Twilight – an Itachi & Sakura story.
By: MitsukiShiroi
Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto
A/N: For everybody who asked; I'm writing Twilight on my own now!
Dedicated to Eriko Ivanov for making the very first Twilight fanart and inspiring me greatly to continue with this story! Also dedicated to Zelha who re-awakened my muse from its deep sleep.
Pein is the Akatsuki leader; he finally got a name in chapter 363.
Chapter Two – Sleepless
If she closed her eyes and concentrated deeply she could still feel the warmth of his hand in hers. The scent that belonged to him; that strange mixture of forest and fire would never leave her nostrils and she relived that one moment when she met him over and over again. It was the only comfort she had right now.
A warm, calloused hand on her shoulder awoke her. Sakura opened her eyes to find Kimimaro hovering above her, a small smile adorning his lips. "You were probably having a good dream. I'm sorry."
She realized she had been smiling in her sleep. "Don't apologize."
He turned around and she quickly took a moment to stretch and sit up straight in her futon, running her hand through her hair as she tried to tame it. "Are you feeling better now?" she asked conversationally, glancing at Kimimaro's back.
"The coughing stopped," he said nonchalantly. "I don't feel fatigued anymore."
"That's good to hear," Sakura said happily. "Give me a moment to get dressed and we'll go get some breakfast before going to headquarters."
Kimimaro wordlessly stepped outside the room, calmly sliding the door shut. As soon as she heard him walking away calmly, she stood up from her comfortable and warm futon and changed into her uniform.
Feeling absolutely disgusted for wearing it again, she packed up what little possessions of hers that were scattered over the floor and stepped into the bathroom, hurriedly brushing her teeth and fixing her hair. As soon as she was done, she left the bathroom, checked whether she had left anything behind and then turned around to leave the room.
The second she stepped outside, she instinctively looked around for the man with the ponytail, but he was nowhere in sight. Feeling almost relieved, she walked away from her room to the room where Kimimaro was awaiting her. The only sound she heard was the sound of her own feet as she calmly moved away from the room.
When she reached the room, she threw her bag over her shoulder and slid the shoji screen open. On the verge of asking Kimimaro whether he was ready, she noticed another man in the room, clad in a black cloak with red clouds. 'Akatsuki', flashed through her mind as she dropped the bag and hastily grabbed a kunai from her pouch. Sakura quickly glanced at Kimimaro, trying to see what he was thinking, but like all shinobi she knew, his face was a complete blank.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed towards the figure. As he turned towards her, she noticed the gills on his cheeks and his grey skin. The Akatsuki member then grinned at her, revealing his sharp teeth.
He made an approving sound as he fully turned towards her, still grinning. "I noticed your little friend here and thought I'd stop by. Seeing as we are from rivaling organizations, it's always nice to know what the other one is up to," the man rasped.
"As I've said before," Kimimaro calmly spoke up. "We have nothing to tell you. Now leave."
The Akatsuki member sniggered and as soon as she blinked, he vanished. Before she could even turn around and look for him, Sakura felt his fingers pressing against her throat, cutting off her airway. Struggling hard, she tried to free herself from his iron grasp, but only succeeded in dropping her kunai. "Are you sure you have nothing to tell?" the man spoke up. A wave of nausea arose as she smelled the man's breath; rotting, as if something that had died years ago lied just behind his razor-sharp teeth.
"Let her go," the silver-haired man said, bringing his hand to the sword that rested near his hips. "Don't force me to attack you."
He pressed his fingers even deeper in her throat and she was close to losing consciousness when a deep voice from behind them called out. "Kisame."
Immediately, his grip on her was gone and she fell down to the ground, gasping pathetically, inhaling fresh air. Kimimaro made a sudden movement and stood in front of her, shielding her from the Akatsuki member that had attacked her, his katana half draw from his scabbard. Recognizing the voice that had become her savior, she looked up and met the crimson gaze of the man she had been talking to during the previous night.
His eyes enthralled her, and followed her every movement as she calmed down and stood up, grabbing the kunai she had dropped in the process. Boldly, she looked into his eyes as she stepped up next to Kimimaro, forming a front against the two Akatsuki members. The man called Kisame just grinned at her, watching her throat as if he'd like to continue his handiwork.
