Sleeping Beauty
Pairing: ItaSaku
Thoughts/Dreams/Hand signals
Flashbacks
Inner Sakura/Dates-times-locations
Disclaimer: DNON
Chapter 1: Missions
May 25th, 6:00 am.
Sakura rubbed her itchy eyes and yawned sleepily as she shouldered the pack that was soon going to become her constant companion on the mission. Next to her, Naruto glanced at their old sensei then to her pale face with eyes that were just as red, but more alert because he was excited at the prospect of their new mission: an escort mission that would last a month, maybe more if they hit any snags. Kakashi was alert, though passersby would say that he was just as tired as his two ex-students unless they knew him well.
Kakashi closed the book he had been reading, a well-worn and infamous orange book written by Naruto's old mentor, "Ready?"
"As we'll ever be, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said, trying to sound like she was excited and failing. Kakashi gave her a measuring glance, noticing that her hands were on her abdomen, fingers absentmindedly tracing the scar that her red shirt was hiding.
Did she have that dream again?
"All right!" Naruto seemed to have been waiting for a cue from Kakashi because he was now grinning broadly. "Let's go kick some ass!"
"It's only an escort mission, Naruto!" Sakura called after him, as he was already through the gates. "We're not likely going to see any action!"
Naruto turned to respond, but, being the klutz he was, tripped and face-planted, receiving a mouthful of dirt for his trouble. Kakashi and Sakura had already caught up to him by the time he got to his feet.
"Way to kill my buzz, Sakura-chan." Naruto whined, making a face when some of the dirt got into his mouth; Sakura stuck her tongue out at him in response. Naruto gave her a broad grin to show her she was forgiven and then leapt into the trees lining the dusty road. Kakashi followed him a moment later, closely tailed by Sakura, and they were off. The only sign that they had ever been on the road was a small pile of dirt that Naruto's face had displaced when he had landed.
"So." Sakura said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the team once they had entered the trees. "What do we know about Himura Toshio?"
"He is a cousin to the daimyo in the Land of Rice," Kakashi said, "but he's not well-liked by any of the other nobles and spends his time pursuing his more carnal instincts."
"And he makes a ton of money by selling off the artifacts of his ancestors and people in other countries so he can live like a king." Naruto growled with disapproval.
"Naruto, I expect you to hold your temper around him." Kakashi warned. "The village cannot afford to lose him as a client."
"Yeah, yeah. Tell me something I don't know, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto pouted, adding a little more chakra to his feet and shooting ahead of Sakura and Kakashi. Neither of them called him back to his place in the formation; sometimes the blonde just needed a little space and some time to think.
Not a word more was said between them until they stopped to camp for the night.
When Sakura's turn came to be on watch, she sighed. It was going to be a long week to the Land of Rice. She only hoped the man hadn't lied about the level of the mission and that the trip wouldn't hit any snags.
May 26th, Sometime before dawn
The predawn hours were too cold for her liking. She huddled as far as she could into her sleeveless shirt and crossed her arms while she waited for the sun to emerge over the tops of the trees and bring some warmth and real light for her to see by. The small fire they had created last night had died sometime around midnight by her estimate and she dared not abandon her post to start it up again. She'd just have to be miserable until she could wake the boys—and she would, violently and with her foot, just for being warm and snug in their sleeping bags while she quietly stamped her feet and held her hands under her armpits to try and keep warm.
Maybe Naruto would let her ride piggyback so she could get some sleep—She had deliberately stayed awake, afraid the nightmare would come again and wake her any way. Her eyes itched and she reluctantly freed one hand to rub at them, wishing she'd remembered to bring eyedrops. She began going over multiplication tables in her head to stay awake because she knew she'd fall asleep on her feet if she didn't keep herself occupied somehow.
A sudden warmth covered her and she jumped—the sleeping bag Kakashi had just placed on her fell to the ground and she smiled sheepishly before picking it up.
"Why don't you start the fire up again and get some sleep; you look dead on your feet." Kakashi said, wrapping the cover around her shoulders for her again.
