i'm at turns hating and accepting what i've already written.
it's hard to resist rewriting what i've already submitted.
maybe i'm just hard to please.
read & review please.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Move along now.
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.private behavior.
-chapter three-
by a-happy-love
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mid-afternoon
Konoha
The hospital air was startlingly cool compared to the heat of outdoors. The gentle spring breezes had given way early this year till the streets of the village were encompassed in a slow bake. Cracks had already appeared in what had just recently been muddy streets, now hardened and dried to a pale, dusty color. The sweat on Tsunade's arms cooled rapidly as she strode past the receptionist desk, waving aside the nurses and attendants that immediately stood up in attention with her arrival. Tsunade ran up the hallway, the faithful Shizune at her side, quickly briefing the frantic Hokage as rapidly as she could.
"It's the team we sent out three days ago. A scouting patrol in Suna noticed flares coming from the desert around early morning today. They discovered the team in bad condition." Shizune counted off the members on her fingers. "They first found Akamaru, who led them to the others. Akamaru's being seen to now by Hana Inuzuka, at her compound. Kiba's got minor lacerations on his arms and a broken leg. They found bruises on Hinata, not to mention a case of heatstroke, but not as bad as the severe dehydration Chouji's suffering. All three of them have dangerously low levels of chakra reserves, but whether that's the result of extended activity or some chakra siphon is still undetermined."
Tsunade swallowed thickly, feeling her pulse beat from the pit of her stomach. If this was an enemy attack, this was serious. In lieu of the deterioration of peace treaties, Konoha was at risk for attack from neighboring nations, something it could not withstand in its current political state. Tsunade made a mental note to immediately assign someone to investigating the origin and reason for the ambush. She turned to find Shizune pointedly avoiding her gaze. Pulling the young assistant's arm, Tsunade looked urgently into her frightened eyes.
"That's not all. What about Sakura? What aren't you telling me?"
Shizune trembled, haltingly attempting to placate the Fifth. "W-we don't exactly know. Her b-body was not among the ones recovered. There are absolutely no traces of her anywhere. She's just.. gone."
-Oh Kami.-
Tsunade immediately had to fight to stifle the millions of thoughts swirling in her head. Despite her mind's natural inclination to jump from thought to thought, she forced herself to organize what she knew. It'd be the most logical course of action to trace the circumstances from the beginning. However, while anxious to attend directly to the matter of the missing Chunin, Tsunade felt another nagging worry press at her from the back of her mind.
"What about the medical emergency? Did Gaara-san request another medic-nin in Sakura's place?"
This time, it was Shizune who slowed her steps down to a standstill. Worriedly, Tsunade paused, turning back to examine the nervous young aide's face.
"Tsunade-san.." Shizune replied, biting her lip. "The Kazekage says he never requested Sakura. He never filed a mission form at all." The dark-haired woman shook her head rapidly, as though doing so would clear up her obvious confusion. "In fact.. I remembered this shortly after he told me.. Sunagakure began employing Courier-nin's a few months ago. The request we received arrived by flight; Suna no longer uses carrier pigeons."
Tsunade sighed, bringing a hand up to rub her temples. "Give me the papers with information on the rest of the team and the report from Suna. I want you to immediately correspond with the Kazekage and assure him we harbor no suspicion against Suna. Explain to him the entire situation and skip no details; Gaara-san is to be trusted. Tell him any information he can give to us in this matter will be invaluable. All clear?"
"H-hai, Tsunade-sama." Shizune hid her confusion over her mentor's lack of surprise and handed the older woman the necessary papers. She gave a quick bow and scurried away, leaving Tsunade to her own thoughts.
The fifth Hokage stood for a moment, letting the silence of the hallway envelop her. What had she signed up for when she agreed to this job? Tsunade sighed, flipping through the top of the stack of reports. Finding the information she was looking for, she started off toward a different wing of the hospital.
Even before Shizune had answered her, Tsunade had already partially guessed that the Kazekage had never been involved in the mission. A team left relatively unharmed, a single ninja missing.. It was highly unlikely anything fatal had befallen Sakura. All signs pointed to a kidnapping. Smaller ninja villages commonly had a history of having to deal with issues involving small bands of kidnappers that thrived on give-and-take situations with unsuspecting low-level ninja. However, this was a matter way beyond a normal abduction.
Sakura was no normal Chunin, something Tsunade knew better than anyone else. She had personally instructed her protege in advanced forms of amassing strength and taijutsu. Sakura's chakra control was formidable, leading into a natural grasp of genjutsu and ninjutsu. She was also quick, both in speed and learning, and by no means a reluctant student. Through a combination of inner resolve, determination, and an almost unhealthy supply of stubbornness, the only female member of Team 7 had more than proved her worth to Konoha.
Tsunade realized the grinding noise reverberating in her ears was coming from her mouth. Easing the friction on her molars, she reprimanded herself on her feelings. If she was going to find Sakura, her own feelings towards the girl would have to be set aside.