"Let's go," his partner said, in what seemed his usual, cold tone. "We didn't come here to start a war with this…organization."
The sarcasm laced in the final words of his sentence was maddening. Even though she hated Hakumei with all her being, it was as if Kimimaro was being mocked together with her, but they were competent shinobi and certainly worth some respect. She was about to voice her opinions, but Kimimaro gently touched her hand as a warning, as if he felt that she wanted to say something.
"Hm," Kisame said with a last grin, turning around. "We could have gotten some information from them."
The smaller man didn't reply, just mimicked Kisame's movement and walked away from the room. Kisame sighed and then followed him without even saying a word.
The two Hakumei members stood next to each other, listening to their footsteps as they walked away. Sakura breathed in deeply and shot Kimimaro an apologetic look as she ran towards the door and stepped into the hallway. "Sakura!" he yelled, but she didn't listen.
"Wait!" she cried out, earning their attention. They turned around to face her, Kisame still wearing that hideous grin while the other one just looked at her, his face not betraying any of his emotions.
"What is it kunoichi? Got something to tell us?"
She blatantly ignored Kisame's remark and stalked towards them without even fearing what they might do to her. The question she had to ask to him was so important; everything depended on it. Behind her, she could hear Kimimaro dashing out of the room, but she didn't stop walking until she was right in front of the man. "What is your name?"
A blank look. For a moment, she was scared that he might kill her on the spot, but to her utter surprise, he answered after an uncomfortable pause. "Uchiha Itachi."
Sakura swallowed hard, nodding her head. "Do you know where Uchiha Sasuke is?"
Itachi observed her for a while longer, his eyes never betraying what he thought of her for asking such a question, or if he even knew Sasuke. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that they had the same last name and resembled each other. Maybe she made a huge mistake by asking Akatsuki questions.
And then, he turned around and walked away from her, Kisame following him like an obedient dog follows his master. As they turned around the corner, the little spark of hope that had ignited inside of her faded away and the only comfort she had left was Kimimaro's hand on her shoulder.
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"She was sure a bold kunoichi," Kisame grinned as they exited the inn. "I never would have thought that she'd have the guts to run after us." He glanced at his partner, watching his reaction to see if it was safe to continue. Deeming it safe enough to try, he carefully asked: "Who is Sasuke?"
The Uchiha didn't reply, but his mind was reeling with mental images of a young boy dressed in grey shorts and a black shirt with the Uchiha symbol on the back. A young boy, screaming at him in despair as he ran towards him, thrusting a kunai towards his heart. A young adult wearing Orochimaru's colors as he held on to him, grabbing his katana with his other hand.
"Sasuke is…" he calmly started, contemplating about how he should describe the young man that had challenged him over and over again. "A failure."
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Sakura watched him as he coughed a little, obviously struggling to walk on, but he didn't say anything to her. Over the year, she had come to realize his feelings about his disease and how he disliked being useless. If she'd rush over to help him out now, Kimimaro would feel utterly useless and he'd get that distant look in his eyes, as if he were wondering how things would be if he wasn't ill.
For now, she'd watch him until his condition worsened. They were only a few hours away from headquarters and she knew he desperately wanted to reach it before sundown, not wanting to keep Orochimaru waiting for much longer.
She exhaled, following Kimimaro as he leapt into the air, landed on a branch and started to make his way through the forest. His moves seemed to be even more strained than before, but she held up hope that he might make it to the headquarters before collapsing. If that happened, it would be a much better scenario than spending the night in the forest with hardly any equipment to treat him.
As if he felt her hesitance to go on, Kimimaro suddenly straightened himself and started leaping from tree to tree in his usual pace. "Are you okay?" she asked worriedly. "If you're too tired, we can stop and- "
Her sentence was abruptly cut off as he raised his hand, signaling to her that she should stop talking. "I'm fine. Don't worry about me." He glanced over his shoulder, showing her his reassuring smile. Sakura smiled back halfheartedly, still worried but she knew that he'd tell her if he needed a rest. He placed Orochimaru before everybody else, and the way to be most useful to Orochimaru was if he lived longer. Kimimaro knew that if he'd force himself to do things his body couldn't handle, he'd die and the mere thought of her partner dying felt unbearable to her. "I won't," she replied softly.