"Thanks." she said drily, her fist clenching it with more force than was probably necessary. "Like I needed you to confirm it."
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "Didn't sleep before your watch, did you?"
Sakura looked at her toes. There was a carpenter ant on her right big toe that she wanted to get rid of but it was providing a way for her to ignore Kakashi.
"You should tell someone—"
"I don't need to tell anyone anything!" Sakura snapped. "Quit treating me like I'm some weak little child!"
Now it was Kakashi's turn to be silent, and Sakura turned her back to him, resuming her watch.
"You and Naruto both... always protecting me. And Sasuke—" Sakura stopped that train before it got out of the station. Sasuke's name was too painful, too fresh, right now. "I was never strong enough for any of you, was I?"
Never. Why was it that she was always the one being protected? She was more than capable of handling herself, she'd proven it more than once. She wasn't some weak female that needed to be coddled.
"Sakura." Kakashi said firmly. "Look at me."
Sakura ignored him; he was deliberately dancing around the issue—Like always.
"That's not an answer, Kakashi," she said flatly.
Why won't you just answer me?
Just tell me the truth! Inner Sakura yelled.
"That wasn't a question you asked. Look at me, Sakura." Kakashi placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "Please."
She turned but didn't raise her bright green eyes to meet his. He placed his hand under her chin and inclined her head until her pale face was pointed at his masked one. She kept her eyes lowered.
"Look. At. Me." Kakashi repeated again, the tone in his voice carrying a command. Sakura looked. "You were never weak, Sakura. Never."
"But Sasuke—" she began.
"—Sasuke." Kakashi said. "Sasuke doesn't know the meaning of true strength. You do. Naruto does." he sighed. "Strength isn't gained by learning jutsu or by lifting weights. True strength comes from within yourself when you're protecting something you care about. When that time comes, you are always as strong as you need to be."
"And Sasuke doesn't see that." Sakura said softly.
"No, he doesn't." Kakashi smiled. "You didn't either for awhile, remember?"
"Yes. But I learned. So why hasn't he?" her tone was more bitter than she'd meant it to be.
"Because he refuses to. It's easier to believe that power is gained his way—He doesn't want the guilt." Naruto said, startling Kakashi and Sakura both. Neither of the two had noticed that the sound of deep breaths had been replaced by shallower ones. "And, Sakura, I never thought you were weak. You're one of my precious people. I want to protect you—even if you don't want me to."
"Don't I know it." Sakura muttered.
"You need to let go sometimes, Sakura. You don't have to be strong all the time. Let others be strong for you too." Naruto said, handing her his pillow. She took it and clutched it to her chest. "Sleep, okay?"
"...because you asked so nicely." Sakura said, smiling so that Naruto would know she wasn't serious.
"See you in a few hours."
The rain had stopped sometime around dawn, and Itachi thanked every god he knew of for that. The temperature had dropped below a comfortable level for him and the rain had somehow managed to find a path through the tree's branches to drip straight down the neck of his Akatsuki cloak—he'd nearly broken the jutsu, it had startled him so badly. Now he would have a chance to get at least semi-dry while they completed the ceremony, which could not be over fast enough in his opinion.
Kisame was as still as the boulder he was using as a seat, eyes closed in concentration—or perhaps sleep, Itachi knew that sleeping upright became a necessity while performing an extraction.
When had the process of killing someone slowly become so familiar?
He wondered, not for the first time, what the extraction must feel like to the Jinchuuriki. A bit like having a limb ripped off, he supposed, judging from the way some of them shrieked.
The echoes of his little brother's screams reverberated in his head suddenly, and he promptly focused on breathing.
Inhale...
1... 2... 3... 4...
Exhale...
1... 2... 3... 4...
"You awake over there, Itachi?" Kisame asked.
"Hn."
Inhale...
1... 2... 3...—
"Pein has an assignment for us once the extraction's through."
Exhale...
"What is it?" Itachi asked.
"Just a little thing in Mist since we're practically there already." Kisame said. "One of Kakuzu's contacts paid us in counterfeit money, so we're gonna remind him just what happens when you cross Akatsuki."
