I would like to suggest you read the A/N at the bottom, I updated a bit. Please & thanks.
This would go so much smoother is there weren't so many damn trees! Sakura thought as she continued through them. It wasn't completely dark, more of twilight. The sky was purple and velvety… when you could see it. Large gray clouds filled the dusk sky.
Where the hell are we anyway? Inner Sakura piped up. Sakura was glad to have someone to speak to; aside from her rapid heart beat and the adrenaline ringing throughout her body, the silence in her head was starting to get to her.
ANBU Sakura chimed in. Weren't you supposed to learn landscapes and border markings for these sorts of cases?
She rolled her eyes at how her inner persona mothered her. Ever since her training with Lady Tsunade, Sakura had taken on a second inner soul that seemed to symbolize her mentor. ANBU Sakura was sarcastic, rude, but smart. Everything Sakura needed in a sticky situation. Her ANBU self was like a fresh slap to the face during panic. But why the hell would she remember those types of lessons she learned back at the academy?
ANBU Sakura sighed. Get it together, you should be using clues! Look around! Think back to anything that could give you a sign! SENSES!
The pinkette ducked under another tree branch, continuing into the night. As she ran, she looked throughout the forest. What could she use? Sight was a little out of range with all the trees. Feeling up on a few rocks wasn't going to get her very far. With how fast she was running all she could hear was wind whipping by her. Her sense of smell was out the door what with all the rain washing away any scents… Rain.
"Y-you're on the second floor, the nicest rooms we have. Thank you for staying at the Rainy Night. Room 106 and 107."
Inner Sakura scoffed. The Rainy Night? What a cheap pun…
So we're in Rain country… Sakura thought, pausing on a tree branch, ignoring her inner's rude comments about her latest educational find. She turned back around to look at where she had run from. Now what? Just because she knew what country she was didn't mean she could find a way out and back to Konoha. And with Sasuke's group probably running off the sense of smell, she looked down at herself covered in rain and mud; there's no way she's going to be found based off of scent…
Hidan sat up in bed, a confused look on his face.
Sasori's fingers stopped manipulating his puppet as Deidara's eyes shot to the window.
"Did you…?"
Sasori knew what he was asking. "I felt it too." He stood up from the stool he was sitting on.
"Shit." Hidan said, reaching for his scythe and rising from the bed.
They stood silently for a moment, all trying to process what could have happened.
"What the hell is Kisame doing, yeah?" Deidara finally spoke. The trio's eyes rested on the wall that the three of them shared with the Mist-nin.
After a few seconds, the three men quickly jumped and began hastily making their way to the door and to the hallway. Hidan just kept chanting the only word he had been saying ever since he stood up, getting more and more nervous as they felt Sakura's chakra signature disappearing more and more.
In front of Suite 107, Deidara extended his arm to turn the doorknob. He placed a hand on it and attempted to turn, but it didn't budge.
"Locked." Sasori said in a flat tone. Deidara attempted to turn it the other way and it still didn't work.
"Shit. Shit. Shit. SHIT." Hidan was getting more nervous as the events carried on. It's not that he was scared about losing the major asset of the mission or of Sakura not being among them at the moment. The Jashinist feared the Uchiha's wrath when he returned to find that they were incompetent and then later the leader's anger when he heard of what a valuable piece they acquired then lost.
"Kisame." Sasori began in an even tone. He was nervous himself, but he didn't feel that showing it was necessary at that point in time. It wasn't necessarily their fault, more Kisame's. If it came down to it, Kisame would be the one in the hotseat. When the shark man didn't reply, he began knocking slightly, his thoughts not seeming to calm him as he thought more on the matter.
"OI, SHIT HEAD! OPEN THE DOOR, YEAH!" Deidara yelled, violently slamming his hand onto the door. Sasori turned to look at the blonde. It wasn't like him to worry about Akatsuki matters. And with how he was always coercing the Uchiha into a fight, Sasori could only assume that Deidara did not fear Itachi's rage. Looking at the blonde's profile and a blue eye looking frantically at the door as he yelled at the Sharkman, the image of a certain artist laughing and giggling about a strawberry haired girl filled his mind. So that's what has him concerned…
Sasori took another deep breath, attempting to calm himself. "Kisame. If you don't open the door, we will be forced to enter your room with force…" Hazelnut eyes scanned around as he silently awaited a response. After a pause, he sighed and gestured towards the door, stepping away. Sasori was not the sort to handle a breaking and entering; he just wasn't that type of kick-out-the-window or break-down-the-door type of guy. Deidara nodded his head at Hidan and the two raised a leg each and swiftly kicked the door in.
