Sakura sends an arrow flying before she is even aware of drawing her bow, and she watches with satisfaction as it grazes past Sasuke's cheek before burying itself in the eye socket of the mercenary behind him. Sasuke rolls his eyes in irritation as he swings his katana in a backwards arc without even looking, smirking as he feels it cut through flesh and bone like butter.
"Hn. That's ten."
Four men charge towards them, weapons brandished, and Sakura brings up her bow again and nocks another arrow. She lets it fly until it lands with a sickening squelch in a throat, and her target crumples to the ground in a boneless heap. "Eleven!"
Somewhere in the distance, Naruto yells out "Twelve, bastards!" and the two of them sigh collectively. Sakura has never been one to compete in a game as silly as this, but Naruto and Sasuke bring out the competitive side in her. There is something fun, something cathartic, to be around people who embrace her strengths.
"Is this really necessary?" Neji asks, tone wry with exasperated disapproval as he dislodges his dagger from a corpse before throwing it at another man, hitting him squarely in the chest. "You underestimate how much danger we are in."
"Don't be a party pooper, Neji!" Naruto yells back, unapologetic as he charges headfirst into his opponent with his shield. "No harm will come to your pretty face with me around."
With all of their attackers now taken care of, Neji growls before moving to rummage through their belongings. It makes him uneasy, doing this; turning pockets and emptying bags – but it is a necessary evil for a greater good. They had fled home with nothing but the clothes on their back and the few provisions they had left from Sakura's trip to Iwa, and without looting they would not have made it this far. Just as he moves to empty the coin pouch of a second corpse, his ears twitch and instantly Neji ducks downwards, his head narrowly missing the swipe of a blade. His hands move to reach for the dagger in his boot, but just as Neji twists to shove it into the foot of his attacker, an axe ploughs into his face, sending him sprawling several feet away. Neji grunts his thanks, wiping the spray of blood from his cheek with his sleeve as Naruto walks over with a too proud smile on his face.
"What did you say, Neji? I didn't quite catch that."
"Neji! Be more careful next time, won't you?" Sakura cries, and is instantly by his side, examining him for any wounds.
Sasuke watches as Neji's frown softens at Sakura's arrival, and a strange, hollow feeling trembles in his gut for a moment at their interaction until he catches himself and looks away. He busies himself by wandering over to the dead assailant, yanking the axe out of his skull, hefting it expertly in his hands.
"Taken a fancy to it, Sasuke-san?"
Sasuke turns to regard Hinata. He finds it a little rude that her attention is focused solely on Naruto while she is talking to him, but he cannot deny that he is perplexed. Her interest in the blonde stupefies him somewhat – Naruto is the polar opposite to her, and Sasuke can't fathom a woman who would want to have his babies. His mind offers him a brief image of Naruto and a heavily pregnant Hinata, roaring with laughter as Sasuke is being chased around by a mini Naruto who is dressed just as obnoxiously in orange as his father, yelling out "Uncle Sasuke, play with me!", and Sasuke shudders. He can only take so much of the blonde, and he hopes that if his best friend did choose to procreate, that his babies would take after his wife.
Sasuke expertly swings the axe in a downward arc, cleaning it of blood, before answering. "No," he says, his free hand automatically reaching to caress the hilt of his katana. "Kusanagi is the only one for me. This axe," he continues, "It is…unrefined. Much more suited for a brute like Naruto." His lips quirk up into a cocky smirk.
"What did you say, teme?"
Hinata watches as Sasuke and Naruto start arguing, and ignoring Neji's frown, she can't help but giggle. She can't quite explain the unbridled joy that thrums through her entire being since Naruto's joined their party, but she suspects now that she has had a taste of it, she cannot imagine a life without him. His laughter is loud and infectious, very much like Sakura's, but it is his cerulean blue eyes and unwavering positivity that she cannot get enough of. She thinks of how he woke her earlier that morning for watch duty before deciding to stay up through her watch with her, and her cheeks dust pink. They had bonded over a warm cup of tea by the fire, and Hinata feels like she can now see men in a different light. Neji hasn't yet warmed to the idea of travelling with men, but she knows he will soon.
"Oh!" Sakura's sharp cry silences Naruto and Sasuke and brings Hinata out of her reverie. She is holding onto a blood stained flyer, and the colour is drained from her face. Her eyebrows are furrowed, and when Hinata sees the faces of their two new companions on it alongside theirs, she feels a sense of apprehension and doubt fill her entire being. The mercenaries they fought had been the first since Sasuke and Naruto joined their party, and she suspects more will come, with the higher bounty placed on their heads.
Sakura chews on her bottom lip nervously as she regards the flyer she has just found. Seeing Sasuke and Naruto's face on it, next to theirs has her feeling like she has just been drenched with a bucket of ice cold water.
