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Chapter six
"Deidara, are you okay?"
The blond man looked at his three teammates. They watched him warily, suspiciously, but also slightly worriedly. He realized he looked as odd as he suddenly felt.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered grumpily, and then turned his back to them so they wouldn't stare at his face any longer.
Readjusting the collar of his shirt, he tried to remember what exactly was discomforting him. A moment ago, he'd abruptly felt heavier, warmer and... simply weird; kind of as if he had someone literally breathing down his neck. He had felt observed and vulnerable, and the only other times he'd ever felt like this were when...
No, that wasn't possible. She had not done something like that for years. Why would she suddenly care again? There was no reason. He just hoped that, if this was really about her, it wouldn't interfere with his mission. If Orochimaru found out that Deidara's every moves could be tracked anytime by someone like her, everything would be over.
"So how long is it gonna take him, huh?" Deidara exclaimed, turning back to his teammates and pretending to be completely okay again. "I'm not very patient, you know?"
"You must be now," Konan replied, gazing at the canal beneath them. "This man is an elemental piece for our plan. That is what Lord Orochimaru said."
"What is so special about him?" Sasori questioned, lazily leaning against the bridge's stone rail. "I still do not understand. Is it because he can deal with the half-breed better than anyone? As if handling a stupid teenage girl was so hard..."
"He is a high-class, experienced criminal," Nagato explained. "He can be very useful. Besides, you keep forgetting she is not just a simple girl."
"That's something I don't understand," Deidara said. "If she's half human, how can she be better than a normal vampire? It makes no sense at all!"
"We are not going to discuss that right now," Konan said, annoyed. "He can come at any moment. We must be attentive."
Deidara rolled his eyes at the woman's seriousness. Nagato and her thought they were the best pieces of shit in the entire universe. Deidara hated them. They were so not... fun at all. It was a torture to work with them. He damned Orochimaru for teaming them up for this boring mission.
Suddenly, he froze. There was someone watching him; he could feel it. For a brief, horrible moment, he panicked, picturing her watching him from afar and using their bond to get closer to him – perhaps because she came for forgiveness after realizing her clan did not matter more than her feelings. A stupid spark of hope blossomed within him as he looked around, frantically looking for those eyes he sensed upon him.
"What is it now?" Sasori asked, bothered, but Deidara ignored him because he had finally found the eyes – and instantly felt disappointed. They weren't her beautiful blue eyes at all; they were two pairs of eyes: one green and the other coal-black. He frowned, and his teammates immediately followed his gaze.
Who were they? They watched them from the left end of the bridge. They were not Italian and they seemed very young, barely out of their teenage years. The guy was tall, dark-haired and pale, and the way his body stood confirmed he was not human: he was yet another stupid vampire. The girl, though... she was not a vampire. She wore a green dress and red headscarf that hid her hair, and she was very pretty, but she moved like a human. What was she doing with a vampire? There was something off here.
"For fuck's sake," Konan said. She had a very dirty mouth when her patience reached its limit. "What is the Uchiha deserter doing here?"
"Uchiha deserter?" Deidara repeated, his eyes going wide.
"Didn't you hear?" Nagato asked calmly. "The youngest Uchiha son ran away, suddenly and without an explanation, breaking his arranged marriage with the Hyuga heiress and causing a major crisis in the vampire society."
"Oh. Sorry. I have never given a shit about vampire gossip."
Before Nagato could reply, Sasori murmured, "They're coming."
Deidara turned and saw as the couple started walking towards them, dodging the tourists gazing at the canal and enjoying the bridge's architecture. The Uchiha guy seemed determined, a bit dangerous even, but the girl was somehow nervous. They both obviously knew who Deidara and the others were. But the real question here was, what did they want badly enough to give them the courage to face four high-ranked criminals by their own?
Sasuke's heart was hammering. He didn't usually get this anxious; it was a strange, new feeling. But adrenaline pumped through his veins and his senses were sharpening. To be so close to danger... was kind of exciting. He was a vampire, after all; he liked action.