The smell of alcohol filled their nostrils.
"What the hell…" Deidara trailed off, stepping inside.
Sasori's eyes scanned the room looking for perhaps a wounded, dying, or dead Sakura that could cause her presence to fade at such a rapid pace.
"Just as I assumed…" He said gravely, finding no sight of the pinkette.
Deidara turned. "Where could she of gone? Hm?" His face was confused, eyebrows furrowed.
Hidan cleared his throat, holding up an empty bottle of sake, his other hands thumb pointing towards the window behind him blowing wet curtains in the wind.
"Looks like Sugar Tits decided to have a little party with a guy that couldn't hold his liquor." He announced, looking down at the floor at something out of the two artists' sight.
Rolling his eyes, Deidara made his way towards where Hidan stood. Laying unconscious on the floor with his back propped up against the bed was Kisame.
"HEY!" the blonde kicked the man on the floor, "WAKE UP, YEAH!"
Not even a stir. Kisame just snored louder.
Deidara and Hidan looked at Sasori, unsure of the next step. Sending a blue line of chakra to Hidan's arm, the bottle he was once holding found itself cracked upon the Mist nin's head.
Kisame's eyes shot open with a loud and final snore.
"GLAD YOU DECIDED TO FUCKING JOIN US." Hidan yelled, slapping the blue man's head harshly. "Where the fuck is Uchiha's bitch?"
Wrinkling his nose at the title his companion placed upon Sakura, Deidara leaned down to pull Kisame to his feet.
Standing, sloppily of course, but still standing, Kisame's eyebrows furrowed. "Wuddar you talking about?" He slurred.
"Sakura Haruno is gone, Kisame." Sasori spoke.
Beady eyes with somewhat blurred vision scanned the room drunkenly, "What the hell are you talking about? She's right on the bed…"
Everyone's eyes went to the best Kisame gestured to, to find no one.
"Ohhh no." The shark nin said quickly, as if sobering up right there are that moment. The anxiety the other three were feeling quickly began to fill him.
Throwing his hands up, Hidan quickly began pacing. "YOU HAD ONE FUCKING JOB!"
"I d-donno what could have gone wrong!" Kisame defended himself, slurring his words.
"One minute she was on the bed, deh next you guys are cr-cracking bottleson meh head!"
Smelling the alcohol on his drunken companion, Deidara spoke, turning his back to inspect the room a little more. "By one minute, I suppose you mean a couple drinks later, hm?"
"Ahh, hell with you." Kisame said, sloppily throwing his hand in their direction. "You guys were right in the other room. If I want to drink I'ma damn well drink damn it!"
"Did no one ever tell you it is unwise to drink when on a mission?" Sasori sighed.
Hidan began chuckling a bit, walking away with his hand on the corners of his mouth, fingers tracing his bottom lip. "Especially when it's a mission to watch a bitch." He looked up at Kisame, a smirk on his face. "God help you if you tried to put the moves on 'Tachi's broad, Kisame."
Turning back around, an undetectable fire was behind Deidara's eyes. "Did you touch her?" His voice was hostile, but only Sasori noticed he left out his trademark 'hm'.
Kisame's face twisted into a face of anger as he shook his head angrily. "Is that the type of guy I seem like?" He was not slurring his words anymore. "I mean, yeah! She's cute! I didn't try to feel her up or anything, geez!"
"Perhaps, instead of worrying about if Kisame made any sexual advances on the girl, we should focus on where she went." Sasori interjected, remembering the real thing to be frightened of — Itachi. "Did she ask you any questions? Perhaps mention her intentions?"
