Considering I was half asleep while doing this, I sincerely apologize for any mistakes and the story's length. I couldn't write it any other time. After I post this, I might go dark for a bit due to my exams coming in April. I downed four cups of coffee for this….. review ok?
Anyway, I got enough people telling me to continue so I guess I'll have to plan out this story more. Hahaha.
READ AND REVIEW, GUYS =)
Chapter 2: An Agent's Definition of a Bad Day
30 minutes into mission, Location: The Blue Fin. Target: Hatori Kyo; spotted.
Tayuya watched the man cut into his fish with a knife and snorted. What was he trying to prove? That he was schooled in the ways of cutlery? "This is a fucking Japanese restaurant, and that fish is already cut! The fuck is this asshole doing?" All the man had to do was put the fish in his mouth, chew then swallow. Ta da! Done—easy. The extra cutting was unnecessary and, quite frankly, annoying. Sasuke put his hand on top of hers lazily. "Stop picking on him, you're bored. I get it." He smirked when Tayuya shot him a glare but complied; returning to her meal and shoving a piece of expensive-looking fish into her mouth.
"You look irked." She noted, her brown eyes casting her partner an observant glance before flicking her gaze back to the target. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched a little but other than that, he remained cool and collected. True, he was somewhat annoyed by the little squabble Sakura and Tayuya got into, but he was sure that a little bonding was going to fix it. After all the two females were alike in some aspects; hot-tempered, annoying, red-themed hair (because pink is a shade of red) and had enough guts to endure his presence—and to actually enjoy it.
Speaking of Sakura, Sasuke glared at his phone quickly at the memory of her childish text message before pushing a concealed microphone that was attached somewhere near is jaw; just few inches off his left ear so that the hair that framed his face hid it from sight. "Do you have a clear view of him?" he asked; his deep baritone hushed and muted. He was answered with a brief moment of static before Sakura's voice blared into his ear; clear, crisp and annoyed. "Unless he has a fish for a head and seaweed as clothes, no—I don't." she spat.
The Uchiha rolled his eyes at his best friend's reaction and turned to Tayuya. "Keep your eyes on him. They're seeing your food." He ordered. "You have an iris-cam too! How do you expect me to eat?"
"Tell her, you guys aren't there for a date. The point of this is to watch Hatori." Tayuya clenched her jaw at Sakura's statement. The bitch knew that she had an ear piece too, why course the order through Sasuke? "I hear you just fine." She grumbled before slamming down her knife and jerked her head angrily towards the man who was seated three tables in front of her and was still sawing at his already cut fish. This was going to take forever.
"I have visual." Sasuke heard Ino say next to Sakura. He let go of the mic and looked at Tayuya who was about to say something snarky. "My back is turned to him, If I turn around to look at him, we'll be discovered." He said, intercepting her rant. The red-head rolled her eyes and put her head on her palms, ignoring the Uchiha altogether. She was a seasoned agent; schooled in the ways of covert operations, and she did not like getting told what to do.
Although Sasuke had the right to order her around; he was the mission leader, since Kakashi was still a no-show. But that girl he called his best friend had no business with the way she handled things during a mission. So what if she wanted to eat a little? It was part of their cover—who goes to a restaurant and not eat? Tayuya grumbled a few curses as she watched the man destroy what was once a decent looking dinner.
She hated that pink haired bitch.
Chateau Le Blanc, 9:30 pm
Green eyes watched Ino as she stared into the screen; watching every movement of their target. "Drug dealers, why are they so eccentric?" Ino asked, noting how he was cutting the piece of fish into really small pieces. She was skilled at reading people, that was primarily the reason why she was chosen for the Interrogation division besides field work, but she couldn't exactly pinpoint any feelings behind Hatori Kyo's weird habit of shredding his dinner. What, was he incapable of chewing?
"Hey, Ino, You deal with the head and human reactions right?" she heard Sakura pipe up from behind her. "Not now, Sak. I'll deal with your denial over the ice-cube getting a girlfriend later." The blonde cracked a small grin at Sakura's obvious disdain over her comment but kept her eyes glued to the screen anyway.
