without violence. They hadn't made an aggressive move yet, so she would just hold her ground and hope for the best. Maybe Kattan had a plan? At the very least, it couldn't hurt to play along.
Kattan suddenly began to sniff and snort along the table in the direction of the sweets that no one was eating.
"Hungry, Pup?" Kisame pulled some dango from the stick and sat the dumplings in front of Kattan. She lapped them up with enthusiasm. Kisame huffed out a single chuckle and continued to feed his new puppy pal.
"Sweets will make a dog ill," Itachi deadpanned from across the table.
"Don't be such a nanny, a few won't hurt," Kisame retorted, ignoring Itachi's warning.
Sakura clutched her tea, flabbergasted, "What the hell are they doing!?"
She was going to start asking questions at this rate.
Still slightly confused, the waitress returned to check on her guests, "Can I get you anything else?"
"The bill," Itachi replied. The waitress nodded, but reached out to give Sakura her bill before leaving. Sakura reached for the paper, only to have it snatched out of her grasp by Itachi, who sat it by his plate silently.
"You don't have to…" Sakura began but refrained from reaching for her check.
"Oh, come on, Hime-chan. Is it that odd to want to treat a pretty girl to tea and sweets?" Kisame snickered and Sakura couldn't stop herself from shooting him an annoyed glare. He just laughed harder.
Kisame finally stopped laughing at Sakura when the waitress returned with the final check. Itachi took it, and without looking at it, left the two bills under a sizable stack of money, which was obviously significantly more than the two bills combined could ever be. He stood, and gathered his things. Kisame mirrored his actions, then stretched and sighed loudly, "It's about damn time…"
Sakura stayed seated.
"Come."
He seemed fond of one word commands.
"I don't even talk to Ka-chan like that," Sakura stayed rooted to her seat.
"I am not overly fond of repeating myself," Itachi reached down and grabbed Sakura by her elbow, encouraging her to her feet a little less than gently.
"Why? What do they want with me? I need answers, there's nothing for it, I have to know," Sakura mustered her courage and looked him in the eye, again.
"How do you know my name?" she demanded an answer none too politely, and yanked her elbow free of his grip with ease.
Kisame rolled his eyes and whistled a little before making the decision to head for the door ahead of everyone else. Kattan hopped down from the bench and padded along on his heels. She looked over her shoulder at Sakura, as if asking her to follow, but Sakura's attention was elsewhere.
Outwardly, Sakura was radiating defiant fearlessness, though inside she was a mushy unconfident mess. She stared at him, waiting for an answer. Itachi stared back at her, and Sakura could swear she saw an amused smirk just barely form on his lips. Or was it his eyes that seemed slightly amused? She wasn't sure, since his expression was so abnormally blank most of the time.
Eventually, he broke the stare, and turned to leave. As he gathered Sakura's bags for her, he finally answered.
"Team Seven," then he silently walked to the door.
Numb, and her mind reeling, Sakura helplessly followed the S-class criminals out of the tea house.
The rain had largely stopped, but the sky was still overcast. The small break in the weather had drawn the village residents outdoors, making the streets more crowded than Sakura would have liked. Several paces behind the pair, Sakura noticed that they were not heading for the edge of town. In fact, the familiar path was leading them back to the Inn. Kattan had fallen back away from Kisame to rejoin Sakura, and she continuously glanced behind herself to make sure Sakura was still following. Sakura was lost in worried thoughts, and Kattan whimpered some consolation.
Sakura still didn't know what they were up to. Would they level this town like they had some others? Hopefully, they were just passing through. But then, why didn't they leave while the weather was cooperating? And what did they want with her?
"He knows me from Team Seven, from Konoha?" it made little sense to Sakura. While she was on the team, she was just a Genin, and a relatively useless one at that, as much as she hated to admit it. Then, a horrifying thought crossed her mind.
"Akatsuki is capturing the bijuu," the spy's voice had regained some strength, and his sense of pride was obvious, "What was the name of the Konoha kid with the kuubi? Oh, that's it. Uzumaki. Anyone familiar?"
The Akatsuki report on Itachi had mentioned an attack several years ago, reason unknown, when Kakashi-sensei had been injured. Were they looking for Naruto then? Did they find out who he was close to then?
"No, oh no," dread filled Sakura when she finally realized what their plans were, "They're going to use me as bait to lure Naruto!"