Coming at last to the door she was searching for, the Hokage waved away an approaching nurse and entered the room. There were three beds in the ward, each separated by individual curtains. The first bed was empty and a quick glance at the medical sheet showed that the occupant was currently undergoing examination in a different room. Hinata's prone form lay on the second hospital bed. Sensing nothing requiring her immediate attention, Tsunade left the girl breathing gently in slumber and turned her focus upon the third occupant of the room.
A young boy sat on the bed closest to the room's sole window. -Not so much boy anymore-, Tsunade reminded herself, recalling how he had acted two years ago upon finding out he lacked necessary immunization injections. The solemn figure sitting before her, neatly bandaged and dressed in a hospital gown was a far cry from the wailing boy back then. Kiba closed his eyes, feeling the uncomfortable heat of the mid-day sun shine through the window and onto his bed. Tsunade marveled at the change the few years had brought amongst the youth of Konoha.
-And if we wish to see this growth continue, we must stop these intrusions as soon as possible-, Tsunade reminded herself sadly.
Taking the nod from Kiba as acceptance as to why she was here, she stayed silent, knowing Kiba would speak when he was ready. She did not have to wait long.
"Four men. Akatsuki. They approached us in Suna, right before the village. Two flew away on a clay structure, but I assume they stayed close by to watch. The other two worked as a team. One carried a sword wrapped in bandages. Sakura got separated from us during the fight. We couldn't get near her without losing chakra, there was some draining field around her area." Kiba paused. "One of the members looked like a fish. A dead one. Weird blue skin. Smelled terrible," he added, wrinkling his sensitive nose in distaste at the memory.
"We went down hard," he continued with a wince. "Didn't stand a chance against him at all. I just remember it suddenly getting cooler.. might've been a side-effect of passing out."
Tsunade stiffened at the description of the attackers. So the Akatsuki was behind this. It was suddenly more complicated than ever. Based on the physical attributes given, there was no doubt; it had to have been Kisame and Itachi. "Did they use genjutsu on any of your team?" she asked sharply. The implications of her question hung heavy in the air.
-More specifically, did Itachi use his Sharingan?-
Kiba shook his head slowly. "No-o.." he began thoughtfully. "I was scared out of my mind though, really thought he would. Now that I think about it, he didn't fight much at all. I know he was there, Akamaru and I could smell him, but we barely saw him. He stayed in the back. Shark-face handled the grunt work."
Tsunade mused over the new information. Something was strange here. In all past confrontations, Itachi had never shirked from the opportune use of his most powerful weapon and had made good use of his Sharingan's genjustsu effects. If kidnapping was the prime motive, it would've been a reasonable tactic to use the Sharingan on the remaining victims to delay any future tracking attempts. Why would Itachi leave such a clear trail back to his name? Or had this all been pre-planned? It was plausible this was all part of an elaborate scheme to involve the Hidden Leaf Village in larger chain of events.
Scanning the room, Tsunade allowed her gaze to fall upon a shabby heap of clothing on a chair near Kiba.
"You left quite a mess here," she remarked, raising an eyebrow.
"Eh? Oh.. oops," Kiba replied sheepishly, noting the track of dirt on the floor. "The nurses just set my stuff there when I changed into this gown. It hasn't really been cleaned."
Bending down to examine the shoes lined up neatly under the clothing, Tsunade frowned.
"You say you were in the desert?"
"Yeah.. hey, that's strange." Kiba's eyes narrowed as he came to the same conclusion. "Any dirt on my trainers should've been rubbed off by the sand."
Tsunade was already searching through the discarded clothing. Finding nothing but a tiny leaf, she pocketed the bit of foliage and turned to the curious boy still seated on the bed. Thanking Kiba for his help, Tsunade did not let his pale complexionslide by her unnoticed. Sentencing him to another week's worth of bed rest, she flashed him her mostimposing glare, silencing any potential argument.
On her way back to the door, she heard Kiba call steadily after her.
"She's gone, isn't she?"
Tsunade set her head against the frame of the door, weighing the possible implications of his word before replying.
"We'll bring her back."
Straightening herself, the Fifth walked out of the ward.
mid-afternoon
Somewhere
Sakura woke up and screamed.
A large, blue-tinged hand immediately clasped itself over her mouth, covering the entire lower half of her face easily. Panicking at her sudden lack of oxygen and unable to open her mouth wide enough to bite, Sakura protested with a weak gurgle and did the first thing she could think of.
"Euugh!" Kisame removed his hand with an urgency and fervor ill-fitting to his gruff character. "Kunoichi," he ground out furiously, wiping his hands on his cloak, "the next time you wish to lick me, you may not be so lucky to be under the Leader's protection."
Inwardly, Sakura agreed with the shark man. Euugh indeed, he tasted just like he looked. After spitting out a decidedly fishy flavor, Sakura resolutely ignored the Akatsuki swordsman's dark mutterings and studied their surroundings. Judging by the sun and denser forest growth, she guessed they were about two or three days' travel away from the section of Konoha she had been accosted in. She had not been aware of any of the travel, meaning Itachi's genjutsu was something she definitely could not underestimate, not even with another lifetime's worth of training.