Sakura, realizing that Ino was in full on business mode, plopped down next to her and looked into the second screen; the one that held Sasuke's video feed, "What do you see so far?" she asked as she squinted a little to eye a dark corner. It was their job to make sure nothing was overlooked. "Well besides that weird habit of his that is eating up so much time, he's pretty nervous." Ino answered shortly.
Conversation ceased as the two agents pondered on possible reasons for the current discomfort of their target. "Maybe he hates his best friend's girlfriend too." Sakura piped up earning a hard glare from Ino.
At the blonde's heated gaze, Sakura rolled her eyes and held up her hands; palms outward, indicating that she was dropping the topic. Throwing her friend a sheepish smile; Sakura mouthed a 'sorry' before speaking, "Must be from being out in the open," the syndicate had gone dark a few months ago; it must be new to be out for the first time; no arms, no bodyguards. "Could be," Ino said, dragging the sentence out.
9:35 pm, Location: The Blue Fin
"This is going nowhere." Sasuke mumbled, playing with a piece of rice on his plate. They've been seated here for over thirty minutes and he'd not taken a single bite from his plate of what now looked like baby food. What was this man doing? Thirty minutes and he was still playing with his food, did he have such a boring life that he'd spend so much time in a restaurant? He glared at Tayuya who's mouth twitched at his comment. "Well, look-y here. The patient Uchiha has snapped." She mocked, "At least you got to eat."
The Uchiha smirked. "You still thinking about food?" it was Tayuya's time to glare. "I really am hungry." She complained somewhat childishly, earning a scoff from the pink haired agent on the other end of the line. "Don't accidentally press the mic." Came Sakura's voice; devoid of any emotion.
Dark eyes rolled at her statement and decided to ignore the moody woman on the other end of the line and focused his gaze to the other emotionally riled up female who was seated in front of him; pouting. "Here, switch places with me." Sasuke offered. If getting some food in her would lighten her up, then he will feed her. "No. I got this." Tayuya stated seriously, her gaze not faltering from the man she was watching. Her remark put an impressed smirk on the Uchiha's aristocratic features. So she could hack it after all. Leaning back into his plush chair, he adjusted himself in his seat and glanced up at his girlfriend who wouldn't take his help.
"Let's go over the details." He said, trying to distract the girl from food as much as he could—considering they were in a restaurant, it was quite a challenge. Tayuya, however, complied to the given diversion and jumped on it immediately as if it were her saving grace. "We're monitoring him that's all we have to do. He's our only lead."
Sasuke nodded, grabbing his glass of water and taking a sip. "I don't understand why they chose us to do this." He heard Tayuya say. The dark-haired man regarded her over the rim of his glass. "This case is important. We can't afford an over-excited newbie to mess things up."
"Point taken."
Two girls were in their respective seats, both watching the video of feed they were each receiving intently. "You know for a second there, I thought he was going to feed her." Ino joked, breaking the comfortable silence and nudging Sakura with her shoulder, knowing that her friend would bristle at the statement. "Do your job, Ino." Sakura growled, lightly shoving the blonde for the unrequired comment. Ino scoffed and flipped her hair over her shoulder; a habit she developed that meant she was miffed, it was only moments ago when the pink-head was dying to talk about the Uchiha's relationship.
Baby blue eyes that were bored beyond belief, continued to watch the soundless video feed with scorn when something came to her. Ino straightened in her seat and eyed the screen more carefully; watching the man move with more careful a gaze than earlier and noticing the slight change in his actions. Ino took in a quiet but sharp intake of breath at her discovery; Hitori Kyo wasn't just playing with his food for fun, he was buying time. "He's waiting for someone!" Ino yelled, grabbing Sakura's shoulder and pulling the rosette to her side; pointing at the screen while doing so.
"What? How do you know?" Sakura asked in excitement and confusion. At this point, she'd take anything as long as it meant the mission was going somewhere. "You told me you saw nothing unusual."
Ino gave her a grin and tapped the screen repeatedly. "He's human." She answered, receiving a confused look from the rosette who was previously scrutinizing the man on the screen. "What gave it away; the breathing or the blinking?" Sakura asked sarcastically. "He got impatient." Ino clarified, ignoring the obvious insult and tapping the screen again, motioning for Sakura to look closer.