Sakura did her best to not reveal her thoughts through her chakra or actions, but Kattan turned suddenly to look at her and whimper loudly. Sakura scooped her up and cuddled her against her chest, which seemed to soothe the black wolf for the time being.
There was no way she was going to allow them to use her to hurt her friend, and potentially all of Konoha. She had to do something!
They would be underestimating her, since they had no idea how much she had improved since she was a Genin, or what she had been through. With the element of surprise on her side, she may just stand a chance against them. She had to at least try.
Sakura was no longer determined to escape, confident that they would simply pursue her and force her into a conflict that could cost more lives than just her own. No, she needed to make sure that they couldn't hurt her friends. She needed to kill them.
The realization was both unnerving and electrifying at the same time. Finally, an opportunity to use her ancestor's jutsu to help her loved ones. All she had to do now was wait for the opportune moment to strike, and use the element of surprise to her advantage. Kattan squirmed a little and whimpered more in Sakura's arms.
"It's going to be okay, Ka-chan," she whispered to the puppy, who only whimpered more loudly.
Ahead of her, Kisame turned around a stopped walking long enough for Sakura to catch up. He reached out and patted Kattan on the head and made a pouty face.
"What's the matter, Pup?" he asked in a baby voice. Sakura rolled her eyes a little, and kept walking with Kattan in her arms.
When the group reached the Inn, Itachi continued inside without skipping a beat. He gave the Innkeeper at her desk a curt nod and ventured upstairs. Kisame followed.
"Hey, hun," the Innkeeper got Sakura's attention in a hushed voice heavy with concern before she could head up the stairs herself, "Are you staying… with them?"
"Oh, it's okay. It's a little odd, the situation, I know, but they… don't mind," Sakura tried to reassure the old woman without giving too much away. She seemed placated for the time being, and Sakura smiled softly before going to her room.
"I'm going to have to wait until we leave town to start trouble," Sakura sighed inwardly, "It's the least I can do for the sake of the townspeople."
When she opened the door to her room, Sakura found Itachi sitting at the desk. She hadn't expected that they would leave her unattended, but she had actually hoped that the other guy would be watching her. At least he made for slightly more entertaining company.
Kattan was snuggled up on the foot of the bed next to Sakura's things, which Itachi had carried back from the tea house. She carefully rummaged through them, trying not to disturb Kattan as she gathered her things for a bath.
"I'm taking a bath," Sakura stated dryly to Itachi, who seemed preoccupied by the same paperwork he had been working on at the tea house.
He didn't look up as he barely acknowledged that he had heard her, "Hn."
"At least he's quiet," she grumbled to herself as she slipped out towards the bathroom.
Sakura hadn't really needed a bath, she had just wanted to be in a room, any room, that didn't have a dangerous enemy Shinobi in it. Two hours later, wrinkly as a raisin and still sitting in the cold bathwater, Sakura finally decided that the next best place to hide would be under her covers.
There was nothing left to worry about, as they obviously had no intention of directly hurting her yet. Killing the hostage would be the last thing on their mind. She couldn't further plot her attack either, since she couldn't act until they were well away from town and Sakura could be certain no innocent people would be hurt.
With a resigned sigh, she pulled herself out of the bath tub and slipped on a robe. For some reason, she couldn't bring herself to put back on the ugly clothes she had been wearing, but she hadn't brought the new ones with her. The clothes she had bought earlier were still in the bag on her bed, in the room with Itachi. She could always demand that he leave so she could change. Maybe she could lock the door when he left. But maybe that would piss him off. She didn't want to anger either of her 'captors' yet.
When she entered the room, Itachi was no longer sitting at the desk. Instead, he was sitting in the middle of the floor without his Akatsuki cloak, his back to the door, hunched over slightly and focusing on something. Sakura, her curiosity potentially getting her into trouble, tip toed over and peered over his shoulder. He was slowly, patiently, practicing kanji on a large rice paper scroll. His form was very good, and the kanji was perfect, but it was a little larger than Sakura was used to seeing. Just a personal style preference?
He hadn't said a word or acknowledged her at all since she had entered, so she returned the favor, and didn't speak to him as she pulled out her new clothes. They were humble civilian clothes, but they were pretty. A simple black tank top, with a little bit of lacy trim for good measure, and a medium length red skirt that reminded her of her old Haruno clan top. Sakura bought them because she hoped they would look good with her fighting gloves and her tall black boots. Well, they'd look better than the other things she had.