The only thing that really worried him was Sakura's presence. The Akatsuki did not seem to have recognized her, but perhaps it was just because they had not yet observed her closely. If they realized who she was, they would attack, and everything would be over. He knew she shouldn't have come, but she had insisted, and Sasuke had no way to tame her. He was forced to take the risk.
Finally, they were standing right in front of them. They stared at the two of them with questioning, annoyed gazes, and he stared back, memorizing their appearances: a blue-haired woman with cold hazel eyes; a sneering young man with long, blond hair; and two red-haired guys: one skinny and long-haired, and the other younger and seemingly aloof. One of those last two guys could be Sasori, Sasuke knew; but with the same red hair and fair skin, he had no idea which he was. He had been stupid enough to not ask Gaara what exactly Sasori looked like. He would have to find out discreetly.
"Yes?" the woman prompted, crossing her arms.
Sasuke relaxed his face's muscles. He numbed his mind with the memories of all those times he had had to appear pleased at family reunions and social events. From now on, he had to choose his words correctly and to be nothing but charming. "Hello."
"May we help you, Sasuke Uchiha?" the long-and-red-haired guy asked serenely.
Sasuke showed no reaction. He knew there was a probability he would be recognized; he was not surprised. "I am actually here to help you, Akatsuki members."
The woman raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "How?" she asked, confirming they were, undoubtedly, the criminals Sasuke and Sakura were looking for.
"You are waiting for someone, are you not?" the Uchiha asked, and then gave them a look he expected seemed suggestive and knowing. He wanted them to think he knew what they were here for, despite the fact that he was just guessing, based on their impatient expressions before they noticed him and Sakura.
"Oh," the blond man said, his frown dissolving into a surprised expression. "Wait. You work for Madara Uchiha?"
Sasuke froze. The fact that Madara Uchiha was involved,was enough data to figure out just how dangerous this whole thing really was.
"Well, that'd make sense," the woman observed indifferently. "He is your great uncle or something, isn't he, kid?"
Gulping, Saske glanced at Sakura. She was facing away from the Akatsuki, hiding her entire face except for her clenched jaw. Sasuke wanted to hug her right then, but instead he smiled again at the criminals before him. "Correct. Although, I beg you to please not say his name at loud. We don't know who could be listening," he said, hoping that would excuse their reactions to the mention.
"I thought he would come here himself," the other red-haired guy said, suspiciously.
Sasuke knew then that he had to hurry. If Madara was supposed to show up, he could do it anytime now, and he would see him talking with the Akatsuki and screw the plan up. "He is waiting for you in a place indoors. Meeting out here, at plain sight, can be dangerous. His path is not yet cleared up from persecutors, as you might already know." He hoped that was true. Shit, I'm risking too much!
"He should have told us that from the beginning," the woman said angrily. "We are not exactly free to roam around the world without other disguise than tasteless civilian clothes, either."
"I'm sure he will want to apologize for that," Sasuke said, telling himself to act like the most polite criminal accomplice in the world. "Now, can you please follow us? We will take you to the place."
On cue, Sakura turned around and started walking back to where they came from: the left end of the bridge. The red-haired guys followed her wordlessly, but the other two Akatsuki members lingered for a moment. "Who is that girl?" the woman asked, narrowing her eyes at Sasuke.
Sasuke improvised. "She is the owner of the place we're taking you to. She is now working for us after we threatened to kill her family. Don't be concerned about it; I have her under control."
"She seems..." The woman looked after Sakura thoughtfully. "Odd. Is she Italian?"
"She doesn't seem to, but that is none of my business, really. All that matters is that she is a mere human and that she is useful at the moment." Frustrated, Sasuke changed the subject. "Let's hurry, please."
"That place better not be far," the blond man complained as they followed the others, "because we came all the way from the other side of the world to this smelly city, and I refuse to travel any further."
"It is only a couple of blocks from here," Sasuke assured, allowing himself to believe it was all working out. "Trust me."
Sai arrived to the Rialto Bridge only a minute after the Akatsuki members, Sakura and Sasuke left. He was lucky to be this close to them, but unlucky to have not arrived moments before. He knew none of this, though; he was just exploring the city, seeking for a pink head in the crowd of Italians and tourists walking the narrow streets of Venice. He was just fulfilling his duty, both for the vampire hunters he was secretly betraying, and for the Akatsuki.