"Hn." One of those assignments. He'd rather hoped it would be for reconnaissance; he was tired of hurting people when Pein's goal was for a world without pain.
He snorted. Hypocrite.
"What?"
"It is nothing, Kisame. Would you like to remind the man, or shall I?" Itachi asked. Let him think I was contemplating how best to torture the poor soul.
"Samehada hasn't tasted blood for awhile." Kisame said.
"Very well."
May 28th, Eastern Border of the Land of Fire
Hana Inuzuka heard the whine the radio transmitter made just before her teammate's transmission came in. She and Kyoko, her nindog, halted on a large bough fifty feet above the ground, hoping it was good news.
"You there, bitch? Over." Only Tatsuki Hyuuga would go that far. She'd thought all Hyuugas had huge sticks up their asses. It appeared Tatsuki was the black sheep of the family. She couldn't even give him points for cleverness when it simply wasn't clever to call the Anbu agent wearing the dog mask a bitch, especially when she had a real one with her who understood human speech perfectly. Kyoko growled and she patted the dog on the head, letting the hound know they'd get their revenge later.
"Yes, and you should count yourself lucky that we need your kekkei genkai, dick." She snapped back, wondering if Tatsuki would catch the reference to his Rooster mask or think she was just retaliating. "What's your status? Over."
"I detected some odd chakra to the east, could be the people we're looking for. I think Hiro and Kaname are out of my range, radio them will you? I'm going to check it out. Over."
Odd chakra. Their targets were certainly odd, she recalled. A snake-like man with a medical nin for a side-kick and a defected Uchiha with a curse mark. She couldn't understand Tsunade-sama's reasoning for sending out yet another search party for the Uchiha when previous attempts had all failed miserably. She supposed it was to help ease the consciences of everyone who'd been involved in the first Sasuke retrieval mission and the ex-teammates of said Uchiha.
They probably wouldn't have even gotten the mission if Jiraiya hadn't told—Let slip, more like, Hana snorted—the hokage that Orochimaru was currently in a lair in the eastern portion of the Land of Fire, and Tsunade hadn't felt the urge to send Hana and her team on a wild goose chase.
"Monkey, this is Dog. Rooster has detected strange chakra to the east. What's your status? Over." Hana waited a minute and when no response came, she decided to try again. "Monkey, this is Dog. What's your status? Over."
Silence. This did not bode well.
"Rooster, this is Dog, Monkey not responding. Abort action. I repeat: Abort. Over."
More silence.
Shit. Shitshitshit. Why had she allowed the team to split up? Not only was it against protocol, but it was dangerous on the borders alone—And alone she was. She decided to try the fourth and final member of the squad, Kaname Yamamoto.
"Rat, this is Dog. Rooster and Monkey not responding. What's your status? Over."
Pleasepleaseplease let him answer.
Static, then "S-ran... not... gets... Akat... run... Dog!... Aaaaa—" Hana yanked the transmitter out of her ear.
That tore it. The entire team, save her and Kyoko were gone, and whoever had done it was dangerous enough to kill three Anbu, all within a short span of time.
She had to get home to Konoha before she was next. This had to be reported.
She gave Kyoko the hand signal for 'follow' and pulled a map of the area out of her hip pouch, scanning it for safehouses. They would rest there and resupply then tear off for Konoha like bats out of hell.
"One got away." Kisame said, sounding disappointed. He used one foot to nudge the man the voice had called 'Rat', presumably referring to the now broken porcelain Anbu mask the man had been wearing. No signs of life stirred in the body. Samehada had drained even the smallest bit of chakra from the man, causing paralysis while Kisame broke his neck. If he was alive, he wouldn't be for much longer.
"Hn." Itachi said, rubbing his temples. He'd had to use the mangekyou on the other two men and had gotten a huge migraine in return.
"Wanna chase after her?" Kisame asked, looking at him hopefully. "We don't want her to go tattling our position to that hokage of theirs."
"No. Pein's orders were to complete our assignment first." Itachi said, wishing the Anbu squad had picked a time to fight them when he was not still drained from the extraction—which they'd only completed less than a handful of hours ago.