Kattan wasn't at the foot of the bed anymore, and Sakura realized once she had gathered her change of clothes that Kattan wasn't in the room at all. On the way to the bathroom to change, she peeked into the room across the hall. Kisame was gone as well.
"Did Ka-chan go with Kisame?" Sakura asked when she reentered her room fully dressed. She was too concerned about Kattan's safety to bother trying to win the 'I'm not paying any attention to you' game she had subconsciously started with her missing-nin roommate. He didn't look up or move at all.
"Yes."
"…Oh," Sakura sat on the bed, and waited for him to elaborate. After a few minutes of painful silence, she realized that he had no intention of filling her in voluntarily.
"So, where did they go?" she was certain the S-class criminal's strengths lay in something other than casual conversation.
"Lunch."
"…Oh."
Silence. Bored, Sakura finally flopped back against the pillows and did her nest to nap a little. Rest would be a good thing considering what she had planned once they left. Wasting her energy now could be potentially fatal later.
It was Itachi who eventually spoke again, "What did you need the scrolls for?"
"Wow, he said more than one word at once," she snorted to herself as she sat up to look at him. His attention hadn't left his calligraphy.
"I probably shouldn't tell him, just in case, but I really do need to work on that as soon as possible," Sakura hesitated a little as she considered her response. She didn't want to lie, certain he would pick up on it, so she took a play out of his book instead.
"Remembering a family heirloom," her cryptic answer seemed to satisfy him as the silence fell once again.
"What if he realized I was making fun of him a little? …Whatever," she snuggled down into the pillows and covers again, and began to recite Miharu's scrolls to herself, since Itachi's inquiry had reminded her of their importance. Eventually, she dozed off into a shallow nap.
"Squeak! Squeaky SQUEEEEEEEAK!"
Sakura groaned aloud at the annoying noise. It sounded like a small animal was being crushed to death, but the accompanying peals of puppy snorts that Sakura had come to interpret as laughter told her otherwise.
Kisame marched into the small hotel room with several white paper bags in hand. The aroma of take out food filled the room. On his heels, was a delighted Kattan, with a big red squeaky ball filling her tiny mouth.
She bit down on the ball with monstrous force, "SQUEAK!" The hapless ball's protests were only met with more entertained snorts of joy.
"Ka-chan," Sakura addressed the wolf cub directly, a touch of laughter on her voice, "Where did you get that?"
"Pup said she wanted it," Kisame answered as he set the food bags on the desk and began to rummage through them, "So I bought it for her."
"Squeak. Snort. SQUEAK! Snort, snort."
Sakura raised a suspicious and confused eyebrow, "He sure is being…nice."
"Here," Kisame pushed a box of food into Sakura's hands, "Pup picked it out for you, so don't blame me if you don't like it."
Sakura peered into the box. It was vegetable tempura, one of Sakura's favorites, aside from umeboshi onigiri, or course.
"Thanks," she smiled at the sharky missing-nin in spite of herself and dug into her food eagerly.
Kisame seemed a bit taken aback by the smile, but quickly recovered. He then handed Itachi a paper cup of hot tea. Itachi only 'hn'-ed in response, which Sakura assumed was supposed to translate as 'thank you.' His deliveries made, Kisame took up the rest of the food for himself and headed over to the other room.
"Squeaky, Squeak. Snort."
"Come on, Pup. If you're going to play with that thing go in the other room so you don't give Itachi a headache," Kattan cocked her head as if considering her options, then followed Kisame out, squeaking the ball with every step.
The hours dragged by, and Sakura began to get the sense that they were waiting for something. Both of her Akatsuki captors busied themselves with mundane tasks, something unusual for a Shinobi, unless they were waiting for something. As the evening waned into dusk, that something finally arrived.
The short, slightly chubby civilian mail carrier came ambling up the stairs and into Sakura's hotel room cautiously. He only carried one piece of mail, though his pockets were obviously full of something else, likely money.
"Uh, good evening…" the man was obviously a little nervous as he held the small scroll out, "It's, uh, addressed to a …uh...Fish Face-san."
Itachi sighed and approached the man, "I'll take it."
The mail carrier handed the scroll over happily, and quickly turned to leave. He glanced suspiciously at the pink haired girl perched quietly on the bed as he reached the doorway. Sakura gave him a big cheesy smile and waved. Confused, the man left, shaking his head.