Still tired after sleeping only a few hours on his flight from Australia, he decided to take a break and admire the landscape around him. He leaned against the stone railing of the bridge and admired the river beneath him. The water glistened under the morning sunlight in a hypnotic way. He let the beauty of this view calm him, getting lost in his thoughts.
He could be somewhere else right now, doing something else, instead of this. He was created by the vampire hunters to serve as a weapon to destroy the only other weapon like him, and he knew that once that weapon was destroyed, he would be destroyed, too. But the hunters failed at something: they gave him intelligence and his own judgement. Now he knows he can do whatever he wants. That's why he is betraying them now: because he wants to. So, if it weren't for his strong desire to destroy his potential destroyers, he would be far away from Venice right now, living his life and not preying after a girl he did not even know.
Once this thing was over, though, Sai would finally be free. The hunters would be ruined, Akatsuki would be satisfied, and he would be entirely free. The world could crumble and fall into pieces, for all he cared. He only wanted his freedom.
With that pleasant thought in mind, he turned and started towards the street. As he turned, however, he happened to bump into a person walking in the opposite direction.
"Sorry," Sai said in his basic Italian, stepping aside to let the person through.
The person, a red-haired young man, did not say anything. He didn't even looked at Sai. He just continued walking forward, keeping his eyes on the cell phone in his hand. Out of curiosity, Sai glanced at the phone's screen quickly, and his good sight read an address... in Japanese.
Sai stood there for a few moments, watching the ginger guy go. He did not move like a human, and he also smelled rather... weird. This perked Sai's interest, and, after pondering for a moment, he finally decided to follow the guy.
The sun was setting when Shizune arrived to the Uchiha mansion. She was exhausted; she'd had two exams in the morning and a very busy day at the shop she worked at. Some friends from her school had invited her to the karaoke tonight, but she had had to decline. The only thing she felt like doing right now was sleeping until tomorrow.
In the spacious garage, she parked her car – which worked smoothly after Itachi made sure to fix it – and then dragged herself into the mansion, struggling with her books and her bag. Her feet hurt like hell and she longed for a hot shower. She probably looked like a zombie now. Nervously, she hoped Itachi wouldn't be around to see her like this...
All the lights were off and she had to make her way through the dark. As she headed to the stairs, however, she passed by the half-closed door of the dining room and heard voices inside. She paused and glanced inside. The little candles of the chandelier handing from the ceiling were lit up, offering orange, dim illumination. Below, Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha and Itachi sat at the table, talking in hushed voices and drinking what seemed to be red wine. Shizune frowned. It was close to midnight; why were the Uchihas having a reunion right now?
It's none of your business, she told herself, and reluctantly walked away. It wasn't as if she had any energy left to really care, anyway.
Once at the stairs, she painstakingly started climbing them. But when she was at third step, the door of the dining room opened and the Uchihas walked out. Mikoto was talking, saying, "...can make a deal with the Hyugas once Sasuke is back, maybe not by arranging a marriage again, but simply by doing some business. Perhaps we could offer them some actions of the company."
"But we have to prove we're trustworthy first," Mr. Uchiha said. "We told them that Sasuke wasn't a deserter and that he would come back eventually. He has to do so in order to-"
That's when they noticed Shizune, frozen at the stairs. The three vampires stopped walking to stare at her, surprise clear in their features. Itachi was the first to speak. "Shizune! What are you doing here?"
"I just came back from work," she explained, rather embarrassedly. "I'm sorry for interrupting. I - I'll just go to my room now."
"It's okay, honey," Mikoto said, smiling sweetly. "There's nothing to apologize for. Have a good night."
Shizune smiled back sheepishly. She turned to leave, but the stopped and, impulsively, asked, "Excuse me, I don't mean to intrude, but... is everything alright?"
Mikoto let out a heavy sigh. "Not exactly, dear. We... our clan, is going through some difficulties."
"Does it have to do with Sakura?"