They took a small break after a few hours, and as Sakura squatted down near the creek to fill her bottle with water, Kimimaro crouched down beside her, eyeing her before mimicking her movement. "You realize we're being watched?"
She smiled. "Yes."
"I think it's just a small team, two, maybe three shinobi," he continued as he looked up. For a split second, he looked worried before restoring his normal stoic gaze, but she had seen it and understood that they were powerful shinobi, and that Kimimaro was afraid that they might not be able to handle it. "I think we should-"
"Go back to headquarters," she interrupted him, closing her bottle. "And let the other Hakumei members handle it. I'm exhausted from the trip and you're not in any condition to fight against them right now."
She stood up, ignoring the shocked look on Kimimaro's face as she stowed away her bottle in her backpack and then held out a hand. He hesitated for a moment, obviously doubtful and not knowing what to do, but after a short pause, he resigned himself to the fact that Sakura's proposal was for the best and that they were only wasting time. Kimimaro accepted her hand and pushed himself off the ground. Quickly stowing his bottle away, he leapt away, followed by Sakura.
"Let's pick up the pace a little," Kimimaro said to her after a while, and although he tried his hardest to hide it, she clearly noticed the stress etched in his eyes. Even though she hadn't answered him yet, he was doubling his speed, showing that there was no time to discuss his suggestion. Although she was tired and worn out, she fought hard to keep up with him, knowing that if they'd fall behind, the others would catch up with them and they wouldn't be able to fight back.
But she was too tired to run, too tired to walk and too tired to even keep her eyes open. She had only slept for an hour, Itachi's face constantly popping up when she tried to close her eyes, reminding her of what she tried to forget. Her chakra was completely depleted and although Kimimaro usually noticed when this happened, he remained oblivious to the fact that she was slowing down until he heard her fall down.
Hastily, he turned around, jumped off the branch he was standing on and sprinted to the place where she fell down. Sakura lay on the ground, unconscious. He inwardly swore; this happened only when her chakra was depleted completely, but she usually warned him when she felt fatigued. Gently, he picked her up, held her tightly in his arms and started running towards the headquarters.
Whoever was following him would have to stop their chase soon; the other members of Hakumei that were guarding the place would attack them. As that thought crossed his mind, headquarters loomed up in front of him. Abruptly, he stopped running and looked up to see if he could spot one of the other members.
High up in the trees, he could see Sakon's head sticking out, lazily checking who was there. "Kimimaro, you're back?"
Sakon jumped down and landed on the soft patch of grass not far from where Kimimaro was standing. "What happened to Sakura?"
"Fainted, she's exhausted," Kimimaro hastily replied. "We have another problem though. We've been followed for a few hours now and they're getting closer."
"We know," the grey-haired man said calmly, still observing Sakura as she slept, her head leaning against the Kaguya's chest. "Kabuto left a while ago, he took Tayuya and Kidoumaru with him. They'll be keeping an eye out and exterminating them if they get any closer."
"What about Orochimaru-sama?"
Sakon looked up, licking his lips in the process. "He's been away since yesterday. It seems he told Kabuto he had some business to do and left quickly without talking to anyone else. Orochimaru-sama didn't even tell Kabuto when he'll be back."
Kimimaro nodded. "I'll take Sakura to her room then."
The Hakumei member watched his back as he stepped into headquarters and closed the door behind him.
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A knife, gleaming metal, cold. Long, white fingers like spiders over her face, cupping her mouth so that she could hardly breathe as he held it in front of her, taunting her, mocking her, showing her the blood that stained the cold metal. She could feel his breathing on her neck and watched as his long tongue slipped out of his mouth to diligently clean the blade.
Sakura woke up with a start, voices in the corridor had awakened both her and Kimimaro who had sat on the ground and had fell asleep with his head on her bed. He looked up, blinked a couple of times, and then put his fingers to his eyes, forcefully rubbing them. "Are you okay now?" he asked calmly.
"What's going on?" she queried, blatantly ignoring his question. "What happened to our pursuers?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. You collapsed near headquarters, so I carried you here and heard from Sakon that Kabuto, Tayuya, and Kidoumaru had been set out to eliminate the followers." With that, he pushed himself up and extended a hand. Sakura accepted it and climbed out of her bed, holding onto him for support.
