Chapter 10: this game we play, push and pull
"When captured birds grow wiser, they try to open the cage with their beaks. They don't give up, because they want to fly again."
- Genma
"What the hell's going on?"
Sakura's question was monumental in itself, a landmark in their troubled relationship. And even though Sasuke was certain he was making a mistake, he accepted it and changed everything.
"The leader of Akatsuki was trying to assassinate him," Sasuke answered, his voice heavy with anger.
"Assassinate him? But he's a member of Akatsuki! Why would he want to do that?"
"That's not important now. What's important is that his plan didn't succeed and what we do now."
"What 'we' do now? I don't remember ever offering my help," Sakura snapped at him irritably.
"The moment you helped Juugo, you became involved. You're a war criminal now Sakura, you betrayed your own village and helped an enemy."
Sakura's eyes widened for a split second before they narrowed in fury. Realisation washed over her and she began, "You knew I wouldn't just stand by and let him die, Sasuke. You knew I would help him. Was that your plan all along? To blackmail me into helping you?"
"Regardless of whether or not it was my intention, you have no choice but to cooperate with us now. If Madara finds out that Juugo did not die when he was meant to and that he didn't go to a local hospital, he'll know you were the one who saved him. We need to find a way to protect the both of you."
Vehemently, she spat, "I didn't ask for your protection."
"No, but you need it. No one is strong enough to fight the leader alone."
It spoke measures that even Sasuke was admitting to that.
Sakura inhaled deeply, forcing herself to calm down. She would just have to live with his protection then, and it wasn't like she would owe Sasuke anything. She had just saved his team mates' life; accepting temporary protection from Sasuke would cancel out his debt to her. They'd be even.
"Alright, fine. Has the leader been targeting the other members of Team Hawk as well?" Sakura asked.
"It's obvious that he's trying to separate us. He provoked Suigetsu into leaving Team Hawk and forced him into a partnership with Kisame," Sasuke explained.
"But he hasn't tried to kill you, Suigetsu or Karin?"
"No. Not yet."
Sakura's eyes strayed to Juugo's still figure on the couch and she gnawed at her bottom lip in deep contemplation. "If your leader finds out Juugo is still alive…"
"He'll kill you. He doesn't know about Karin's healing abilities so he'll think you're the only possible medic. If he lets you live, you'll only heal the other members when he tries to assassinate them," Sasuke said without a shred of doubt.
"So we need to make him think Juugo is dead. If he thinks Juugo's dead, then he probably won't try to kill another member of Hawk for a while. He'd be too obvious and that's the last thing he wants, the other members of Akatsuki might leave if they realise he's picking them off one by one," Sakura concluded.
"That'll buy us time, definitely."
"We can use genjutsu on Juugo then-"
"No. The leader will see through it," Sasuke interrupted instantly.
Frowning, Sakura said, "You don't know that for sure. If we both work together to create one, I'm sure he won't be able to see through it."
"He will."
Sakura still didn't look convinced.
"He has the Mangekyou Sharingan," Sasuke explained, his crimson eyes flaring at the mention of it.
Her emerald eyes widened in shock and she opened her mouth to ask him more, but Sasuke cut her off. "Can't medics temporarily kill a patient?"
Sakura blinked. "Temporarily kill…? You mean shut down the body? Yeah, I can do that, but it'll only last for fifteen minutes then I have to reverse the process. Any longer and he'll stay dead."
Sasuke gritted his teeth. "We need to show the leader Juugo's dead body and then get him out of Amegakure in that amount of time. The rain acts as a chakra detection device; Pein knows exactly who's alive and inside Amegakure at all times."
Sakura said grimly, "It'll be tight. And there's another problem, I have to be with Juugo when he's outside of Amegakure to bring him back to life."
"I'm not letting you leave Amegakure alone with Juugo," Sasuke ground out.
Sakura had expected that. As she racked her brains, a smile slowly began to spread across her face. Sasuke watched her suspiciously.
With renewed light in her eyes, she told him, "I have a plan."
The morgue was a dim, silent place, befitting the mainly dead inhabitants of the huge building. The living had no right to be here, yet here Sasuke was, with Karin, Pein and Madara in tow. Sakura had shut down Juugo's body just five minutes ago and he was already in position in the morgue.