"But she could cause problems for us later." Kisame said, resembling a blue kicked puppy. Itachi resisted the urge to snort at the mental image.
"I do not think so. It is at least three days' journey back to Konoha. She will rest at least a day in a safehouse nearby before heading out again. It will be a week before they return to this area, by which time we shall be long gone." Itachi paused. "Get rid of the bodies, and we will gain at least another week's safety."
"But if she's going to take a rest, we can get her then!" Kisame said, growing louder and more willful. Like a shark that's tasted blood, he wanted more. "She's within transmission range so she's close!"
"Kisame." Itachi said firmly in an I-will-not-hesitate-to-hurt-you-if-you-do-not-listen-to-me tone. "We still have an assignment to complete and haring off after a stray mongrel will delay that. Dispose of the bodies, and if we come near her again on her way to Konoha we will eliminate her." He turned to leave and Kisame reluctantly began clearing away all evidence of their fight, muttering mutinously.
Kisame caught up with him an hour later, looking pleased as punch, and Itachi figured that disposing of the bodies and removable traces of their battle with the Anbu members had cheered the blue man up some. Itachi looked at him briefly and knew he was forgiven for depriving him of blood, and the two began the short trip to the Land of Waves without another word between them.
May 29th, sometime around noon
The stone room was more like a cell than a living space, but it wasn't occupied but for a total of about two months out of the year. Currently, its owner was there, sleeping sprawled out on the dusty mattress wearing nothing but a necklace and a pair of boxers. In one outstretched hand rested a book, well worn, with a black leather cover splattered with dark stains. Nothing else filled up the space, but the floor was covered in spots similar to the stains on the book cover and torn shreds of clothing.
The only door in the room opened suddenly and light lanced across the room to splay across the man's face. He woke with a start, violet eyes shooting open and watering at the change. When he saw the man standing in the doorway, an expression of disapproval on the stitched up face he normally hid behind a mask and a head covering, he growled.
"Damnit, Kakuzu, this had better be fucking good!" he swore, using his book to cover his face.
"Pein has a mission for us." the man called Kakuzu said narrowing his eyes, "We are to leave as soon as possible."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" the man on the mattress said. "We just got back to the damn base and he's sending us out again?"
"Those are the orders, Hidan. I plan to leave in an hour—Don't be late." Kakuzu said, closing the door with a snap that made Hidan wince and swear he would never drink that much saké in one sitting again.
An hour later and Hidan had shrugged on the long black coat emblazoned with red clouds and slung his red, three-pronged scythe over his shoulder. He stood beside Kakuzu and the hidden panel that concealed the entrance to the base slid closed silently behind him. Thunder rumbled overhead and Hidan mentally groaned. Just when he'd thought it was going to be a dry trip, Pein had decided to make it rain again.
"So what do we have to fucking do this time?" Hidan asked, saving his broad yawn until he was finished with the question.
"The daimyo in the Land of Rice is sending scrolls with forbidden and rare jutsu to the Land of Rivers as a diplomatic offering. Pein sees the value in stealing those scrolls." Kakuzu said. "If he finds they are not useful to our goals, he has given me permission to sell them on the black market to fund some of our other ventures."
"Fucking money. Jashin-sama!" Hidan said, naming the bloodthirsty god he worshipped and sacrificed to whenever possible, "When you die, Jashin-sama will punish you all."
"I don't believe in your 'Jashin-sama', Hidan. I have told you this before." Kakuzu said and walked away, ignoring the other man's outraged yells.
The noonday sun was intent on burning the skin on the back of her neck; Sakura felt like it had a grudge against her for having such lightly colored skin and reached into the pouch at her hip for a bottle of sunscreen she hoped she'd packed—and remembered placing it in the bag on her back.
She sighed. Maybe she'd get lucky and Kakashi would call for a rest; they'd been traveling non-stop for five hours now and would be needing a break to eat and replenish their chakra, which was probably running lower than usual as Sakura's was.