"If you're not up to it, I can go alone," he said as she tightened her grip around his arm, almost unable to stand without any support. "You should rest some more."
"No," she said, forcefully, her eyes blazing as she looked up at him. Ever since she had joined Hakumei, it had become clear to everybody in her organization that she had low stamina. While the others taunted her about it, Kimimaro acted as if she was a small child that needed protection. She appreciated his kindness, but she was still a kunoichi. "I'm strong enough to go, I just need a moment."
He nodded, obviously understanding why she suddenly got mad and stood still for a couple of minutes as she readjusted to standing on her own. As he looked around for her boots, his eye caught the small wound that was located on her ankle. When he removed her boots, he had noticed the wound and tended to it, but the bandage was almost falling off. "Sakura, I think you need to retie the bandage around your wound," he said as he pointed to her ankle.
Sakura looked down and then smiled gratefully as she sat down on the bed and unwrapped it to check how bad the wound was. Kimimaro spotted her boots and grabbed them, handing them over to Sakura as she finished retying the cloth. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," came the silent reply.
"How are you doing?" Sakura asked him as she stood up. "Are you well enough to go outside again?"
"I'm fine," Kimimaro curtly answered. "The nap was enough for me."
"Okay," she smiled at his back as he walked towards the door and opened it. Kimimaro stepped outside and she hesitated, but followed nonetheless. "… Where is Orochimaru-sama?"
"I don't know," Kimimaro replied blandly. "Sakon told me he left headquarters last night and that they don't know when Orochimaru-sama will be returning."
Sakura resisted the urge to breathe a sigh of relief and trailed behind Kimimaro as he walked through the long, underground corridor. Previously, she heard someone yelling and footsteps, but it was completely calm now and the only thing she could hear was their resounding footsteps.
"Kimimaro, where are we heading to?" she asked as he made a left instead of a right. "The exit is in the other direction."
"The voices were coming from the backyard, rather than the entrance."
"Ah." Apparently, she wasn't as replenished as she thought she had been. Normally, she'd have known which way to go in an instant, but even if she concentrated really hard, she could barely feel any other chakra levels around them.
They turned around another corner and she suddenly knew that there was something very wrong as one of the new members of Hakumei, Kin Tsuchi, was lying on the floor, cradling her arm. With her medically trained eye, she could easily see that her arm was broken. Although her instincts told her to go to her and help her out, her mind quickly reminded her that arms don't break on their own account and that the group that had been following them had probably done this to her.
Kimimaro, who stood protectively in front of her as always, had his hand resting on the hilt of his katana as he readied himself. "Be careful," he whispered quietly to her, facing the stairs that led to the backyard. Sakura exhaled quietly, grabbed a kunai from her pouch. Together, they stealthily approached the stairs, barely making a sound. Kimimaro turned around, and then mouthed something to her.
Although she could barely hear him, she understood that he'd go first and he wanted her to stay back unless he required back-up. Sakura swallowed, trying to remove the lump in her throat while nodding. He showed something that resembled the shadow of a smile, and then he was gone. She barely saw his feet touch the stone stairs.
"Ah, another one came out," she heard a voice say.
It was quiet for a moment, and then Kimimaro's soft voice called out. "Sakura, come."
Following his orders, she hastened towards the stairs and exited the building, firmly gripping her kunai. As she stepped out of the building, she saw most Hakumei members standing in front of her with Kabuto standing in the middle, acting as the leading figure now that Orochimaru was absent. Kimimaro stood closest to her and kept his eyes on something, or someone behind her.
As Sakura turned around, she knew this had to be bad.
Five men dressed in black cloaks with red clouds on them stood a few feet away from her; Akatsuki. One man stood in front of the other ones, with spiky reddish-brown hair and piercing grey eyes. The man next to him had long, blond hair, his bangs covering up one of his sky-blue eyes. He was smirking at her as she joined the other Hakumei members.
The man next to him was small and a straw hat prevented her from seeing his face. As she looked to the other side of the leader her eyes widened in shock, Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame both stood there, staring at her.
Kimimaro obviously felt her discomfort as he glanced at her, but decided not to say anything for the time being. Both parties observed each other, and finally, the leader of Akatsuki spoke up.
"Where is Orochimaru?" he asked in a deep, monotone voice.