"Because if I were trying to escape from the fucking Akatsuki, I'd draw a damn map and leave explicit notes about my path of travel." Hidan spat sarcastically, feeling Sasori's approach was a waste of time.
"He has a point, yeah…"
Looking at the window, Sasori sighed. "I guess we'll just have to blindly head out after her."
Deidara pulled Kisame to his feet by his cloak as Hidan and Sasori braced themselves for the fall out of the window. "Don't think you get to stay back, Twinkle Toes, hm." He said, pushing him towards the exit out of the room they were taking.
"Tobi put that stick down." Kakuzu grumbled,
The man in the mask had evidently found a 'walking stick', as he called it.
With their dual-toned companion scanning the area from beneath the ground probably far away from where they were, the Kakuzu was left to spend 'quality time' with his little pal Tobi.
Of course, the child paid no mind to Kakuzu's warning and continued along, hiking on the flat surface. "It's my walking stick, Mr. Kakuzu."
Feeling he had nothing to do, the masked-nin was dragged into correcting his childish subordinate. "People use those for hiking dumbass. When they are old and useless with a bad back."
"Tobi is hiking, sir." He exclaimed, lifting his walking stick and extending it 5 feet in front of him awkwardly, then walking back up to it.
The only thing I mentioned that you were doing in that entire statement was being useless. Kakuzu rolled his eyes, not having enough willpower to even begin to truly carry on the conversation with Tobi without beating him with his own stick.
"MR. KAKUZU!" Tobi cried
Looking up from the money in his hands that he had began counting, Kakuzu stopped walking. He looked up at Tobi then let his eyes make their way back down to the green in his hands, ignoring the child and continued walking.
"TOBI SAAAAW SOMETHING!" Tobi let his walking stick fall to the ground and made his way over to Kakuzu, tugging anxiously on his signature cloak.
"I'm not getting paid to play I spy." He replied, continuing to walk past Tobi.
"BUT MR. KAKUZU. IT WAS PRETTY COLORED!" The masked man began waving his arms around; pointing towards the places he saw his new obsession.
Stuffing his money in his pocket, he shot Tobi a look that almost portrayed his level of annoyance. "It is the middle of the damn night." He gestured to the sky with his eyes. "Look up there. Are you looking?"
The small man tilted his neck perpendicularly to look up at the night sky. "Yes." He replied.
"What the hell do you see?"
"The moon, Mr. Kakuzu." The orange masked man replied, still looking at the sky.
"Do you want to know what that means?" The masked-nin's green eyes were staring at Tobi with annoyance.
"What?" Tobi turned his attention back to Kakuzu, excitement showing through the small hole in his mask.
"That it's too late to be playing games with you." He spat out harshly. "Now keep it moving."
"BUT MR. KAKUZU", Tobi began, but didn't finish due to finding his 'friend' behind him.
"Shut up." Kakuzu said seriously, holding the orange clad boy in a headlock, silencing him.
SHIT. Inner and ANBU Sakura said in unison.
"TOBI SAAAAW SOMETHING!"
SHITSHITSHIT.
Sakura turned around, running in the complete opposite direction. She could not be caught. Hopefully, 'Tobi' was just some Rain genin out with his father on a damn camping trip. She sent more chakra to her feet as she ran.
Don't get sloppy. The voice of reason echoed through her conscience.
That wasn't her best move. In her frazzled state, sending more chakra through her body could definitely draw attention to her if her new friends were aware she was missing. She also had to worry about whoever this Tobi character was speaking to. It was doubtful he was speaking to himself about seeing something; his father could be a skilled shinobi and sense her as a threat. Sakura could only hope no one caught wind of her little slip up.
Kisame was stumbling. It was difficult to keep up with a growing hangover finding itself through his body.
Hidan turned around when he heard heaving coming from behind him. "Get your shit together, fish face."
"Maybe I'd be doing a little better if somebody didn't give me a concussion with a glass bottle." He grumbled loudly.
"Blame that on Doll Boy up there," Hidan laughed, "He was the one freaking out and smashing shit and sending sake flying."
A small, barely discernible smirk found its way onto the redhead's lips. As if he wasn't.
Deidara stopped running and turned around. He was in the front of the group, but a better idea crossed his mind at the mention of flight.