"In a way," Fugaku said, his eyes sad and thoughtful.
Shizune chewed on her lower lip, worried. "Is there... anything I can do?"
"Everything's alright, Shizune," Itachi said, smiling reassuringly, although the smile did not reach his eyes. "These are just issues in our society. Vampire stuff you don't have to be concerned about. Sakura is safe with Sasuke, wherever they are now."
"Deal with your own problems, sweetie," Mikoto advised kindly. "We can manage the rest. By the way, how has Tsunade been?"
After hesitating for an instant, Shizune explained the most recent incident her mother suffered, and finalized with, "But it's all right now. She is stable and, well... we can keep on hoping."
"And on having faith on Sakura and my brother," Itachi added, nodding.
The young woman smiled back. She noticed how worried the three vampires seemed, and how hard they were trying to make it seem like everything was okay. She didn't understand why they wanted to keep it all from her, but she guessed it was just a matter of privacy. It really was none of her business, anyway. "Of course," she said. "Well, I'll go to bed now... Good night."
The Uchihas smiled softly at her. "Good night."
Gaara hurried through the streets of Venice, anxiously glancing at his phone, where the address Sasuke had e-mailed him a few minutes ago was displayed. Although the half-vampire wizard was stoic most of the time, it was at times like this when that facade broke. But who could blame him, when he was about to face the Akatsuki, the criminal organization even the most powerful people feared?
Why he had accepted to get involved with this situation was beyond his understanding. Of course, he had a valid reason: Sasuke had promised to pay him back in any way he could if Gaara helped out, and that sort of limitless favor was exactly what the red-haired boy needed lately. Still, he kept doubting. Was getting a favor worth risking his life like this?
At least Kankuro had come with him. He was too good of a brother sometimes, and Gaara was grateful beyond words. Right now, said vampire was following and watching him from a distance, making sure he got to where he would meet Sasuke without complications. Gaara hoped there would be no reason for his half-brother to interfere at all.
Not being used to the Italian streets, Gaara was having quite a hard time finding the place Sasuke told him he had to go to. The GPS in his phone was helping, but it was still confusing. Finally, he spotted the Rialto Bridge, which was not hard to find, and realized he was in the correct path. He hurried across the bridge, down the steps and back into the Venetian narrow streets. From then on, checking the names of the streets on his phone, the task became much easier.
A few minutes later, Gaara stood before the place, which turned out to be a plain-looking building, identical to the others around and easy to overlook. He checked the address one last time, just to make sure, and when he was certain this was it, he slipped his phone into his jeans' back pocket, braced himself and sneaked into the building.
He had no idea it was not Kankuro following him anymore, but an undercover ally of the Akatsuki.
Sakura breathed in and out, in and out, in and out. She could feel the criminals' eyes on her back, increasing the pressure she felt under, but she forced her mind to shut them out. Focus on the plan, she told herself, and then recited said plan mentally: Get them into the room, which is on the top floor of the building Sasuke showed you earlier, and when everyone is inside, close the door, wait for the sign, turn the lights off and let Sasuke and Gaara do the rest. When it's all done, reach for Gaara so he teleports you back to Japan, and that's it, it's over. It sounds easy, so it must be, right? You'll do fine. Don't be nervous. Don't.
Sasuke was a few steps behind, at the back of their little group. She heard him answering the questions of the bothered criminals, making more things up and successfully quieting their doubts.
"So how come you're in Mada– I mean, you-know-who's side?"
"I just like his perspective of the world. That's why I decided to join him."
"I see... I didn't know other Uchihas were still fond of him."
"I am not fond of him, not exactly. I just admire his work. I look up to him because he's good at what he does, not because we have the same blood in our veins."
"And does your clan know you deserted them because of this?"
"Of course not. But they'll find out soon enough."
He had a great talent, Sakura realized: he was unsettlingly good at improvising. The lie about being Madara Uchiha's subordinates disturbed her deeply – he was the man that had killed her parents and almost killed her, after all – but it had been a great cover, and that was all she had to care about right now.