Judging the fish-like Akatsuki to be a danger that could take the backseat for now, Sakura decided to send out her chakra to scan the area. When she tried to pull out the necessary strands of chakra, however, she found she could not. Surprised, she tried again to no avail. It was like pulling water out from behind a thick dam. Her chakra streams were completely blocked.
There was no reason to panic.
There was no reason to panic.
Absolutely no reason to..
Okay. What the hell. She was a broken-down, newbie ANBU suffering severe chakra depletion and various injuries, all while in the possession of two murderous S-rank missing-nin who obviously had a purpose for her above her current understanding. Sakura took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. Fighting back now was pointless. Her body ached all over and she felt unnaturally weak.
She threw a suspicious glance over at a wrapped, oblong form resting against a nearby tree. It was giving off unnatural energy pulses she didn't need chakra detection to feel, and Sakura was willing to bet that it was the source of chakra problem as well. She had heard about weapons that absorbed energy during battle, and the vicious blade had been swung around willy-nilly during the brief skirmish in the sand. While she had been quick to avoid the slow swings, she now guessed the ultimatum purpose had not been to injure her, but to absorb her energy without her noticing.
Upon inspecting her fingers, Sakura found half the digits on her right hand swollen and blue, indicating possible breaks. She tried wiggling her fingers and immediately stopped, suppressing a sharp cry of pain. Yep. Broken. As she didn't have the energy to heal herself, Sakura checked for possible materials she could use as splints. Her medic equipment must've been left in the desert. She debated using fabric from her uniform, but her clothes were already ragged and pushing the decency limit. Wryly, she thought of what Naruto would say if he could see her now.
Her heart gave a lurch. Naruto..
The starry-eyed youth was still waiting for her back in Konoha, and with him the rest of the Hidden Leaf Village. Sakura took in the circumstances leading up to her arrangement. She couldn't be sure the rest of her teammates were unharmed. She didn't trust the Akatsuki any more than she trusted Naruto when he promised to hold her birthdays at locations other than the ramen bar. The problem was, she was fully in the grasp of the Akatsuki now. Whether or not they trusted her, she would be forced to rely on them until they decided she had done her duty.. whatever that was, and however long that would take. Gulping, Sakura tried not to imagine what would happen once that time came.
Before she could rid herself of mental images involving medieval torture devices and a cackling blue-skinned ninja sharpening his teeth with her ribs, a soft -thump- sounded from behind her.
"She's not meant to see where we're going." If Sakura hadn't known better, she would've thought the emotionless Uchiha almost sounded impatient. His voice was soft and controlled, his words direct without wasting breath.
In front of her, the blue-skinned ninja shrugged. "She doesn't know where we are, do you, kunoichi?"
"No," Sakura stated bluntly. "And I'm guessing you're not going to enlighten me." Suddenly feeling as though she had gone too far, she winced.
"Regardless," the Uchiha murmured, "we travel in silence."
"I can be qui-" Sakura spat angrily, hoping she was establishing a lack of fear for the Uchiha as she turned around, mentally preparing herself for spinning red eyes. Instead, she found herself facing a kneeling Itachi whose eyes, while crimson, did not rotate with the tri-tomoe.
"No," he whispered. "You cannot." Entranced by the lack of distance between her and the S-nin, Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. From up close, he seemed much younger than the lines on his face led one to assume. He couldn't be much older than twenty.. maybe barely even that. Sakura froze when she realized his fingers were on the back of her neck. Feeling a sudden jolt shoot from his fingertips, her eyes rolled upwards and she collapsed onto the forest floor.
Uchiha Itachi studied the unconscious figure at his feet. Bloodied and soiled, the renowned medic-nin was certainly not living up to her reputation. When he had first been called in about the mission, he had granted her a wary respect upon reading her list of credentials. However, her skills, or what he had seen of them in the past few days, were useless and nonexistent. What a waste of time. On top of that..
"She reeks," Kisame grunted, stating the obvious.
They still had at least another two days before they'd reach the safehouse where they'd be able to preform the jutsu that would transport them in spirit to the organization Leader. Itachi preferred the method of communication over actually arriving in body. Not only did it save needless extra travel, he wasn't sure if the Leader wouldn't just abandon the mission after catching a whiff of the girl. Itachi turned, allowing his cloak to settle around him before speaking.
"Don't let her scream again like that. Leader only wants her, not half the population here as well."
He paused, allowing the slightest crease to cross his face.
"Fix the smell."
With a leap, he was gone, leaving Kisame to the delicacies of washing their captive.
A/N: Sorry, not as long as usual, but I felt like it really had to be put out. xX
I have to apologize for the long wait. I had it all written out, but I just got so behind with schoolwork and other activities.
Still looking for a beta, please email me (address on profile).