Chapter 3:

a/n: third chapter folks owo

Anchored

A few days later, two delicate fingers and a thumb twirled a black eye-patch around carefully. After examining every side of it- the part that touched the eye, the front of it, the string that wound latch around the ear or head of the wearer- she made several observations. The user of the piece of clothing was suffering from a debilitating eye infection. Even though it had been submerged under her water for more than 48 hours, a thick sheet of disease (crusts, scabs, yellow infectious discharge) was apparent on the side that plastered onto the eye.

The captain's eye-patch fluttered down to a reef near her home sometime after their fight. It fastened itself to a large and serrated coral branch, and the Siren had just pioneered it. Her first instinct was to rip it apart, shred it into a hundred pieces and scatter it across her ocean. But upon closer surveillance (and the inquisitive sniffs of a few sharks who meandered by), she was curious as to what kind of infection had plagued him. If he was that well and calculated in a fight under the water, an arena definitely unfit for a human man, the disease must not be that toxic or life threatening.

Sakura clutched the eye-patch and looked down at her damaged tail. She wished that it hurt more than her pride.

It didn't.

Using her fingers to tug the brown porphyra seaweed shawled over her lacerated tail, she surveilled the damage done by the captain. It wasn't as bad as when she checked it yesterday, she was sure of that. No more fresh blood was clinging to the seaweed- it was now old and brown. The Siren made the decision to venture out again and retrieve more healing water plants and inks for her wound.

Sirens had a connatural way of healing swiftly and without error, but the grey haired man had really done numbers on the surface beneath her scales, on the soft velvety tail underneath, with his sharp weapon. He plunged the sword deep into her plating, almost far enough to come out of the other side. It wasn't a wound that would heal quickly, even with her kind's uncanny rejuvenation powers. The side of her body that ungracefully collided into the water when the captain hurled her down there by her tail would heal quickly, however. A few fractures were nothing to a Siren.

As Sakura wafted out of the deep sea cave she made her home at, its' top pervaded with so much coral, kelp, and anemones that its' opening was hard to see if one did not look closely, she was met with familiar purple eyes and a fanged frown. It appeared that the man that possessed these attributes was about to come into her home uninvited. It was his right to do so, after all. They were bound to be engaged in a few weeks.

Sakura attempted to go around him, but to no avail. She was in no mood to talk about her crushing defeat with that silver haired captain, nor would she ever be. Her wrist was aptly captured by Suigetsu. Her waist was also captured by his arm; in just a few seconds, she was being held bridle style by the man. Suigetsu swished his long tail calmly in the water, content on staying there until she fought back like she usually did. It was custom of her. The Siren had always wanted to be self-ruling, to be separate from all the rest. It was a crucial flaw that had her tail carved up like that currently.

Sakura crossed her arms and Suigetsu simpered. Sakura knew damn well that if she were to fight back and thrash it would prolong her healing process. She could rupture more veins and arteries that were already suffering in her tail. So she allowed herself to be carried by the man through the twists and turns of their underwater city, and then outside of their civilization to a little place always rife with fresh outgrowth and produce. No words were spoken during the terse travel until they arrived.

"I was going to take Kisame. I didn't need you," Sakura said shortly.

He let her go gently (which was very unaccustomed of him, Sakura thought mildly to herself), and she shook off his touch and regained her pride. Suigetsu's eyes hurtled down to her scaly lower half and then back up. He shook his head and began questioning her.

He commenced his interrogation by angrily asking her why she went alone, which pirate member did it to her, what province did the ship's sails belong to.

"I've went alone every single time, and nothing bad has ever happened to me."

"The captain with the silver hair, mask, and eye-patch did this."

"They belonged to Konoha."

Suigetsu slammed his fist down on the rocks surrounding the little garden. Sakura would get her herbs from here to treat the citizens of their city, and would catch the squids and octopuses littering around the area to ink them. She would hybridize the two substances into a curative elixir or philter for her people. Unofficially, she was the doctor of their metropolitan society. Everyone would come to her door asking her for advice pertaining their maladies (that their natural healing talent couldn't fix quickly). They would then follow up their queries with asking if she could treat them.

She had never had to use any of her mixtures on herself until now.

Sakura heard Suigetsu take a deep breath from behind her as she circled the garden looking for more porphyra seaweed.