Sasuke opened the door to one of the many rooms, revealing a raised metal observation table that was covered in a massive navy body bag. He approached it, pulling down the zipper in the middle loudly to reveal Juugo's graying face.
"What did he die of?" Madara asked, his voice quieter than usual in the face of the seemingly decaying body.
Sasuke pointed to a small pile of white crystals that had been extracted from Juugo's body. "The coroner found those in his bloodstream. They created a blood clot and he had a heart attack. They're unnatural substances though, so someone assassinated Juugo. I investigated the doctor who gave Juugo his medicine from the hospital and found out he was a Iwagakure spy."
Feigning surprise, Madara said, "Really? Did you dispose of him?"
"No. I brought him to the base so that you could decide what to do with him," Sasuke replied.
"He's there now?"
"Yes."
Karin stiffened suddenly, her eyes narrowing. She began, "Sasuke, Haruno Sakura's chakra signature is moving towards the gates of Amegakure. She escaped from the base."
Sasuke's jaw tightened in annoyance and Madara held up a hand, turning to Pein. He commanded him, "Check."
Pein shut his eyes as he focused, checking through the chakra imbued droplets of rain for Sakura's chakra. He found it and discovered that Karin's findings were accurate. His eyelids lifted to reveal his majestic ringed Rinnegan and he nodded, confirming what Karin had said.
Madara's expression darkened and he stated coldly, "Go and retrieve your hostage, Sasuke. This girl will finish the preparations for his burial."
Sasuke left quickly and Karin stared down at Juugo, her expression unreadable. Madara tittered inwardly; human emotion was so weak.
"Madara-sama, the Iwagakure spy escaped along with Haruno Sakura. He's headed to the main shopping district now and his chakra is flaring with killing intent," Pein said quietly.
Madara let out a small 'tch' of annoyance. "We'll have to take matters into our own hands then."
He turned to leave, Pein following him, but then he paused. He glanced back over his shoulder at Karin and reassured her, "We'll make your friend's murderer pay for what he's done."
Karin nodded slowly, still staring at Juugo. Pein and Madara left then and the door clicked shut behind them, giving way to silence. She paused, sensing their chakra signatures grow further and further away until she was the only one left in the morgue.
Karin rolled her eyes. Make him pay, my ass.
Then she leapt to action.
There were only seven minutes left. Working as quickly as she could, she zipped up Juugo's body bag and rolled him off the examination table unceremoniously. He landed on the ground with a muffled thump and she ignored him (he was dead, so he wouldn't feel it anyways). There was a tall medical cabinet in the corner and she yanked it open- she and Sasuke had already removed everything inside to make room for a second body bag. She dragged it across the room and pulled it onto the observation table, yanking down the zipper to make sure the genjutsu was still in place.
An exact replica of Juugo's face stared up at her.
She zipped up the body bag in satisfaction; the genjutsu Sasuke and Sakura had put on the dead civilian body inside it had held. The civilian had come from another body bag in the morgue so he'd already been dead, a concession they'd had to make because Sakura wouldn't help otherwise. Shutting the medical cabinet, she grabbed the body bag that contained the real Juugo and dragged it out of the room, up and out of the morgue. She slung the bulky body over her shoulder and ran as fast as she could, her heels clicking against the wet ground.
Raising her free wrist that had a watch on it, she realised with that there were only eight minutes left. She moulded glowing green chakra to her feet and forced herself to run faster, faster, until an ominous black fountain emerged into her line of vision. Sasuke stood in front of it, his dark profile blending into the midnight rock, and he glided forwards to meet her.
As he took the body bag, she ripped the watch off her wrist and transferred it to Sasuke's, her nimble fingers securing it on his thin wrist as he shifted Juugo's corpse. Once she was done, Sasuke told her quietly, "Don't tell Suigetsu about this. Let him think Juugo's dead."
"But-"
He was already gone.
Meanwhile, Sakura had reached the gates of Amegakure. Sasuke had told her to go to the west gate because it wasn't as heavily defended, and true to his word, there were only two sentries on guard. They were separated as well, there was one on the top of the wall and one standing by the gate on the ground. She paused, slipping the last of Kakashi's soldier pills that she'd saved into her mouth, and bit down on it with a satisfying crunch.