Sakura followed Ino's slim finger and focused on the man's face and noticed that every now and then, he would flick his gaze around the room and scan every table, even going as far as to twist around; he was waiting for someone.
Sakura jumped out of her seat and went to her own screen. She saw Tayuya check her phone then quickly stash it. It looked like Hitori Kyo wasn't the only one impatient; she stowed the snarky comment away for the moment. Something serious was about to go down and she needed the agents stationed in the restaurant to be informed. "Sasuk—Sakura was cut short by Ino's voice, followed shortly by Sasuke's; both conveying the same message.
"Sakura, gunshots,"
Sasuke let go of his mic and shot up from his seat, pushing past the sea of panicked rich people that darted past him, in their attempts to get away from the place that recently just turned into a battle ground. Two gunshots were fired from the opposite side of the room. Sasuke turned to Tayuya to strategize—but was cut off when she brushed past him. "Hitori is making a run." He heard her say before flashing forward faster than any woman could in heels and a floor-length dress.
That left him to deal with the gunman. "Fuck." He cursed as he pushed through the crowd and dodged a chairs that were being pushed back by the frantic customers. Whether this was planned or not, things were clearly working on Hitori's favour, "Sakura, pack up." He breathed into his microphone not breaking stride as he ran to where the gunshots were fired. If this was planned and if the assailants knew they were watching, he was sure Sakura and Ino would be hot targets; they had video footage; records of the incident.
Before he reached his destination, he pulled out his recon gear; throwing the eye-cam on the floor and stepping on it. He then proceeded to disconnect his mic and remove his ear piece; the girls were smart enough to come up with a story in case they were held up but if they were subjected to a search, they were pretty much screwed. Getting rid of communication was the only way for them to have an opportunity to weasel themselves out of discovery or at least, cause enough confusion for them to shoot the intruding party.
Sasuke caught sight of a panicked looking man with a very defined shape in his pocket, that could easily be a gun. He pulled the fleeing waiter and dragged him close enough to be able to ask him a question. "Who gave you the gun?" he asked quietly; his voice deep and menacing, a challenge for the layman to lie to him.
"I-I…don't know!" the man in white sputtered, sweat soaking his forehead and trickling down the side of his pasty face. Sasuke gave a feral growl. "What do you mean you don't know? The shots were fired a few seconds ago." Unless the man had the memory of a goldfish, he'd remember a face. The said man in his grip trembled and buckled under the pressure of the Uchiha's gaze.
His patience wearing thin, Sasuke's adjusted his grip on the shuddering man's uniform and banged the waiter against the wall. "You tell me what I need to know and I don't break your bones for assisting a criminal." A gurgle erupted from the man's throat when he was slammed hard against the wall. "I-I—he… They told me to shoot two shots between nine thirty five to nine forty or else he'd kill me."
Sasuke's eyes widened. It was a diversion; a signal.
And just as he put two and two together, another set of gunshots were fired.
BANG
BANG
"Tayuya." Sasuke whispered in slight panic.
Sakura zipped up her bags and ran to the door, Ino trailing behind her with her own share of bags. The Rosette twisted the knob and screamed in shock, dropping the bag to reach for her gun.
"Sakura, it's me." Ino breathed in a sigh of relief and adjusted the strap of her bag. "Kakashi! What took you so long?!" she heard Sakura yell as picked up the fallen bag only to have Kakashi snatch it from her once she had it back in her grip. Kakashi was clad in ANBU armor; the ones the organization made for the higher ranking officers. "Look at you, all dressed up." Ino mocked. "Let's go, we'll talk later." She heard Kakashi say before taking off.
The trio walked briskly to the nearest exit staircase, avoiding the elevator; in these situations, every convenient exit should be considered compromised. "Wait! We need to erase our trace from the hotel records."
Kakashi smiled through his mask and pushed the two girls out onto the staircase. "I got that covered. Now ladies, if you please, we have other agents down there." His deep voice was calm but were subtly laced with mild annoyance.