"Here." Kakashi, as if he'd read her mind, came up beside her and handed her the bottle of sunscreen she'd put in her pack. "We'll stop for lunch in another half hour or so. There's a stream up ahead."
"Thanks," Sakura said, avoiding his gaze. She still didn't feel right after her outburst this morning and Kakashi smiled at her, knowing she'd need some time to reconcile her guilt.
"Naruto," Kakashi called, pulling ahead of her a bit, "don't get too far ahead! We'll be stopping in a bit!"
Naruto's gleeful whoop could probably have been heard throughout the entire forest.
When they finally came across the stream, a thin, almost dried up trickle of water, they halted to rest on the banks and eat the dehydrated meals they had packed. Sakura, being the lowest on chakra, took a hyorogan to replenish her chakra levels.
They rested there for a half hour, Kakashi occupying the time with his favorite book, written by an old teacher of Naruto's; Sakura used her pack as a pillow and dozed lightly to make up for some of the sleep she had missed over the past couple of days; and Naruto made it his goal to catch a crawdad with his bare hands, swearing loudly when he missed. Eventually he caught a large one about the length of his index finger, but as he was holding it in the palm of his hand, it was free to pinch whatever was closest to its pincers and it chose his nose; Naruto, startled, slipped and fell into the water yelling loudly in pain and woke Sakura.
By the time they'd finally extricated the small crustacean from his face (with no small amount of difficulty as it had decided it enjoyed being a live nose ring), Naruto had sworn to hate all crustaceans from that day forward and Sakura and Kakashi had sworn to never let him live it down. They set off again, Sakura frequently lapsing into giggles whenever she saw Naruto rubbing his freshly-healed nose gingerly—the crawdad had sliced right through the nostril flap. Naruto had gone into hysterics when he saw the blood and Sakura had gone into medic mode—until he was healed, at which point Kakashi and she had lapsed into gales of laughter.
When they made camp on the banks of the river from which the stream had originated, Sakura caught as many crawdads as she could and served them up boiled for dinner. Naruto refused to touch any of them, especially when she pulled a live one from where she'd hidden it and chased him around the campsite.
May 30th, 3 pm, Eastern border of the Land of Fire
Sasuke pulled his cloak around his shoulders, having heard that morning from Kabuto that Orochimaru had decided it was time to rotate to the next lair. Thankfully, he never had many things to pack, having lived frugally for nearly his entire life; his small messenger bag held nothing but one or two changes of clothes, spare kunai and shuriken, and a well-used whetstone that he was going to have to replace at some point in the near future.
He found Orochimaru and Kabuto conversing in one of the rooms they used for experiments on shinobi and announced his arrival by clearing his throat. Kabuto jerked slightly with surprise while Orochimaru merely smiled, licking his lips with his overly-long purple tongue.
"Good afternoon, Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru hissed sibilantly, shooting Kabuto a warning glance.
"Hn." Sasuke glanced at Kabuto curiously. "What were you two talking about?"
"It is nothing, Sasuke-kun. We were merely deciding which lair we will occupy after this move." Orochimaru said. "We have decided upon the one in Lightning Country. You will join us there after you have completed a task for me."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow in surprise. "A task."
"Yes." Kabuto finally got involved in the conversation. "My sources tell me that some scrolls of rare and forbidden jutsu will be leaving the Land of Rice soon to solidify relations between the Daimyo there and the Daimyo in the Land of Rivers."
"And I take it I am to intercept those scrolls?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes." Kabuto said. "You'll be leaving immediately."
Sasuke sighed. "Very well." At least he wouldn't have to deal with Karin for weeks.
That thought cheered him up considerably.
June 1st, 4:28 pm, the Land of Rice
Sakura flopped down on the bed she'd been given by the daimyo with glee, relishing in the feel of soft blankets and an even softer mattress after almost a week of traveling; Kakashi had driven them mercilessly but she was glad of it now that she was in a real bed.
She rolled onto her back and stared at the pale pink canopy with a little disgust; just because she had pink hair, everyone assumed that was her favorite color. She wanted to leave today, but Kakashi had decided they needed a break from the road and traveling with a civilian would have slowed them down considerably from their previous pace. They probably wouldn't have gotten more than five or six miles from the Daimyo's palace before sunset.