However, the fact that Madara had something to do with this and that the Akatsuki members behind her had been waiting for him, God knew why, disquieted and confounded her deeply. Mostly, it was because she feared as much as she loathed him. If he appeared right now, if he found them before they got this over with, Sakura thought she would go berserk.
At last, they got to the building. The door was open, just as Sasuke said he'd left it last night. Sakura stepped inside and continued leading the way, up to the fifth floor, where the window-less room awaited. Her heart started hammering against her chest so loudly, she worried the vampires behind her could hear it. At least Sasuke had given her an excuse to be antsy by saying she was being threatened to cooperate. I'm a character right now, she reminded herself; an actress. My performance must be great. My life and Sasuke's depend on it.
When they got to the entrance of the room, Sakura held its door and let everyone in. Sasuke entered last, and their eyes met briefly as he passed by. His expression was grim, kind of scary, but in his dark eyes, kindness and reassurance flashed briefly, meant just for her. He had faith in her; he believed she could do this well. And just because of that, she would.
Everyone was finally inside. The four Akatsuki members looked around the empty spacious room, beginning to concern. Her heart beating like mad, Sakura closed the door softly and stood by the light switch, watching Sasuke and waiting for his signal.
"Where is Madara?" the blue-haired woman questioned.
"First of all," Sasuke said, still polite, "does Sasori no Akasuna happen to be among you?"
"Yes, what about me?" one of the men said, the one with short red hair and a handsome, expressionless face. Sakura bit her lip to keep her gasp in and gaped at him – at Sasori. He was the wizard who put Tsunade in a comma; he was the source of one of her misfortunes; he was the one she and Sasuke were here for.
After a long, frozen moment of silence, Sasuke finally screamed, "Now!"
The criminals had no time to react. Sakura turned the lights off and the room was left pitch-black. The vampires, and even her half-breed self, could see well in the dark, but the Akatsuki members were caught completely off guard. She watched, paralyzed against the wall, as Sasuke lunged at the two other vampires: the woman and the long-haired ginger. He threw them against the closest wall, denting it, and then started beating them up.
The two wizards were blind and hysteric at first, but then, when they heard the crash, their hands started to glow – no, to catch on fire, but the flames were not normal; the blond guy's were crimson and Sasori's were green. The fires lit up the room, making Sasuke's night-vision no longer an advantage. Together, they lunged at the young vampire. Two against one.
In that same instant, the door of the room burst open, allowing blinding daylight in. Sakura didn't allow herself to shut her eyes; she resisted the sudden brightness and witnessed as Gaara stormed into the room, his hands covered in fire the same color as the blond wizard's, and fought along Sasuke.
"Deidara, Sasori," the red-haired boy greeted the two shocked wizards, emotionless. "It's been a while."
"Why are you here!" Temari's psychotic ex-boyfriend exclaimed, his face crisped with anger and confusion. "What the hell is going on!" Instead of answering, Gaara sent his flaming fists towards him, and they started to fight.
Sasori was dealing with Sasuke. His green fire was deadly, but the Uchiha was very fast, even for an average vampire, so the wizard was having a hard time. Suddenly, Sasuke crouched down and tried to kick him in the stomach, and Sasori had no other choice but to leap several feet back. Sweating and breathing heavily, his cold glare abruptly fixed on Sakura, who was too scared to move from her spot beside the door. "Who is her?" Sasori hissed, narrowing his eyes.
Alarmed, Sasuke paused to look at her, too. His red eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Sakura, your face!"
The girl frowned confusedly. What about her face? She raised her hand and touched her left cheek. There was nothing wrong with it; it was just soft... very soft, actually... too soft.
Then it hit her. When the lights went out, she struggled to see in the dark, and she was able to because of her vampire half – which meant she'd awoken her instincts, making her face change, turn inhumanly beautiful, as it always did when she got too thirsty, fed or fought. She moved her tongue, felt her sharp fangs, and finally realized what was so wrong: she didn't look human anymore.
"She's the half-breed!" Deidara screamed at Sasori, whose disbelief was turning into fury.
"Get her!" the red-haired wizard exclaimed, and then both him and his accomplice charged at her.