"I have a plan." He said as his hand reached into his clay pouch. In the blink of an eye, a small clay bird landed on the ground in front of him and transformed into a much larger one. Deidara jumped onto a wing, "Kisame, you're with me, hm."
"Thank Poseidon." The Sharkman mumbled, joining his savior on the wing of the large bird. It was more of a stumble and fall, but it made no difference; he was on the bird and no longer on his feet.
Sasori put together what his partner's plan was. "Yes," he said, "Send a notice to us if you see anything."
"Will do." Deidara replied and the white sculpture ascended into the night sky.
The puppet master and Jashinist continued through the dark forest in silence. They were a strange pair because of how different they were from one another; Sasori was cool, calm, collected, Hidan was loud and obnoxious. One enjoyed the finer things in life, while the other enjoyed the crude jokes of life. Sure, they had gone on missions together, but they didn't have any sort of bond.
"So, uh," Hidan began, "What do you think is going to happen to Kisame when Itachi finds out?" He asked awkwardly.
Sasori knew what he was getting at. Translation: Do you think we're all going to die because he lost the captive.
"Perhaps we should find the girl before he returns."
Hidan knew what that meant.
Translation: Yes. We are going to die.
"Mr... Kakuzu... " Tobi whispered through his restrained windpipe.
A rumble shot through the ground and the Earth rose up in front of the pair. "My, my Kakuzu. I think that's the quietest he's been in the past week." Zetsu commented happily.
The masked nin released his grip and pushed Tobi out of the way, causing the child to fall to the ground.
"Mr. Zetsu, Mr. Zetsu! Tobi tried to tell Mr. Kakuzu about the pretty thing Tobi saw!"
The vegetation slowly brought his eyes up to meet Kakuzu's, then raised an eyebrow curiously. "and then he hurt Tobi!" Zetsu looked back down at the boy in the orange mask as he cried. "TOBI IS A GOOD BOY."
Zetsu put a very large, fake smile on his face. "Well Tobi. What was the thing that you saw?"
Kakuzu allowed his eyes the wander to the spot on the ground where Tobi was. He was listening, but that didn't mean he cared.
"PINK! Tobi saw pink!" He said, excitedly looking up at his mature teammates. He stood up in an obnoxious manner and threw his hands up, a single finger pointing to the trees. "It was over there!"
Kakuzu rolled his eyes, letting his attention fall elsewhere. Zetsu could handle the childish nonsense; he was done.
Zetsu, playing his part well, walked over to the trees that Tobi pointed to. "And where did it go from here, Tobi?"
A gloved finger lifted to the orange mask, placed in a thinking matter. "Tobi.. um. Tobi doesn't know. Tobi was told to look at the moon instead."
Zetsu shot a glance to the sky and then smirked. "Kakuzu," he called without turning around. His voice was high and sweet, as if a school teacher calling a student over.
"What is it?" Kakuzu grumbled, coming to stand by the white side of the man. He didn't want to deal with this idiocy any longer.
Zetsu leaned over and spoke lowly, so only Kakuzu could hear him. "There is someone in the vicinity."
Kakuzu turned to look Zetsu in the eye. He had suspected that, but he was unsure. The dual toned man nodded, then looked back at Tobi.
"Tobi, stay here. Speak to no one." Kakuzu said seriously. "Or else." He threw a kunai into a tree trunk to emphasize his point.
Zetsu sunk back into the ground as an angry, green eyed man flew through the trees.
Sakura was a blur. She was running like it was for her life. Well, technically it was. It's not like the Akatsuki would simply bring her back and give her a slap on the wrist. She imagined the scarlet eyes of her initial captor and shivered. What was he going to do to her? Surely, he wouldn't kill her. But if he wanted to, who was going to stop him?
Just as her foot slammed down onto another tree branch, Sakura felt it. Someone was after her. They were strong, that's a fact. One stronger than the other. They were fast. And they were coming. She amped up her speed, sending more chakra to her feet. Now that they were hot on her trail, she saw no sense in trying to cover her signature anymore. Who was this chasing her?