There was a light rap on the door and she sat up, calling the knocker inside as she did so.
Kakashi and Naruto entered, and her eyebrows shot up instantly. "What is it?" she asked.
"I thought we all needed to have a talk before tomorrow," Kakashi said, signing, with his hands, Something doesn't smell right here.
"Oh." Sakura said. Does it have to do with the fact that the Daimyo seems to dance around the mission? she signed.
Kakashi nodded. "May we sit?"
"Of course." Sakura scooted toward the headboard, leaving room for her two teammates to sit or sprawl out if they chose. Kakashi sat crosslegged at the foot of the bed, leaning against one of the posts that supported the canopy while Naruto flopped down on his stomach and let his legs dangle off the end of the bed.
"I think..." Sakura began, "I think we're going to see another mission like that first one to Wave." Her teammates nodded their agreement and Kakashi signed, Do you want to confront Toshio before we leave or do the mission and hope for the best?
I think we can handle whatever or whoever comes at us. Sakura signed.
I agree with Sakura-chan. Naruto signed.
"I wonder how Inari and Tazuna are doing?" Naruto asked, to keep their eavesdroppers satisfied.
"They're probably fine now that the bridge is finished." Kakashi said. I want to get a look at the scrolls at some point on the mission. I think the daimyo is lying about what is on them.
Agreed. Sakura and Naruto consented.
I'll distract him. Sakura signed. "You know they named the bridge after you, Naruto?"
"What?" Naruto shot up. "Seriously?" Sakura, I'm not going to let you distract that perv!
"Yeah. I went to Wave on a mission a year ago while you were still with Jiraiya." I don't need you to tell me what I can or can't do. I'm the best one for the job—And don't you dare suggest your sexy jutsu, that will only make him suspicious!
"I've seen it too, Naruto." Kakashi smiled. And I agree with Sakura.
"...Man..." Naruto sighed. "I'll have to visit sometime soon." Fine. But I'm watching and if he tries anything...
"I'll go with you, too." Sakura smiled. I'll be fine, Naruto.
It's time for us to head back to our rooms. My doppelganger says we're making the staff and the daimyo nervous. "I'll see you two tomorrow, we need to get some rest before we head out." Kakashi slid off the bed and Naruto followed suit. They left Sakura in her room, pondering just how she was going to semi-seduce their employer.
A/N: Okay, okay, I know... It's uber late. But I had to help this little old lady cross the str—*dodges missiles being thrown at her*
It's shorter than I wanted it to be but I wanted to give you guys something for being so patient with me.
You ever hear someone say "I work best under pressure"? Well, for me that's true. So. I want you guys to give me a reasonable deadline for the next chapter update and I'll try my level best to make it (Please bear in mind: I am starting college soon—on the 18th—And am also jobhunting like crazy with absolutely no luck. Also, evil plot tigers (Inside joke with my best friend) are leading me astray with promises of juicy stories (just look at my profile and list of stories to know what I mean). If I have a deadline, I'll work better, plus, I give you all permission to yell and otherwise rant your lovely reviewing hearts out at me for being tardy.
This chapter was absolute AGONY to write. Sakura just didn't want to play nice with Kakashi and Naruto, and Itachi (and several others who shall remain nameless) refused to act like theirselves. (Geez I hope he's in character this time 'round) Not just that, but I found a Harry Potter fic that was full of epic distractionage (if it wasn't a word before it is now, so there!) that made me forget I was supposed to be working on this (If you like Harry Potter the fic is called Hold Me While I'm Here by Nitte iz)
So, hopefully no one's too disgusted with me to review? Tell me if you caught any misnomers, spelling/grammar errors (don't have Microsoft word anymore so I'm using wordpad *cringes*), etc... You can just review to tell me you hate me for leaving you hanging again lol. I'll take it like a man... er... woman.
Okay, now I'm just rambling (I blame the kool-aid. NEVER let me make the kool-aid. Bad idea for all). R&R! And thanks for reading!