"I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun, Naruto. Maybe you should leave us. You still have time to go back to Akatsuki, they might even – "
Sasuke's hand gently squeezing her shoulder silences her, and when she looks into his dark eyes, something in his gaze penetrates hers, and she lets out a shuddering breath.
It is not the first time she and Sasuke have understood each other with only their gaze, and albeit confused, she is thankful that they have this ability to understand each other without trying.
It's going to be okay, Sakura.
…
The clearing around them is littered with arrows and broken puppets and snapped strings.
Of course things are not as simple as Naruto and Sasuke make it out to be, Sakura thinks, as she bends over backwards, narrowly missing a blade coated in poison. As her attacker's arms withdraw, she takes the opportunity to push herself up, grabbing his sleeve to bring herself close enough to head butt him. However, he twists his body backwards and around her, aiming a back kick to her chest. Sakura staggers, releasing him. As she recovers, he takes a menacing step forward.
She quickly scrambles to regain her balance, and just as he is close enough, she snaps a kick to his face and sends him reeling backwards.
And what is it with Akatsuki and attacking in the dark?
Sakura uses this time to recover, reaching for her daggers that have skidded across the clearing. Her heart thrums wildly in her chest as she tries to recall what Sasuke and Naruto have told them about their fellow Akatsuki members.
Sasori of the Red Sand. As she mentally takes note of the various cuts and bruises she has sustained in under twenty minutes, she curses, finally understanding what Sasuke meant when he said Sasori was a powerful puppeteer. She can only thank the tradition of her people - her skill with a bow and arrow and her twin daggers meant that she was capable of fighting close and long range – it is the only thing that put them on level ground.
Sakura crouches forward, twin daggers in both hands, one extended towards him and the other held high. She takes a deep breath, then she lunges. Sasori sidesteps her to avoid her blade, drawing back on his own sword and slicing outward in a wide arc. Sakura only manages to turn at the last second, narrowly avoiding it, and brings her dagger up to sink into his chest, just under Sasori's ribs, the other following suit rapidly. Sakura feels him shudder before he kicks her in the knee, shattering her kneecap, effectively halting her movement and freeing himself as she crumples to the ground. She gives herself thirty seconds, breaths harsh in an effort to control the pain, before she forces herself up and off the ground.
After they both regain their composure, they trade several more blows, Sakura on the attack and Sasori defending himself and just as Sakura starts to think that she might come out victor of this battle, there is an explosion of sound, and the surrounding forest seems to vibrate. Her eyes dart to her left, where the explosion came from, and grunts in pain as she catches a kick to her sternum, reeling backwards from its force.
"Eyes on me, bitch," Sasori says, eyes angry, and then he is advancing on her again. Sakura barely has enough time to scramble to her feet before her dagger meets his blade, their faces only inches apart. He forces his sword against hers with both hands, and she is quick to use this to her advantage, her free hand moving to swipe her dagger across his face. Sakura swallows a lump in her throat as Sasori lets out an enraged cry before releasing his hold on his sword, taking her by surprise and lashing out with an elbow to her face. As Sakura's head snaps backwards from the force, Sasori picks up his sword and slices it down in an overhead swing, and Sakura stumbles backwards in attempt to avoid it, but she isn't fast enough, and pain encompasses her, gathering at her side where his poisonous blade strikes and it radiates outwards, as if it is shredding her flesh from the inside.
Sasori doesn't slow down. He quickly swipes the hilt of his sword into Sakura's sternum and aims a kick into her injured side, and she is sent sliding back, slamming into the trunk of a tree. The rhombus tattoo on her forehead starts to flicker, and he watches as the black markings start receding from her face until they disappear. His lips twist into a maniacal grin as she struggles to pull herself up, and he throws his sword aside and cracks his knuckles as he stalks towards her.
"I'll admit," he begins to say, "You're the best fight I've had in a long while."
Sakura blinks blearily as his shoes come to a halt under her nose, and she is yanked upwards roughly, his hands in her hair, fingernails scraping her scalp hard enough to draw blood.
"Did you really think you could take what belongs to Akatsuki with no consequences?"
She whimpers as he slams her head into the tree trunk, and her vision continues to swim.
"Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto belong to us."
The back of Sakura's head meets the tree trunk again. This time, its bark digs into her scalp, and she feels the slow trickle of blood down her skin.
"Thought you could recruit them for your own little mission?" Sasori lets out a chuckle as he tightens his grip on her hair, pulling her head forward, getting ready to bash her head into the tree again.
He leans in close, coming to a stop just as the tip of his nose brushes against her ear. "Where are they now, hime-sama?"
The impact, when it comes, is nothing like Sakura expected. Through half lidded eyes, all she can see is the blazing purple of Sasuke's Susanoo, and the unwavering security of the red and white uchiwa fan on his back.