Kisame and Itachi? That could explain why one was fainter than the other. Perhaps the alcohol? But that couldn't be. Itachi went out and Kisame was not getting up anytime soon after how much he drank, much less pursuing her at such a speed.
It could be Deidara? Sasori? Hidan? But she could tell it wasn't.
This chakra that was chasing her, it was… heavy. As if hateful. It was cold; as if there was never love in this shinobi's life. And as for the other; well, it didn't even seem like it was running. It was… drifting towards her. She continued running at a pace well above that of a shinobi.
Sakura was beginning to demolish the tree limbs that were unlucky enough to be her path of travel. Although she was leaving a trail of demolition in her wake, she did not care. She felt the cold chakra begin to fade, hoping that she lost whoever it was.
Just when she thought she was out of the woods, her foot was caught. She had seen a small bit of white poke through a tree branch as she approached, but she was too late. The kunoichi tripped and was now barely hanging on to the already damaged tree branch. Like something out of a movie, as she looked up, assessing her position, the cracks of the breaking wood could be heard. She looked down to find herself well above the ground with no hopes of keeping her body unbroken. Pain was coming for her with every wood chip that failed to keep the branch connected to the tree. She closed her eyes awaiting the branch's demise that was coming.
Crack
She was falling. She wasn't sure how fast, but she could feel it. The pinkette debated on letting out a scream, but felt her potential death would be more enjoyable without Akatsuki or dark-chakra'd people present. Sakura Haruno hit the ground with a crash. The last thing she heard was the splitting of her own bones, but she did not know what had shattered. Unconsciousness welcomed the pink haired kunoichi as she lay motionless on the forest floor.
"Konoha shinobi by the looks of it." Zetsu's high voice rang.
Kakuzu walked around the body of the unconscious woman. He didn't speak, but occasionally he would extend a leg and lightly kick her, as if trying to get a better look at the damage. Something was broken, had to be. Kakuzu looked up to see the where the branch lying beside her had fallen from.
"Perhaps I should have waited until she was closer to the ground." Zetsu said looking up as well, though there was no remorse in his tone.
Kakuzu just grunted and began walking off.
"Aren't we going to do something with this?" Zetsu questioned. I'll be glad to eat her if you don't want to. The darker side of the black and white man thoughts rang through his head. It wasn't often black Zetsu interfered, but occasionally he would add his two cents.
The masked nin turned back around to face his partner. "Like what?"
"Well," Zetsu looked down at her. "I'm not sure. We did attack her for no reason. Perhaps she could be of use to us?"
Kakuzu's eyes wandered back down to the kunoichi on the ground. "Is there any information on her person?"
The two minded Akatsuki began searching the female. He went through her pack to find nothing. Next, he removed her headband to look at; many Shinobi tend to hide things or information small enough to fit behind their headband due to the idea they wouldn't part with it on regular basis. He searched to see if perhaps she was wearing a dog tag with her name or status on it, her hands for any sort of jewelry, but then something peculiar caught his eye. "ANBU." was the only word he said.
Green eyes darted from the dark trees back to his companion. They quickly found what Zetsu was talking about on the top of her lean tricep. "Anything else useful?" He asked, eyeing her ANBU tattoo.
"Well, it would seem this kunoichi is a medic, but does her medical pouch is empty," He began to stand. "Also, no ninja tools on her person."
Kakuzu grunted. "So an ANBU medic that doesn't have any equipment? I'd banish her to the forest too."
Zetsu stood over her looking down. "Not necessarily banished. She's low on chakra. Perhaps she managed to escape something."
"So a medic that abandons her teammates on the battlefield?" Judgment was in his tone.
Bright yellow eyes continued scanning the kunoichi, ignoring the conclusions Kakuzu was trying to draw about her character. "She looks familiar…" He mused aloud.
Kakuzu let his attention fall onto other things, not responding to his comrade.
Suddenly, Zetsu looked up, eyes wide. "What would you do if I said that this kunoichi is worth quite the pretty penny, Kakuzu?" A smile began creeping onto his face.
"I would ask what makes you say that." He answered, as if it were obvious.
Zetsu looked down at girl as rain drops pelted her face. "Pink hair. Medical kunoichi. Konoha shinobi. Isn't it obvious?" His high pitch was beginning to get excited.