Chakra flooded through her veins and she couldn't resist throwing her head back in ecstasy at the feeling. She had been itching for a fight all week – living with Sasuke frustrated her to no end and she didn't have a proper outlet – so she took the chance to wipe out the two guards gratefully. Fingering a kunai that Sasuke had not-so-kindly lent to her, she spun it experimentally and revelled at the feeling of having a weapon once again.
She moulded a thin thread of her own chakra to the handle and unleashed it on the first guard, the kunai flying swiftly and silently at the man standing on the lower level. It buried itself so deeply into his neck that it came out the other side and sliced viciously through all of his vocal chords. He had barely enough time to scream for help. His body fell to the ground with a muffled thump.
Sakura pulled at the thread of chakra connecting herself to the kunai and it glided out easily, but then it clattered onto the stone floor noisily. Her head snapped up instantly to the other guard on top of the wall and they stopped in confusion, turning around to find out what the commotion was all about.
"Yamamoto-san?" the female guard asked nervously.
Sakura realised that she couldn't have been much older than herself, if not younger. She instantly felt a pang of regret and decided she wouldn't kill her, she'd do her best to just knock her out.
The girl let out a shout of surprise as Sakura appeared before her and she threw her hands up in a hurried, improvised block as Sakura unleashed a vicious roundhouse. The girl skidded backwards and managed to block Sakura's next punch to the face, but missed the second jab to her left hip. The girl gritted her teeth and ignored the pain, doing her best to keep blocking.
However, the left side of her body suddenly collapsed like a bad soufflé. Sakura took this chance to deliver an uppercut to the chin and the girl flew into the wall of the guardhouse, the stone wall cracking from the force.
Still clinging to the vestiges of consciousness, the guard managed, "What did you do to me?"
Sakura grinned and waved a hand imbued with glowing green healing chakra at her. Sakura had jumbled the nerves in the left side of her body, rendering them temporarily useless. As though it explained everything, Sakura told her, "Medic-nin."
The girl's eyes promptly slid shut.
She jumped down from the upper level and walked towards the massive chakra imbued wooden gate, looking for the characteristic Ame symbol. She found the four diagonal slashes carved into a rock on the wall and moulded her chakra to it, drawing her hand back soon afterwards to see what would happen. The symbol glowed dully with the residue of her chakra before fading completely. Nothing was happening.
Then there was a loud shriek as the doors dragged against the stone floor slowly, slowly. A crack of light shone through the widening gap and Sakura watched it with the hungry eyes of the desperate, waiting for it to grow big enough for her to slip through. The light caught the dead guard's wrist and a brilliant shine caused her to glance at it instinctively. Upon closer inspection, she saw that he was actually wearing a watch- something infinitely useful to their cause. She bent down to remove it and pulled a face of disgust as she realised the clock face was covered in blood. She wiped it clean to read the time.
It was four thirty seven. They only had three minutes before Juugo died.
The screeching stopped suddenly and Sakura's head flicked upwards. The gate was fully open. She rose to her feet and threw a glance behind her.
Hurry, Sasuke.
Then she launched herself into a sprint beyond Amegakure.
To the objective eye, leaving Sakura on her own to get out of Amegakure was all kinds of royally stupid. To the objective eye, there was a high chance she'd just ditch them and make a break for Konoha, leaving Juugo to die while she made her way to safety.
However, Sasuke knew that when Sakura gave her word, she kept it.
It was a useless trait she'd unwittingly inherited from Naruto, one that Sasuke could depend on now. Juugo's skin was clammy cold against his skin and Sasuke's arm tightened around his thick waist, securing him in his grip. His crimson eyes flickered to Juugo's grey face, taking in the smell of decay and rotting skin. Sakura had really done a number on him.
A tiny clearing between the trees revealed itself to him through a curtain of foliage and he strained his eyes, looking for the tiniest blur of pink. A blinding migraine speared through his head with every passing minute, he'd grown accustomed to the pain but it did no wonders for his failing vision. His eyes flickered to the left, then to the right. Blurs of dark green met him at every turn, but none emerald or cherry pink.
Come on, come on. Where are you, Sakura?
