Finally! The next chapter! I'm so sorry that it took so long; I didn't mean to do that. ^^;
Anyway, I'm creating a joint-account with my friend Fyreyce and we will be known as FEARtheBOREDOM. I'm not abandoning this account my any means. I'll still update as often as I usually do. (Not very often, though, is it? ...my bad.) And thanks to everyone whose been clicking on my DragCave eggs! Please help by clicking them! (Just eggs and hatchlings; the adults don't matter any more.) Link below:
http : // dragcave. net / user / KouraAkatora
Please read and review! :D
"It doesn't quite make sense, though," Sakura murmured, taking a drink from her black tea. She and Ryuzaki sat in a small restaurant — the same one he and Light had been in when Soichiro had had a naturally-caused heart attack. To be honest, she was a little surprised that Ryuzaki was out in public. But then again, no one had ever seen his face (minus herself and the task force) so no one would recognize him. Hopefully.
Ryuzaki watching her with dark unblinking eyes as he munched on a painfully sweet dessert. "Explain." His voice was slightly muffled from the cream in his mouth.
Sakura absently took a bite of her dango and another drink, biding her time. After gathering her thoughts, she finally spoke. "Light-san and Misa-san don't seem like the type of people to do something like that," she finally clarified. "I mean, they don't act like murders at all. In fact...well, they seem innocent. But all the evidence points to them, so they must be the culprits." She sighed and dropped her dumplings back onto her plate, placing her elbows on the table and massaging her temples. She closed her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows, deep in thought.
Ryuzaki studied her a moment longer before swallowing his mouthful and loading in another large bite of sugary goodness. Only after he had downed his fourth bite did he reply.
"I felt the same," he agreed. Sakura's eyes opened the tiniest bit and she peered up at him through her lashes, remaining silent. "When Light-kun asked to be confined, I immediately took it as an attempt to steer the spotlight away from himself. I was so certain that he was Kira, but after quite a number of days, he was yelling and begging to be set free." Sakura frowned, lifted her head just slightly to meet his gaze more easily. Ryuzaki frowned as well, staring down into his dessert. "The look in his eye when he begged me to 'see reason'...it was astonishing. In that moment alone, I was nearly ashamed of myself for ever suspecting him."
Surprise flickered across Sakura's face as she lifted her head all the way, studying Ryuzaki with an unreadable expression. It shocked her that he would confide into her his inner turmoil with the situation. He didn't seem like the type of man that easily doubted himself. She watched him as he continued to gaze down into the fluffy white whipped topping smothering his ice cream, sensing that he was seeing something she couldn't. His mine was elsewhere. His eyes, distant and unaware of his surroundings, flashed with something Sakura had never expected to see in him: insecurity.
Sakura felt as if she were seeing the real Ryuzaki beneath all the barriers for the first time. It took her breath away. He looked so much like a normal man, so much like a normal young adult troubled merely by the thought of his mother not liking his new girlfriend instead of the weight of a mass murderer. It was such an amazing glimpse into the unprotected layers of his unconsciousness.
And it was all just a glimpse.
That moment lasted for no more than a split-second, but it had seemed like an eternity. And even though it had been such a short experience, Sakura had the distinct feeling she would remember it for the rest of her life.
Ryuzaki looked up at Sakura with his usual wide-eyed blank expression, a spoonful of cream halfway to his mouth, but he paused. His eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch at the awestruck look on her face and his head tilted slightly to the side in confusion.
"Sakura-san?"
She blinked, allowing a carefully neutral mask to slip into place as she returned to the present. She held his gaze for a long moment before locking away the inner-most emotions she was sure were showing in her eyes and throwing away the key. Her eyes went to her dango as she picked up her last stick and popped it into her mouth, chasing it down with a swig of black tea and then a second. Ryuzaki hesitated, searching her face for the emotion he had seen heartbeats earlier. He wanted to say something. He wanted to ask her why such a tender smile had been glowing in her eyes. He wanted to ask her why he had admitted his doubts to her and no one else. He wanted to do so many things, but was unable to.
Instead, he turned his head away and looked out the window through half-lidded eyes, mind drifting as he ate his ice cream absently. Throughout the rest of their visit to the small shop, neither spoke or attempted to make eye contact. They both stared off into space and got lost in their own thoughts, each trying to figure the other out. And as Ryuzaki finished the last of his treat while watching the sky light up from early morning gray to a timid pale blue, a single coherent thought crossed his mind that he didn't have an answer for. The fact that he was unable to explain something troubled him deeply.
Why is Sakura-san so different from every other member of the task force?
o o o O O O o o o
It was a long day, and the team was getting nowhere. Sakura sighed loudly, flopped out on the couch with her right arm splayed across her eyes. Matsuda began nodding off but caught himself, sucking in a sharp gust of air through his nose. Aizawa glowered at the computer screens, irritation settling in. Misa huffed and pouted in one of the armchairs, crossing her arms and crossing one leg over the other in a ladylike manner. Light ran a hand through his hair, slumping back against his computer chair. Ryuzaki, who occupied the seat to his left, remained staring at the screens and nibbling on the tip of his thumb nail.