"That was Kakashi Hatake, Sakura. Do you know who that is?" Suigetsu quizzed harshly. When he was met with no answer, he seized her wrist in the midst of her porphyra plucking. He was met with a frozen stare and a retracting of her wrist. Water bubbles rose up from the unexpected and abrupt movement.

"He's just a man I want to kill. Nothing more, nothing less," was Sakura's snappy retort. She continued harvesting the plants, turning away from Suigetsu. He grabbed her by the shoulders this time.

"This isn't just your average man, Sak'. This isn't your average victim. I admire your dedication to your personal cause of killing all these pathetic sailors. I like to kill too. But there are times when you can go too far; sometimes you can meet your match." Suigetsu drifted in front of her, his violet eyes silently imploring her to hear him out. He successfully caught her attention with this and continued.

"He's one of the best captains, he's killed a few of our Sirens. He owns a lot of the vessels and owns may of the men you've killed. I'm not exaggerating about his prowess in battle. He's too influential of a target," Suigetsu said. His eyes softened as Sakura lowered her harvest by the webbed belt underneath her bellybutton, symbolizing that she was finally listening to him.

"To kill a captain would be to weaken their whole system," Sakura said to her partner, "and if he's as influential as you're making him out to be, once he's down, the sailors will be easier to kill. Everything would be less risky without Kakashi Hatake around. Less filthy sailors in this world will do it some good."

Suigetsu circled around his future mate smoothly, his lengthy albino fins propelling him along softly. He assisted Sakura in picking her plants but began speaking again, to which Sakura blew out a huff of water. A large assemblage of bubbles ascended to the sky, to the sun's dying rays. It was almost nighttime.

"I'm going with you next time," he told her directly. He wasn't going to sugarcoat his command. He wasn't going to ask for her permission. This was an order.

Sakura responded with a little laugh along with a head shake. With a hand now on her hip and some seaweed in the other, she moved her chin upward to meet his authoritarian gaze.

"I don't know who you think you're talking to, but it's certainly not Sakura Haruno."

The night before she went out to kill him, she studied his eye-patch some more. She decided it wasn't a viral infection, but rather a bacterial one. A pathological one. It was mostly caused by the saltwater amoebas that littered the waters, as Kakashi probably spent many hours in the water without proper protection. She ruled out glaucoma and cataracts and other diseases similar to that; Kakashi Hatake looked old, but not old enough for his eye to wear down quickly enough for those illnesses to pervade.

Usually sailors would suffer from the typical scurvy, typhus (rat related diseases included), and hypertension. Not many sailors would spend much time in water, believe it or not, preferring to stay on board to operate the heavy machinery in the sail room and look over the ship's shot. Even the sea captain wouldn't take up too much time in the water. He would overlook and superintend everything on the ship from making crew-changes in port and accounting to responding to hijackers and killing other wayfarers to keep his crew safe.

So Kakashi Hatake spent many of his hours submerged in water. She knew that much from her examination of his eye patch.

Sakura waded furtively through the moonlit saltwater. The Siren had staked out Kakashi Hatake's ship for some time, about a week give or take, and memorized their patterns. More specifically, the silver haired captain's patterns. However, it was advantageous to know the habits and rituals of his crew members just in case something went awry in her assassination. They were to be docked in the Land of Earth and leave back to their home town, Konoha, in the morning. Sakura had opted to choose their last night as her time to strike because many of Kakashi's crew mates would be out drinking and reveling in Earth's local bars before departing, as opposed to normally sleeping soundly in their cabin for the night.

Sailors were always an uproarious, annoying bunch. Always exasperating and overstaying their welcome.

Kakashi Hatake could be made into an exception. From what she had seen for the past few days, he was a reticent and reserved man in speech. He acted with absolute jurisdiction, never breaking in character. He said what needed to be said and went on his way. She was not sure if it was arrogance that induced him to act this way or if it was just a natural reserved composition. She made bets on the former because every captain was the same.

Upon reaching the shores of Earth , she planted her elbows on the sandy banks. Tranquil ocean waves licked at her rosey fins, lapping all the way up to her waist. The foam from the water gurgled and dissipated as her scrupulous eyes watched Kakashi's already half drunk faction careen to the next bar closest to them. She recognized the bar; Ichiraku's.

Her mother used to go there all the time. She would never bring anything back for Sakura or her father, though.

It wasn't like they could go there with her, either.