He moulded chakra to his eyes and hissed in agony as his vision cleared and the pounding in his head worsened. His face was warm and wet with rain and he rubbed his arm across his cheeks, growing more and more agitated as he searched for her. He searched the area, able to make out the minute veins on leaves and individual feathers on birds' backs for the first time in months, but at too high a price.
There are only two minutes left. Where is she?
Sasuke ran forwards, maybe she was nearby. Maybe she hadn't been able to find their meeting point.
What happens if she really did just go back to Konoha?
He stopped in his tracks, the enormity of the realisation smacking him across the face like a slab of ice. A searing hot knife of pain twisted in his skull and he swayed dangerously, a hand lashing out to support himself against a gnarled tree trunk. He gritted his teeth, rage flooding through him. If he ever got his hands on her again, he'd kill her-
A high, feminine voice called out, "Sasuke?"
His murderous line of thought came to an abrupt halt.
"Sasuke, are you there?" Sakura called out again, her voice echoing in the forest canopy.
He turned immediately in the direction of her voice and flashed forwards, his forced 20/20 vision taking in everything around him. The orgy of browns and ochres of the soil, the blends of green in the leaves, the gnarled and smoothed textures of tree bark-
The minute hand on his watch moved decisively. There was only one minute left.
"Sakura!" he yelled, his voice unused to the strain. It had been so long since he'd screamed for anything, for anyone. "Sakura!"
There was a flurry of movement to his right and he turned, running in that direction. Juugo's dead weight threatened to drag him down, but he drove himself forwards so that it wouldn't stay permanent. Then there was a brilliant flash of pale pink and bright green eyes and he threw himself forwards.
Their hands collided clumsily as they lowered Juugo to the ground together, fingers gripping at corpse flesh. Sakura tossed her wet hair out of her bright, bright eyes, her hands glowing with soft chakra. Sasuke gripped Juugo's arm tightly as she pushed down heavily on Juugo's massive chest with both hands, forcing the chakra into his heart. Juugo's body spasmed once, but then fell still again.
"Twenty seconds," Sasuke told her sharply.
She swore loudly under her breath and then ripped Sasuke's hand away from Juugo's arm, pressing it against her stomach. Sasuke understood what she meant immediately; the stomach was where the centre of chakra production was in any person's body and he flooded Sakura with as much chakra as he could possibly muster. The foreign chakra blistered Sakura's skin and she gritted her teeth against the pain, letting out a low cry as she unleashed their combined chakra on Juugo's body.
Her fingers tightened around his and he instinctively interlocked their fingers, watching Juugo for a reaction. Dead silence followed.
The minute hand moved again.
Sakura's long nails dug deep into the flesh of Sasuke's hand, but what he didn't realise was that he was squeezing her hand just as tightly too. Juugo remained as lifeless as he had what seemed like lifetimes ago. A tiny, tiny gasp escaped Sakura's mouth.
His eyes strayed from Juugo for what he had intended to be a split second, but then remained locked on Sakura for an eternity. Tears as clear as a summer's day coursed down her cheeks, her lips bright red from where she had gnawed them in an attempt to restrain herself. He felt his morale drop into the pit of his soul, his hand slackening against hers. He couldn't bring himself to separate himself from her- not now.
She tried to pull herself away from Sasuke, to hide herself from him in a fit of guilty consciousness. Somehow, they managed to get tangled up in an accidental game of push and pull until she fell forwards into him. Her gasps developed into sobs and his arms tightened around her small shoulders, her body pressed against his chest as she hid her face behind her hands.
"Sakura," her name slipped from his lips, fragile as paper thin crystal.
She tried to rip herself away from him again, but he held her like a vice.
"Sasuke, let me go-"
"Sakura, he's breathing."
Her eyes flashed open and her head snapped to the side at his words. Both Sasuke and Sakura watched in amazement as Juugo's chest rose and fell, rose and fell. The colour began to return to Juugo's face. His mouth cracked open and he inhaled deeply, raspily- the disgusting sound was perhaps one of the most beautiful ones Sakura had ever heard before in her life.
Sasuke released one arm, the other still holding Sakura against him, and he pressed his fingers against Juugo's pulse point in his wrist. He waited for a heartbeat.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
He moved his head slightly to look at Sakura, meeting her stricken gaze. Their faces were so close, he could make out each individual bead of perspiration on her forehead, each strand of pale pink that ghosted across her cheeks.