Kakuzu just stared at him. He didn't understand what he was getting at.
"This is the second greatest medical ninja in the world." His smiling was beginning to grow larger. "The Hokage's right hand, Sakura Haruno."
Thinking back to several missions that wounded many Leaf shinobi, it occurred to him that he knew this. Although he had never seen the female spoken of or known her position on the field, he had heard many injured Konoha shinobi say, "Sakura is on her way," or different variations of it. He never stuck around to see her either. But Zetsu had been around, so if Zetsu was saying she was a top medic, he wasn't arguing.
"What do you propose we do?" Zetsu asked, bringing Kakuzu's attention back to the present.
He didn't know. He didn't really care. The kunoichi was not an enemy or a spy, so she was not a threat. She could rot in the forest and catch pneumonia for all he cared.
"Orochimaru needs his arms healed…" The yellow eyed man mused aloud.
That sparked the money loving ninja's attention. Payment for a world famous medical ninja to fix his arms? It would be a very satisfactory profit he'd be making. But the snake sannin was not Kakuzu's cup of tea; he didn't like him much.
Kakuzu sighed as he retreated back to the kunoichi. He picked her up and put her over his shoulder like a rag doll. Her soaked rose locks splashed in his face as he carried her. Money is money, I suppose.
Deidara continued to search the skies. The rain blurred his vision a bit, but he was determined. Kisame layed back on the bird, his eyes closed.
"This is your fault; shouldn't you help look, hm?" Deidara called back to him, his voice heavy.
A groan was his only response.
Damn alcoholic. Deidara thought to himself. He continued looking through the trees at an aerial view. Something caught his eyes, but it surely wasn't pink.
Black and red was flying through the trees at a rapid speed, long onyx hair swaying with every jump.
"Kisame, if you don't help me look, I'll drop you off with Uchiha bastard down there, yeah." He gestured his head down to the said man a good distance below them.
The shark's eyes shot open. "He's down there?"
"Looking right at him, hm." Deidara said, a smile appearing on his face as he threatened his fellow Akatsuki.
Kisame made his way to a wing of the sculpture, "If you promise to stay this far in the air, I will help to look for Pinkie."
The artist's smile faded quickly. "Nice as that would be…" His voice was nervous, "it seems we've been spotted, yeah."
Beady eyes went wide as Kisame cautiously looked over the side of the bird, catching his partner's scarlet ones looking straight up at him. Even though he was at least 100 feet below them, the Sharingan was visible in the shimmering rain moonlight.
Deidara lowered his artwork to a height that would allow his least favorite person nowadays to board. He may not like him, but he was just as nervous as Kisame. Technically, he was in charge of Sakura as well.
And board he did.
Deidara stared straight ahead, not wanting to catch the Uchiha's eyes. Although he didn't like him and would love to wring his neck, now wasn't going to be the time. There was no way in hell he was going to tell him about their incompetence, either.
That left Kisame to rightfully bear the burden.
"Where is the kunoichi, Kisame." It was not a question. It was a command.
Kisame grimaced. Why did he have to look at him with those piercing red eyes. "I.. I don't know." He stuttered quietly. "We are all out looking for her"
"You have been drinking." He observed, his voice was harsh.
The sharkman winced. "I didn't think it would get out of hand so quickly..."
Ignoring Kisame, Itachi turned around to speak to the 'driver', "Land this. It's impossible to see anything up here." He ordered.
Figuring now was not the time to argue with his arch nemesis, Deidara listened to what he said and descended. The bird disappearing in a puff of smoke back into the small figurine it once was.
Deidara refused to speak. He was not going to lose his temper if Itachi snapped on him the way he did Kisame. Although he was confident when the Uchiha was in one of his aloof moods, it was doubtful Deidara could take on the Uchiha prodigy in the mood he was in.
The trio began running on foot again. Kisame was acting a bit more graceful now, the fear sobering him up pretty well.
"Sasori and Hidan?" Itachi questioned. He didn't clarify himself, nor did he have to.
"They were on foot. They can't be too far ahead, hm." Deidara answered. He hoped that would be the only thing he would have to say to the mad man.