Sakura got the hint and pulled Ino down with her as she ran down the steps, her footsteps mixed with the blonde's echoing and bouncing against the cemented walls with every step they took. "Where's the car?" Sakura called out, glancing at Kakashi slightly before turning back to face the front—she had no intentions of falling.
"This staircase leads to a side-entrance, the car is waiting right outside." came his reply.
9:50 pm, The Blue Fin's Back Exit
Sasuke burst out of the door and scanned the vicinity; hoping to find any trace of his red-headed partner who'd gone off in pursuit of their supposedly unguarded target. Dark eyes saw nothing but dirty walls and three full dumpsters; no sign of Hitori Kyo or Tayuya.
Bright lights caught his eye and the Uchiha cast his gaze on a black car that pulled up next to him before diverting his attention back to scanning the dark alleyway. His ears picked up the sound of doors opening and closing. "Tayuya went after him." Sasuke said, glancing at Sakura who stood next to him. "We lost communication with her a few minutes after she'd followed him." His best friend put a hand on his shoulder. "She knows the meeting point. If she's not back in a few minutes, we'll send out an official search party. Kakashi and Ino are out looking for her now but we need to get the information to base before anything else" It was protocol, and though it went against every moral fiber in her to leave an agent, they had to make sure that the information was safe.
"It was a distraction." Sasuke told Sakura, his voice hard and clipped. He glanced at the door behind him and began walking to it; letting Sakura's hand fall from his shoulder at his sudden departure. Sakura watched Sasuke forcefully pull open the door and drag an unconscious man out, dropping what she presumed was a waiter, judging by his outfit, onto the filthy road.
The two looked at the passed out man in front of them; his head lolling to the side slightly at his awkward position. "Someone asked him to shoot." Sasuke said in annoyance before looking at Sakura. "I heard gunshots a few minutes after."
"But—
"I found her!" Ino yelled from the entrance of the alley. "She was in another alley not too far from here." She added, her eyes looking at Sasuke before turning to Sakura. "Kakashi's got her. She's bleeding heavily." Sasuke's head jerked up, taking in Tayuya's limp form; torn dress, dishevelled hair, bleeding wounds and all. "Sakura." He called his voice slightly pleading—though it was extremely subdued.
Sakura, forgetting her qualms about the red-head, reacted quickly and ran to Kakashi who'd walked in, carrying the half-awake girl bridal style. "Get her in the car, now. I have a medical kit in there." She said, her tone taking one of total seriousness as she ran to the car and opened its door to assist Kakashi. "How are her vitals?" she asked while Kakashi slid the girl inside carefully. "Her pulse is a little weak but it's there. The blood loss isn't that bad, either. Nothing vital was hit."
"That's good." Sakura mumbled, sliding into the car. There was absolutely nothing good about getting shot but, as far as getting shot goes, Tayuya's condition was considered 'good'; nothing vital was hit, not much bleeding. The medic opened her bag but closed it again. She slid to the door and stuck her head out of the door impatiently. "Oi, if you don't mind, I would like to get this girl to the hospital wing soon. There's only so much I can do in a car."
After her little remark Sasuke roughly shoved the unconscious waiter inside before sliding into the plush leather seats himself. "Yamanaka, take the front seat." The blonde who stood by the open door rolled her eyes at the blunt order. Where else would she sit—the roof? Keeping her remark to herself, knowing full-well that the Uchiha had a gun and would probably shoot her at his given disposition, Ino walked to the passenger's side of the car and got in the same time the silver-haired man did. "Do you have a gun on you?" he asked the blonde who shook her head in response.
Kakashi started the car but not before twisting to face the back seat and reach for Tayuya's gun holster. Ino wasn't packing heat and the silver-haired man wanted someone with a weapon next to him in case they were to get into a gun battle on the road. The half-awake red-head gave his hand a weak slap as if saying 'Don't touch my gun.' Her reaction caused him to recoil a little.
Kakashi gave Sasuke an annoyed glance before rolling his sole exposed eye. "Kids and their toys." He muttered quietly, returning to the normal sitting position. He shook his head slightly. Agents got too attached to their gun the same way kids did to their favourite toy; some childish habits never die. "Sasuke, lend Ino your gun." With a slight huff at his request, Sasuke reached forward and slapped his gun onto Ino's hand. "Bring your own gun next time, Yamanaka."