Two hours earlier, Misa had spilled some nasty-sounding 'fat-free' drink all over the main desk and fried two or three of the computers. After a lot of yelling and groaning, the task force — and Watari from his station elsewhere — had set to work rechecking every single file in the system to make sure none of them had been damaged when the computer shut off halfway through running a couple dozen programs. So far, everything was good, but they still had to be certain.
Sakura let her mind wander to her friends back at home. She vaguely wondered if she would ever see them again.
She also wondered if she would ever want to leave this place in order to see them again.
o o o O O O o o o
Tsunade stared sightlessly out the window of her office, mind graciously blank from the numbing effects of the alcohol. Unfortunately, however, she couldn't forget what had happened, no matter how much sake she downed. She couldn't forget the look in Naruto's eyes when he said that Sakura had been sucked into that thing. It broke her heart again just thinking about it. A few silent tears slid down her cheeks, but she remained absent and unmoving. She was like an empty shell. Sakura had been her dear beloved daughter in all ways except blood. She just couldn't except it. It was like losing Dan and Nawaki all over again.
A quiet knock came at the door, but she didn't react. After a moment, it opened and in stepped her assistant, Shizune. The dark-haired woman gazed sadly at her Hokage.
"...Tsunade-sama...?"
The blond-haired woman said nothing. She swallowed.
"Tsunade-sama...please, say something."
Still no reply.
She shifted her eyes away, biting her lips before looking at her again. She stepped toward her, gripping onto Tonton tightly in her arms. Even the little pig seemed to understand the gravity of the situation.
"We need to act as soon as possible," she tried again. "The Akatsuki are most likely going to come after Naruto again. I can't believe they'd pass up this chance now that you've gotten so...passive."
Her blank honey-colored eyes slowly shifted toward the other woman. She was silent for a long time before she finally spoke.
"Shizune...assign the ANBU to protect Naruto..." The dark-haired female perked up slightly as she caught a short glimpse of her master's former self. "...find me Uchiha Sasuke."
Shock crossed her face and she struggled to speak.
"M-my lady?"
Tsunade's eyes became hard, resembling chips of ice. "Find me Uchiha Sasuke. I want him brought into my office."
"B-but, Tsunade-sama!" Shizune objected. "He is the enemy!"
"I don't care," the woman snapped. "I want him now. Send out Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Shino, and Kakashi to go get him. Tell them not to attack him, but to only defend themselves if need be."
"T-tsunade-sama?" Shizune said shakily. "Wh-what are you—"
Tsunade glared out the window, as if imagining the face of the Akatsuki Leader who had taken away her precious daughter. "I want his ass in this room now!" she demanded, eyes flashing with the fierce determination signature of the Godaime Hokage. "He's the only one strong enough that I can order around to do this!" She abruptly stood and clenched her fists. "Kakashi's strong, but not as strong as the Uchiha brat. Naruto's on an equal level with him, but we have to protect him from the Akatsuki. Sasuke's the only other option."
"What—"
Tsunade glanced over her shoulder at Shizune with a fire in her eyes the woman had only seen a few times in her entire life.
"He's the only one that can bring Sakura back."
o o o O O O o o o
"Leader-sama."
Pein glanced over his shoulder, ringed gray eyes steely. He stood before a gigantic window in his 'office' of the main Akatsuki base, having been staring out at the cold metallic village of Amegakure before hearing his name. Kakuzu stood in the doorway with his oddly-colored eyes fixated on his Leader, a large dark wooden desk covered in papers between them.
"What is it, Kakuzu?" Pein demanded. "You and Hidan were to be stationed at the base in the eastern-most lands of Fire Country, were you not?"
"We were," Kakuzu agreed, dipping his head respectfully. "And you also ordered us to check in with Konohagakure every seven hours to see what they were doing. The last time we cast henge and infiltrated, Konoha had become active."
"Active?" Pein's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How long ago was this?"
"Nearly six hours ago," he replied. "Hidan will be going in alone in an hour. I traveled here as quicky as I could."
"Why did you not contact Konan and have her ask me to open a mind connection?" He didn't sound happy at all. All Akatsuki members could open mental connections with one another, but they couldn't directly contact Pein; he had to open it himself.
"I had some concerns about doing that, Leader-sama," Kakuzu explained, treading carefully for he knew he was walking on thin ice.
"Such as...?"
Kakuzu met Pein's eyes evenly, showing no fear or doubt. "I do not trust Tobi, and I feared he would overhear if we spoke mentally."
Pein turned to face him completely, expression hard. "Explain."
It took only a heartbeat for Kakuzu to gather his thoughts and decide what exactly he was going to tell him. "He is too foolish," he murmured. "He displays too little power and does nothing to aid Akatsuki. You must have some reason for keeping him around, and if it is not too much to ask, I would like to know why. I believe it will help me work more easily with Tobi. But honestly" — Kakuzu blinked to wet his rapidly-drying eyes — "right now, I feel Tobi is planning to do something against Akatsuki."
Pein studied him for a long moment, lips pressed in a hard line. His aura was powerful and suffocating. Kakuzu didn't flinch or even blink again, but a small bead of sweat ran down the side of his temple. And then, Pein spoke.