The mail must have been important, as Itachi quickly headed over to the other room to find Kisame.
"About fucking time," she could hear Kisame cussing across the hall way, "They give any reason why the hell they didn't meet us at that tea house like they were supposed to?"
Sakura could barely make out Itachi's quieter voice, though she couldn't make out which one word responses he was giving to his partner in crime.
Eventually, they both entered Sakura's room again, with Kattan right behind them.
"Pack."
Itachi followed his own order to Sakura and began to gather his supplies. He threw on his Akatsuki cloak, followed by the wicker hat. It didn't take Sakura long to get ready, since she never really unpacked to begin with, and by the time Itachi had his things in order, so did Sakura. On his way out of the door, Itachi deposited another hefty stack of money on the desk, meant to cover both rooms, and then silently left. Kisame followed wordlessly, and Sakura and Kattan trailed along behind him.
Sakura was expecting S-class Shinobi to travel at the speed of light. So she was surprised, and honestly a little relieved, to discover that the travel would be at the speed of a casual stroll. Neither of her missing-nin escorts seemed in much of a hurry, and even Kisame's boredom seemed satisfied to simply be on the move.
They walked in silence like that, towards the south east, through the dark of night. It wasn't raining anymore, but the air was saturated with humidity, and clouds still filled the sky. Morning came grey and slowly. It was then that Sakura decided that they were far enough away from the village that she could safely make her move.
"Can we take a break?" she asked suddenly from behind the two men. They both turned to look at her. Kattan whimpered.
"Quickly," Itachi responded as he sighed and sat down right where he stood. Kisame wandered off to find a rock to lean against, and Sakura rummaged through her bag looking for a snack. Sakura tried to keep Kattan busy with some food. She must have been able to sense the upcoming battle, and was a wiggly whiny mess.
Neither of the criminal Shinobi seemed very focused on their pink haired ward, and Sakura was delighted that Kisame had wandered sufficiently far to give her a chance to get a hit in on Itachi before he could interfere. Itachi's back was to her. He was sitting hunched over again, and he seemed to be staring at the rocky dirt at his feet. It was now or never.
"Ninpou, Fukappatsu na Jikoku no Jutsu."
Sakura opened both of the first two gates for an extra flood of chakra she had never experienced before. The sudden spike in her aura brought both men into instant alert. She was pouring as much chakra as she could manage into the time jutsu, and still they both had such quick reaction times that Kisame was slow-motion running towards her, and making good progress, and Itachi had already turned to face her, crouched as he began to stand. His eyes narrowed dangerously, and he mouthed something that even in slow motion was too quick for Sakura to make out. Fast. How on earth could a person be so fast?
Suddenly, Sakura felt a pull at her mind. It was an odd forceful tug, and it immediately reminded her of Ino's mind switch technique. Itachi's Sharingan swirled, and picked up speed, and Sakura's world began to dissolve.
"No, no! Genjutsu!?" Sakura stared right at him, and like she had during the first Chuunin exams, she pushed her awareness to the outside world with all of her mental might. Her focus continued to melt, and soon she was stuck in a surreal world of red and black, but she still had a foot hold on reality.
In the Genjutsu world, there was another Itachi, talking, it seemed, but Sakura's primary focus was on her chakra in the real world, which she was gathering into a punch that would shock Tsunade herself. She couldn't wait much longer. Though she had only experienced milliseconds since she had slowed time, Kisame was halfway to her, and Itachi was standing, his hold on her psyche strengthening. She felt her consciousness begin to slip away as his technique intensified, and Sakura pulled her fist back.
With every last ounce of her enhanced chakra, Sakura swung her fist, aiming for Itachi's emotionless face. The first vestiges of surprise were the last thing she saw in his eyes before everything slipped into darkness.
A/N: Ouch. Don't mess with Sakura, you'll get clobbered, lol. I know I said I'd post the first chapter of 'Hesitation' before this one, and I did work on it (in fact I have the entire outline done now) but I got the urge to work on 'Soutou' first. Anyway, 'Hesitation' should be posted sometime this weekend or early next week, and the next chapter of 'Soutou' should be out late next week or next weekend, as long as work doesn't interfere. Thanks to all of my reviewers and watchers, I'm really glad that the story is appreciated by all of you!