Ino clicked her tongue at Sasuke's moodiness making Kakashi smirk a little at the Uchiha's expense before he stepped on the gas. The black car jolted out of its stationary position and careened backwards and out onto the main road. He shifted the car to drive and sped off to the right at break-neck speed.
At the car's sudden acceleration, the man who'd been unconscious earlier awoke and blinked at Sakura. "Why hello…" he murmured sleepily, his head still on her shoulder. Sakura who was busy trying to stop Tayuya from losing more blood tried to ignore the man's flirtatious comment.
"I look better when I'm not in my uniform."
"Now would not be the time to start flirting with her." Sasuke warned, glaring at the sad excuse of a man beside him who was pressing up too much on Sakura for the Uchiha to be comfortable. "She has a gun." Kakashi added from the driver's seat, his tone too casual. The medic rolled her eyes and continued to apply pressure on Tayuya's wounds; said girl groaned a little when Sakura pressed a little too much.
"You people aren't very pleasant." The man retorted.
Sakura threw Sasuke an annoyed look, "How hard did you hit him?" The man was acting a loopy and it was getting on her nerves. She had a bleeding agent to tend to for crying out loud—one she hated, at that. "Look, you got his girlfriend shot. I wouldn't be making smart comments at the moment." Sakura jerked her head to Sasuke and right after, to Tayuya to emphasize the connection between the two agents.
"I'd also appreciate it if you stopped leaning on her." Sasuke stated gruffly, yanking the waiter by his collar to sit in an upright position instead of leaning on Sakura. "I thought the redhead was your girlfriend."
"She is." Sakura grumbled harshly, avoiding Sasuke's exasperated look by switching the bloodied cloth in her hands with a cleaner one. "I'm sensing tension here." The employee mentioned, glancing from Sasuke to Sakura and then a slightly longer look at Tayuya.
"Sasuke." Sakura called out, her tone heavy with forced self-control.
"On it."
There was a sick sound of a fist hitting a jaw.
Green eyes silently chastised the young man who was smirking at his work. "You could've hit a pressure point instead. It'd knock him out just as well."
Sasuke responded by cracking his knuckles. "He needed a punch in the face."
The team reached the ANBU headquarters quickly and were swiftly assisted by a flurry of nurses and some agents. Ino, upon the orders of Kakashi, took the nameless waiter to the interrogation unit while Sakura was whisked away by the nurses and was followed Sasuke.
Kakashi threw the keys at a junior agent before pulling one nurse aside and whispering a request in her ear.
X
Main ANBU headquarters, Level three: Medical Unit
The minute Sakura had successfully endorsed Tayuya to another medic, she was expected a little room to breathe before doing anything else. However, any prospects of a breather went out the window when a frantic nurse ran to her bearing bad news. "Haruno-san, someone's stolen another vial of that soldier serum."
Sakura let out a cross between a huff and a groan. Stupid trainees and their knack for going overboard on premeasures, the serum was to assist the agent in case something bad happens to them—not to make them invincible. "Do they think that stuff is going to stop them from dying?" she exclaimed, causing the poor nurse to jolt a little in surprise. "Be more vigilant during check-ups. I'll try to get the bottom of it as soon as possible." Right now she needed to just sit somewhere for five minutes.
Spotting a small bench-like chair that was against the wall; Sakura walked to it and ungracefully plopped down next to the sole occupant and let out a huff. "Scale of one to ten; ten being the highest. How fucked up was your day?" she asked.
Sasuke regarded her with a tired glance before answering. "Lost my target, fell for a distraction, my girlfriend got shot—screw ten, I give it a twenty."
"Got stuck with the boring part of the mission, lost the target, curious trainees are snagging soldier serum vials." And I hate your girlfriend. Sakura responded, leaving the last bit out. "Twenty-one."
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I seriously need to plan out this story on paper…. The hard part of CIA stories is making the whole 'event leads to other event that was secretly done during the last even' kind of feel. Go me. Anyway, this will probably be my last update for March. It's time to get serious for my ballet exams.
Written at 3:00 am, sorry for typos.