"You are far too perceptive," he remarked dryly. "I assumed Itachi would be the first to confront me, but he has not as of yet. I suspect he figured it out very early on, though." His gaze pierced his subordinate. "I will give you two options, Kakuzu." the man gave a small nod, preparing himself to be threatened by the intimidating man before him. "You may keep this information to yourself for the time being and react however you see fit when the time everything is revealed comes," Pein murmured. "Or...you may pass this along to anyone else you deem worthy, and I will give you five days before informing Tobi that you figured it out."
Kakuzu was shocked. He was allowed to tell the other his suspicions — now confirmed suspicions — and Leader-sama would even give him five days to go into hiding or find some way to protect himself from Tobi's wrath? There was only one reason he could think of that explained it all.
Tobi was the real mastermind of Akatsuki from the shadows, he was only pretending to be a hopeless idiot, he was actually quite a bit more powerful than even Pein, and Pein was trying to get rid of the masked man.
o o o O O O o o o
'Tobi' sat in the dining area of a smaller Akatsuki branch base in the northern lands of Fire Country, irritating Deidara to no end. He, the blond, Sasori, and Zetsu — Madara's new partner after Sasori was brought back — had been assigned to watch the skies of Konoha and capture any messenger birds (or other animals) that were sent into or out of the village.
Itachi and Kisame had been assigned an Akatsuki branch base in the southern lands of Fie Country, near the Wind Country boarder, and I was their duty to stop any shinobi sent from Sunagakure. It was widely known that the Sand and Leaf were close allies; Konoha wouldn't likely receive help from any other hidden village besides Suna. Pein and Konan remained in the main Akatsuki base in Amegakure, just slightly west of the Fire Country boarder. They were ensuring no Konoha shinobi or civilians attempted to evacuate the village. They had them surrounded. In two days' time, all four groups were going to launch attacks from every direction.
Madara had no doubts in his mind that they would have an easy victory. Pein could destroy the whole village by himself, so when you threw in the rest of the Akatsuki and Uchiha Madara, things didn't look so great for Konohagakure.
"But Tobi wants to ride sempai's biiiiird!!" he whined, stretching out the last word for more effect.
The blond glared deathly daggers at him. "Shut up, Tobi, yeah!" he snapped. "We've got a job to do, yeah!"
"But it's so boring!" he complained, crossing his arms and pretending to pout.
"Tobi, be quiet," Sasori ordered icily, glowering at the masked man and rubbing his temples. "You two idiots are giving me a headache."
"Sasori-san is so mean!" he grumbled.
"Enough, Tobi," Zetsu spoke up, sprouting from the wall.
Madara glared at the bicolored plant-man behind his mask, though went silent nonetheless. Zetsu was the only one besides Pein and Konan (and probably Itachi) who knew his true identity. He knew better than to speak to him like that. And if he didn't, well, Madara was just going to have to make it clear to him. He didn't mind the others treating him like the brainless fool he was pretending to be, but not the ones that knew who he was.
o o o O O O o o o
No more than ten minutes after Tsunade had given Shizune the order, a team was assembled at the Konoha gates. Shikamaru, Neji, Kiba, Shino, and Kakashi were packed and ready, just as she had said. Their expressions were grim. Even Akamaru was silent, sensing the gravity of the situation even though he didn't know why they were so serious.
"Kakashi," Tsunade said in a clipped tone, "you are the captain of this team. If something happens and you must return to the village or leave the team for any amount of time, Neji is to be made captain." Kakashi and Neji both nodded. Her honey-colored eyes studied each of them intently, no trace of her usual alcohol-induced haze evident even though she was still technically drunk. She was thinking clearly. "Uchiha Sasuke is to be brought back as a temporary ally," she ordered. "You will not attack him; I give you permission to defend yourselves if necessary, but you are to try your best not to injure him. Explain to him that I have a job for him, and I will grant full admittance back into the village whenever he chooses with no strings attached so long as he does not attack our people in return for carrying this out. Is this understood?"
A chorus of 'hai's answered her.
"Tsunade-sama," Kiba spoke up. She glanced at the brunette. "Can I...can I ask why you need him so badly?"
She said nothing for a moment, and then replied, "No, you may not."
Kiba didn't flinch, but it was close. Shikamaru voiced his thoughts.
"Are you sure no one else can do it?" he confirmed. "If this about Sakura—"
"I said," Tsunade interrupted with a hiss, "that you may not ask questions."
Shikamaru held her gaze for a long time before looking away, catching the 'back off' message.
Kiba and Shino exchanged an uneasy glance — at least, Kiba was uneasy; he couldn't tell if Shino was or not. Neji stood quietly, eyes on Shikamaru, while Kakashi studied his Hokage.
"We will bring him," the Copy Ninja said after many long tense heartbeats of silence. "You have my word."
Tsunade met his gaze and gave a curt nod.
"See to it that you do."
All five bowed before disappearing with the speed and silence only a shinobi could attain. Tsunade stared at the spot where they had been seconds before, wondering if they would succeed. She hoped they would, or else they'd never see Sakura again.