His voice was heavy with emotions he couldn't name. "You saved him, Sakura."
She stared at him as though she couldn't process what he had just said to her.
Then, her mouth curved upwards into a smile and her brilliance blinded him.
Come back when you can by Barcelona. It is not a coincidence that this happens to be the song that inspired me to continue writing Say. I think I'll make it the theme song of this story.
I really don't want Sakura to get with Sasuke. She should stay with Naruto.
In real life, if I had to choose between a Naruto or a Sasuke, I would go for a Naruto in a heartbeat. This has nothing to do with the fact that the guy I have a crush on reminds me of him either. Really. Anyways, what I really mean to say is, I have no idea how this story is going to end. I only know what will happen towards the end of the story, but the story is one huge massive blur from then on. I wish I could give you guys a definitive answer about what this pairing will be eventually because I can't see possible ways for either relationship to work out. I've been toying with the idea of turning one of them into a douche bag, but I couldn't possibly do that to Naruto and I'm trying to make people like Sasuke, which would be incredibly detrimental to my original goal. Deaths are out of the question, because Sakura would hate whoever lived. If only she could have both of them. =(
Is Sakura cheating on Naruto?
I don't think so. I'd like to think everything so far has been more friendly than romantic on her end, but Sasuke's one big massive blob of enigmatic mystery. You can figure out what you think he's feeling for her. He's a very twisted guy.
Sakura helped Sasuke bust Juugo out. What happens now?
Alrighty, here's where my research comes in handy. If you want to be on top of your game for the next chapter, take a lookey at manga chapter 354; Nekobaa's supply shop in the Abandoned City becomes really important throughout this story.
Sakura and Sasuke are working together so naturally now. Relationship development, much?
Yes. It took forever, but we got there in the end, guys. We are one fraction closer to a full on make out session. With Naruto and Sasuke.
Why did Sakura cry? Something like that shouldn't have made her cry!
Actually, yes it would. Imagine how much stress she was under. First of all, she was just beginning to patch up her relationship with Sasuke so she would have been really hopeful. She's also seen how much Juugo means to Sasuke and that would have reminded her that he's not beyond hope- he still cares for people, even if it's not her and Naruto. I think that would have inspired her to help Juugo. Both Sakura and Sasuke were risking their necks to make sure the plan worked and they were working their butts off, so their emotional levels were going absolutely haywire. Sakura and Sasuke both couldn't find each other, so Sakura must have been freaking out because there were only two minutes left to save Juugo- then she found him and then thought she killed him because she wasn't quick enough finding Sasuke. She would have been on one hell of an emotional rollercoaster- hell, I'd go into a complete breakdown if I'd been through all that and thought it had been for nothing.
Just to make things interesting, you should have one of the hot men take off their shirt in each chapter. You know, just to satisfy your own cravings.
That sounds like a damn good idea. I'll start with the next chapter. First person to point out who was shirtless in the chapter gets a prize. : )
Why is it taking you so long to update?
It's time to put imagery to use here to get my sentiments across more clearly. I am like a writer with a spastic literary colon and chapters take hours on the metaphorical loo to write. I think more often than not, writing is difficult for everyone and inspiration comes in super quick flashes. I come up with ideas quickly, but when I actually have to sit down and write stuff out, I die a little inside everytime. (This is basically me complaining. You should be shouting at me to get off my ass and finish writing this beast.)
What's up with the new Naruto chapters? Why are all of the characters emotionally retarded? WHEN WILL SASUKE STOP F-CKING FIGHTING?
I die a little inside with every new chapter Kishimoto releases. If Sasukes comes up with another crazy move, I'll melt. I can't incorporate all of this shit into Say, as much as I'd like to. And what was up with the whole Naruto fainting thing? I mean, I guess he was under a lot of stress, but it was still annoying. And Sakura's annoying. Running after Sasuke when you are blatantly incapable of doing so helps nobody. Really.
An ANBU dance troupe on youtube? What?
Take the spaces out of the link below. Now THAT'S what's up.
www . youtube . com / watch?v = CeZkvxfHd40
I'm kind of running out of Naruto quotes to put at the beginning of chapters from Say. If you have any you think are really good, please donate them.
In a review.
Preferably. : )
- selandora