Kisame eyed Itachi wearily. He did not seem to be as furious as everyone expected him to be. Then again, no one ever knew what the raven man felt, if he felt anything at all. Perhaps the kunoichi held no meaning to him after all.
Hidan stopped running when he felt Itachi's presence among Kisame and Deidara's not too far away.
"It's better to face him now then have him think you did nothing on this retrieval mission." Sasori called, slowing his pace.
"I'm not scared of him, dumbass." Hidan said defensively. "He's just fucking crazy. Who knows what he'll do? He did kill his entire fucking family…"
A thin line appeared in place of Sasori's lips. It was unlikely that Itachi would do anything too impertinent. The man could possibly be the best poker player in the world with that face. He surely would not show that the absence of a certain defiant female bothered him in the least; he would make it seem that the four of them just thought up an interesting story that feelings existed between the two.
"To make thing worse," Hidan rolled his eyes. "What the hell is he doing here?" He groaned in annoyance. Losing the pinkette and sensing Itachi coming was one thing, but this was just the icing on top of a shitty night.
Sasori stopped as well, allowing Hidan's slow pace to catch up to him as the two stared at the rustling bush.
"FINALLY!" three voices called from the trees.
Pakkun was panting, having been running all day. He scanned the large group of people for Kakashi.
A friendly eye on a masked man caught his attention and he ran towards his master.
"It was a looong run." The small dog said, collapsing onto his arm.
Kakashi's eye wrinkled up, signifying his smile hidden behind his mask as he pet the little dog. "You've done well, Pakkun."
Ino ran over to the messenger and scooped him up in her arms as she rubbed his ears. "You're such a good boy, running all that way for us!" She smiled.
Sasuke was not amused by any of this. "What did the Hokage say?" He eyed Kakashi as he read the note pulled out of Pakkun's collar.
One track mind. Shikamaru's thoughts grumbled as he too pet Pakkun for his job well done.
The small pug mix quickly fell asleep in the purple clad kunoichi's arms, Tenten and Hinata both smiling at him from over Ino's shoulder.
Neji shook his head as the girls ogled over the canine. He didn't understand what the attraction was. He turned to where Kiba and Akamaru stood, leaned up against a tree. The white dog watched the girls crowd the sleeping dog begrudgingly. The Hyuga watched the jealous dog and smirked, until Kakashi's voice brought him back to the matter at hand.
"Well," He began. The silver haired jonin did a handsign and the sleeping dog disappeared out of Ino's arms, replaced with a cloud of smoke. "The Hokage has suggested we cut down our numbers and switch to more a reconnaissance type mission."
Glances were exchanged between the group of ninjas, questioning who would stay and who would go.
Rock Lee broke the silence, "And..?"
Kakashi's eye trailed back to the slip of paper and he swallowed. "Tsunade-sama has requested only 4 ninja continue on with myself and Yamato from this point."
People began whispering to each other.
"Naruto." Kakashi began listing.
The blonde let out a sigh of relief, as eyes scanned him. They all knew Naruto would be chosen to stay. Blue eyes ignored them all, now staring into midnight blue. Sasuke looked back at him, holding his stare as the names continued to be called.
"Shikamaru."
Damn it. The lazy shinobi craned his neck to look at the night sky and closed his eyes. Nothing against Sakura, but he wanted to go home. Sure, he was chosen and would still do everything in his power to make this mission a success, but he truly wouldn't mind going home. Lying in his bed wouldn't hurt either. Choji turned to smile at his friend, happy that Shikamaru had been recognized as a skillful shinobi, yet again.
"Sai."
Eyes quickly shot to the pale boy then back to Kakashi, listening intently for the last name to be called. Naruto looked to his sensei then back to his best friend. Sasuke's dark eyes never left sky blue.
"And…" A pause. Sasuke stopped breathing, as did Naruto.
Kakashi lowered the list and stared at his previously corrupted student. "You," He nodded his head at him. "Sasuke."
A hand from Naruto came crashing onto Sasuke's back as a grin broke out across his face. A confident smirk found it's way onto the youngest Uchiha's face.