"Your name is…Pein-san, right?" Kabuto answered, a smile ghosting over his lips as he pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose. "It seems he's absent for the time being."
"And you have no idea where he went to hmm?" the blond man answered, before Pein could even answer. He was still smirking and looking directly at Kabuto. "Great leader you have there…Hakumei…yeah."
Kisame grinned viciously, baring all of his teeth. "What do you expect? He has run away from us before."
"Enough," Pein said quietly, but in a dangerous tone as Deidara sniggered. "When will he be back?" he asked Kabuto softly.
"Unfortunately, he hasn't informed when he'll be returning," their surrogate leader answered. "Will that be all?"
Pein stared at Kabuto, apparently contemplating over something. Although he wasn't looking at her, the intensity in his eyes was almost unbearable. It felt as if they pierced right through everyone and read their minds. As she glanced to the other Hakumei members, she clearly saw Sakon feeling somewhat discomforted and Tayuya was looking in another direction, avoiding his gaze.
She blinked, and then he was gone from where he stood and suddenly right in front of Kabuto, holding a kunai to his throat. Both Pein and Kabuto were the same height, but it seemed as if Pein was much taller than Kabuto; much more intimidating. It frightened her how fast he had moved, and even more so because nobody in Hakumei had been quick enough to stop him.
Sakura watched Pein as he bent forward to meet Kabuto's eyes, not blinking even once. "We'll be close by, so when Orochimaru comes back, tell him we want to have a word with him. If he doesn't show up within twenty-four hours, we'll pay another visit and do something worse to your members than just break their arms." Then, he smirked and removed the kunai from Kabuto's throat.
"I'm afraid I don't follow orders very well," Kabuto remarked, obviously fearless of the intimidating man standing in front of him.
"Is that so?" Pein said softly.
Before Kabuto could answer him, Pein punched him in the stomach with abnormal speed, then turned around and moved back to the other Akatsuki members. Kabuto fell down to his knees and vomited; several Hakumei members backed away in disgust from their supposed leader.
"We'll be staying at the inn in the nearest village."
Then he turned away and the five of them left the backyard.
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After healing Kabuto and putting Tsuchi's bone back into place, she was permitted to return back to her room, where she lay on top of the thin mattress that she called her bed, inspecting the stone wall and the carvings she had made in it ever since she was a child.
Sakura smiled as she recognized the attempts to carve Kimimaro's face, smiling at her. Another carving illustrated her tries to recreate the Hokage mountain, but the only face she remembered properly was of the Third's, since she saw him walking around in the village once in a while.
He had been a kind man, smiling at everyone, cheering people up, complimenting her on her choice of flowers that she had bought for her mother's birthday. A few years ago, it seemed he had died because of Orochimaru. Kimimaro had been there too but refused to talk to her about Konoha; telling her it was for the best if she just forgot about her hometown.
She curled up in her bed, pulling the thin sheet over her shivering body in an attempt to stay warm as she looked at the last drawing she made. She had been proud of it when she was still a child but while growing up, she realized it wouldn't ever be able to match the brilliance of the image that she had in her mind.
Sakura wouldn't be able to carve the intensity of his blazing crimson eyes, or his short spiky hair that seemed so soft. The look in his eyes when he turned around and asked her whether she was alright was something she would never be able to forget and the smell of lingering fire and forest would forever haunt her and was the only scent that could ever comfort her.
Swallowing hard, she looked at her drawings until she was unable to handle it anymore and turned away, folding her hands together as she sobbed, quietly praying that Pein would kill Orochimaru and she would be free again.
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A/N: Yes, is the answer to the question 'may we throw tomatoes at you for taking so long'. I'm very, truthfully, epically sorry that it took so long to update. For those who haven't read my author notes; I've been incredibly busy with school and such and to be honest, I'm kind of struggling to write more for the Naruto fandom, seeing as my love for the series is diminishing, which is heavily interfering with me being able to write at least a chapter a month.
I do however, plan to finish this story one way or another, it might take weeks, it might take months, but I will finish it. I just need to get my muse out of his coma.
For those who commented on the author note and can't review now because of it, you can still review anonymously!
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter!
Thank you Stem for betaing as always. You know we all love you!
See you next time!
-- MitsukiShiroi