"Right here."
Sasuke stands protectively in front of Sakura, shoulders heaving with an effort to breathe, mouth pulled into a vicious snarl. A hot flare of anger rises within him as he tilts his head just a little, taking in Sakura's broken appearance from the corner of his eye.
"I'm going to kill you, Sasori," he snarls furiously. The red of his Sharingan gleam dangerously in the dark, and instantly, Sasori knows he is done for.
A giant, skeletal arm grows out of the rib cage surrounding Sasuke, the rest of his Susanoo filling in with every second, and snaps forward, clutching Sasori in its fist.
Sasuke takes a step forward. His lips lift into a smirk as Susanoo tightens its fist around Sasori, and he watches with satisfaction as muscle and flesh continue to grow over its bones.
Sasori smiles coldly. "That may be so. But the elf will not be breathing by the time I'm done with you. You know no one survives my poison."
He starts to laugh, hysterically, and in seconds it ends in a sudden loud, wet squelch. Sasuke's Susanoo releases its grip and Sasori's squashed, bloodied stump drops to the floor in a broken mess.
"Sas…uke…kun…"
…
"You should get some rest," Neji says quietly. It has been just over a day since they arrived in Iwa, Sasuke remaining silent and unmoving beside Sakura's bed.
"Not until I know she's fine."
"She will be. Elven healing powers are second to none."
Sasuke snorts at this, and Neji's ears twitch and he clenches his jaw. He is not blind to Sakura's attraction to this man, and while he cannot say with certainty that he feels the same, Neji knows that there is something there, beneath his cool exterior. He is by no means fond of the Uchiha, but he is not so stupid as to pretend that Sakura would be alive without him. His hands curl into tight fists at his side at his failure to protect her. Protecting her had been his whole life; he had been raised with this thought ingrained into him, and he had failed. What would his father think of him? What would Tenten…?
Neji knows he will never forget the way his heart dropped when they found Sakura cradled in Sasuke's arms, bloodied and bruised and barely breathing. Hinata, cradling a broken arm from her own battle, had made up an elixir with the little herbs they had to delay the effects of the poison, and two hours later they had been found by a scout party the Forest Elves had sent out to investigate the disturbances in the forest.
He knows from the furtive glances his kin send them that word of Kabuto's betrayal has already spread. Neji doesn't yet know if Kabuto has already paid the Forest Elves a visit, and their leader, Nara Shikaku, has given nothing away, strong on his insistence that they wait for Sakura. But Neji prays that their lack of refusal to treat Sakura means that there is still hope for them. Without the support of the Forest Elves, there is no way for Sakura to reclaim the throne, and their effort this far would be for naught.
"Thank you." Neji's voice is smaller now, but the slight tilt of Sasuke's head tells him he has not gone unheard.
Sasuke leans back into his chair and tilts his head backwards, eyes closed. His message is clear, and Neji sighs tiredly and begins making his way to the door.
"Sakura would not want this from you. But send for me the moment she wakes."
When the door clicks shut, Sasuke lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding. He straightens in his chair, leaning forward just enough to press his left palm flat against her cheek. Her skin is still pale, although no longer cold and clammy, and he breaths a small sigh of relief. She is wrapped up in gold and silver sheets, and he can't help but think that she looks out of place. Everything around them screams royalty and wealth and for a moment, he tries to envision Sakura as a princess. He has never seen her made up, hair tied up in intricate up dos, never seen her draped in lavish silks he imagines she is used to, and for a moment he wonders if the Sakura he knows is the real Sakura. The Sakura he knows wears skin tight pants and light leather armour over a thin, white top. The Sakura he knows wears her hair down or in a messy pony tail. She is excellent with a bow and arrow and knows how to use daggers without a fault. She is…simple. Something Sasuke can relate to.
Memory of her daggers strewn across the forest triggers something in him, and a little wave of nausea washes over him at the notion that had he been a minute too late, Sakura would not be here right now. The pure, unadulterated panic that he felt when he finally realised that it was Sasori she was up against made him feel sick. He doesn't think he can forget the image of her broken and bloodied body, or the way she lay limp in his arms, body growing cold as Sasori's poison spread through her system.
A low growl escapes him and Sasuke runs a hand through his messy hair. He doesn't know why he is so riled up over her. He has never cared much for women, and now he finds himself spewing over every little thing he can relate to her. And she is an elf, no less. But he cannot deny his instincts. There is a raw need and desire to protect her. To keep her safe. To see her happy. Sasuke doesn't understand why he feels this way, but Naruto's constant nagging and an inkling in his heart tells him that he may like her, but the idea of anything resembling love and feelings make him want to recoil.
Tch. Annoying.
…
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed this one. Please review if you have the time xx
Also for you guys who are reading Lost At Sea, an update will come soon!