"These were the shinobi hand chosen by Lady Tsunade to continue the search for Sakura…"
Hinata looked to the ground in disappointment. She began to question if perhaps she was even a good choice to have taken on the mission in the first place. Her hand absentmindedly rose to her head and grazed over where she had been bleeding as thoughts doubting her strength as a kunoichi began filling her mind. She looked to Kiba and Shino for comfort.
Tenten exchanged looks with Neji and the two looked at Lee, who was crushed. Gai placed a hand on his student's shoulder, attempting to console him. He leaned down and began to say something about youth in his ear.
Favoritism. Ino thought to herself. There's no way Kakashi didn't have a hand in this. She shook her head, debating on calling the man out on the fact 75% of this team was his team. No wonder he was so suspicious about the stupid note he was putting in Pakkun's collar! What a load of shit.
"But…" All eyes shot back up. "I feel there are crucial people here that need to be included for this to be successful. Since this has been changed to an espionage mission, I do believe we will need 3 people, whose abilities are lay in tracking, searching, and gaining intelligence."
HELL YEAH! Ino's thoughts exclaimed. She was the master of gaining intelligence. Over the years she was able to perfect her jutsus to the point where she could enter someone's mind undetected.
"Kiba," Kakashi began, "You and Akamaru's noses will prove to be beneficial in tracking the Akatsuki." Kiba grinned and looked down at his canine companion, happiness evident on the dog's face as well.
"Hinata, your Byakugan will also be needed to scan for any traps or dangers that cannot be sniffed out." A small smile lit up on the girl's face, followed by furrowed brows as she looked to her cousin in confusion. Kakashi cleared this up for her, turning to Neji. "Neji, you will be needed to guide the rest of the group back to Konoha safely and avoid any confrontations with enemy shinobi. Hinata has a stronger bond with Sakura, which is why she will be accompanying us." His eye questioned if Neji knew why his superior skills were turned down.
"Understood." Neji turned to his female counterpart. "Take this opportunity to prove yourself, Lady Hinata." He said with a small smile, hoping to signify he was not angry with his cousin. The Hyuga beamed at him, happy that they were still on good terms and that she would be able to help search for her friend.
Kakashi smiled at the two, and then turned to look at the Konoha's Intelligence Department head's only child. "And, last but certainly not least," Kakashi sighed, "Ino, you can come too." He shook his head as the blonde broke out in her own little touchdown dance. It wasn't that he didn't like Ino, but in all honesty, she could be quite the bitch.
Naruto joined in on Kakashi's dismay. "Come on, her?" He groaned. "I understand Hinata and Kiba, but couldn't we bring someone like Shino!?"
Choji's eyes shot towards the knucklehead ninja.
"I GET IT, YOU KNOW HIM, BUT FOR THIS KIND OF THING DON'T YOU THINK YOUR FIRST CHOICE SHOULD BE SOMEONE LIKE SHINO!?" Naruto yelled, looking at Shikamaru as Choji finished the last potato chip.
The large man sighed. Does Naruto just not trust people on our team? His eyes looked at the Aburame descendant. And why does he hold Shino in such high standards?
Everyone took a step back as the screaming match between the two blondes broke out. Kakashi stuck a finger in his ear as the two raised their voices. This is gonna be a long mission…
Author's Note:
Long time no see, eh?I've taken the liberty to go back and update my previous 9 chapters. I figured it was the least I could do. Also, I added a little more ItaSaku dialogue to chapter 7. Not much, but if anyone needed a fill since there isn't much in this. But I meant to upload this on Thanksgiving, but I didn't get it finished until today. Happy Thanksgiving though! I'm thankful for all my readers and wonderful reviews. Send some more my way! Also, I tried to make this chapter a little longer than my others. You know, for the holidays! But I'm getting back into writing since second semester is on the horizon! More ItaSaku next chapter, much more. ;) & What are Kakuzu's intentions? OOOOOO? Read & Review. Tell your friends! I apologize for any literary errors. Any opinions, concerns, input, anything is welcome. REVIEW ME! I love to know what your thoughts are! REVIEWREVIEWREVIEW!
Happy Thanksgiving,
ERVictson.
xoxo.