Sakura dredged a hole into the watery sand with her flippers, becoming more and more infuriated watching Kakashi's crew wobble to and fro from the sidewalk and the street. They were having trouble opening (and reaching out and touching) the wooden flip doors of Ichiraku's. Their inebriated clamor made the sandy hole she was digging deeper and deeper. After finally succeeding in stumbling inside, Sakura decided to make her move.

The crater in the sand was all she left indicative of her presence. She was a master of the water, a stealthy aquatic acrobat. Sakura made no noise as she used her slender hands to push herself back into the sea without a splash. After glissading underneath the water undetected, Sakura's night trained eyes looked for the small opening that lead to a beautiful little lake in the middle of the Land of Earth. The fresh body of water was besieged by a variety of nature; apple trees, grapevines, and cherry orchards were littered around the lake. Colossal pine trees offered adept cover for this undersized area. There were so many pine trees in the Land of Earth that nobody bothered to infiltrate them, thinking that nothing important could be buried deep within.

Kakashi Hatake would spend his nights here, and sometimes his mornings. Before he would have to take account of all the possessions and stock and order his men around, he would lie on the sandy banks of this lake, cross his arms behind his head, and close his eyes. If Sakura could execute this assassination perfectly, it would almost be too easy. He was easily within striking distance once she was close enough. And she wouldn't even have to rise above the water much.

The aperture in the Land of Earth that served as a convoy to the lake was almost so minuscule one couldn't fit through. However, Sakura had every jagged rock and single string of kelp around the hole memorized to know exactly where it was.

Her father would dig his elbows into the shoreline waiting for Sakura's mother here. It was a little ironic, to say the least, that the place she had been conceived at was the spot she would kill at.

With a silver dagger, personally crafted by one of her city's only blacksmiths for her, strapped around her waist, the Siren dove down and slipped through Earth's crevice that lead to where Kakashi was. The tunnel almost swallowed her whole; this pathway was an excellent cure to ridding claustrophobia. She would be lying if she said she hadn't ever turned around and swam back a fourth of the way through out of fear for drowning, even though she could breathe underwater forever. It was a silly fear, but the watery subway was so asphyxiating that she thought she would die sometimes.

After a few minutes of paddling through the underpass, she reached the middle of the hole where it ended and gave way to the rest of the freshwater lake. Sakura moved deliberately, drawing her dagger without making bubbles pop to the surface of the water. Sakura's fins had never moved more softer. As she escalated closer and closer to the air, she heard a rustling noise. It moved away quick.

She peeped her head above the water, just enough for her eyes to be seen. The moon camouflaged itself behind the colossal trees embellishing the perimeter of Earth's lake. Nobody could see her. Sakura's trained, nocturnal eyes looked all around her; first her front and then to her left. She saw that Captain Hatake's bare feet were immersed in the water as she faced to the left. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the man's eyes were closed. His mask was off and bunched under his chin and an eye patch was lazily sprawled to his side.

Forgetting her personal mission for a few seconds, she observed his infected eye closer than she did when they were battling. She waded closer and closer through the water, being careful to not make one sound. The area around the corrupted eye was raised a little bit which indicated that it was inflamed. Suppuration oozed from the eye along with a scant amount of blood; it looked so harrowing that Sakura could base an educational conclusion that the eye had been ripped out once before. A botched transplant could be the cause of the exudation.

Sailors were never good doctors or surgeons.

Sakura arrived at the bank and lied in between his spread, outstretched legs. She rose up and planted her left palm into the sand, bending her tail for a little more leverage to raise her left arm up for a harder puncture and swifter strike.

Kakashi Hatake opened his one functioning eye to meet her resentful ones. He didn't even unfurl his arms from behind his mass of sterling hair, nor did he attempt to move away from her. His gaze was even lazy; it was half lidded, emanating indifference to the situation Sakura had put themselves in. Sakura was taken aback as she hovered over him.

Shocking Sakura served as a perfect ruse for Kakashi to snatch the dagger out of her hand and to pin the Siren down on the sand.

This time, it was a foreign arena for her.

It was his game the moment the crisp night air hit her body.

a/n: hopefully updating this story a few days later will make up for going like two months in between the first and second chapter

the reviews and feedback i'm getting for this story are phenomenal :)))) i write for you guys. thank you so so much

i'm torn between given you guys 2,500-3,000 word chapters and just giving y/all straight up a 10,000+ word one. i don't know which you guys prefer, so if you could take a little time to tell me which one is preferred that would b c

keep in mind the 10,000 word one would take longer to put up so that's why i'm a lil' hesitant

i love y'all 3