Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Chapter 9
They had all pulled out weapons. Guns, as Sasuke heard them being called. Pein had used the weapon. Everything had moved so fast, and then so slow.
And then, Sasuke stares down at the body lying on the ground, disbelieving.
There is a bullet through the person's chest. Blood pours out of it as a man Sasuke recognizes races up to the man and tries to help him. Kakashi. Kakashi is trying to help the dying person. Why is he even trying to help? There's no use, right? The person was hit in the chest with the 'gun.' No one uses guns in his world. He isn't sure how to deal with it. Unlike the jutsu they use in his world, these bullets can't be dodged easily, if at all. He could always use a bunshin or something, but there doesn't seem to be any jutsu in this world. Chakra doesn't seem to exist. Sure, he can use his sharingan, but his body cannot match up to the speed of the sharingan.
Sasuke, who normally feels invincible…feels vulnerable for the first time in 3 years.
He barely registers a furious Itachi moving from his protective stance just in front of Sasuke.
X
7 hours earlier
2:08 PM
Akatsuki Base
"Let her go," says Itachi.
"I wasn't aware that we caught her again, yeah," says Deidara. "Well this changes things…"
Sasuke looks at Itachi immediately. To the average eye, Itachi looks completely normal, but Sasuke knows that this puts Itachi on edge. Itachi probably thinks that he may have just sealed Sakura's fate. Before Itachi can say anything or do anything in response, Sasuke grabs Itachi's wrist, telling him to be quiet.
"What does Akatsuki want in exchange?" Sasuke asks.
Deidara looks at Sasuke, slightly amused. "We want all of our demands followed, yeah."
"What are those demands?"
"Why should I tell you, yeah?"
"We'll relay the message," says Itachi.
"Get the Emperor to meet with us personally if he wants his daughter back, yeah." Deidara then turns away. "You have 24 hours." He then leaves. Sasuke holds Itachi back from chasing after Deidara and hurting him.
"Remember, they have Sakura," Sasuke says. "Let's go. We should try to convince Kakashi to talk to the Emperor."
Mentioning the Emperor brings up a question that had been nagging his mind. He's pretty sure that he has seen Sakura's father before and the man he met, the man that was introduced as Sakura's father and the Emperor…was not him. The white haired man that he met was not the dark pink haired man he has seen in Konoha. Does this mean that Sakura is adopted? He's pretty sure that Sakura is her father's child in Konoha – in his own world, what with their physical similarities, but in this world, how is it possible that she has a different father?
Another question pops up in his mind as he questions this. Who is Sakura's mother in this world? Maybe her mother got divorced and married the Emperor and the Emperor isn't really Sakura's biological father.
"Let's go," Itachi suddenly says. Sasuke hurries and follows behind Itachi.
"Where are we going?" asks Sasuke.
"Back to the palace."
"I'll take responsibility for this…if I can."
"No need. I agreed to it. I'll take responsibility." Itachi's tone doesn't leave any room for argument. Sasuke sighs and continues following behind Itachi.
"Won't you get in a lot of trouble for this?"
"Hm."
Sasuke silences. It doesn't seem like Itachi wants to speak of all of this. Since when was he the conversationalist anyways? Itachi truly is the only one that can defeat him in anything.
X
3:12 PM
Palace
"Be careful," is all the warning Sasuke gets from Itachi before everything turns black.
When the two of them arrived at the palace, they barely could do anything before they are both tackled to the ground and stunned.
When Sasuke comes to, he realizes that Karin and Suigetsu are in the room with them too. Or rather, it isn't much of a room - more like a prison. Itachi is already awake and alert. He is near the bars, looking out of the prison. Suigetsu and Karin are both still unconscious and Suigetsu is even snoring.
"You're awake," says Itachi.
"Aa," Sasuke responds. "What happened?"
"They must have noticed the switch while we were gone," says Itachi, "We won't know what exactly went on until those two are awake."
"Juugo isn't here," says Sasuke, "He must not have been caught."
"Or maybe they thought he wasn't a part of it," Itachi muses. "Either way, we won't get out of here until they find Sakura…probably." Sasuke realizes that Itachi still hasn't realized that he has said her name again. Weirdly enough, her name doesn't sound weird when he says it, unlike when she says his name. Maybe it's the awkwardness. Itachi hasn't realized he'd said her name so there is no awkwardness. Sakura knows that Itachi isn't happy with her and refuses to say her name, so it's awkward for her – so it sounds weird when she says his name.
"We can't do that," says Sasuke, "Sakura's in danger unless the Emperor personally meets with them." He's trying his best to stay calm considering he knows that if anything happens to Sakura, Itachi won't be well off. And aside from that, he would never want to see Sakura hurt.
"I know." Itachi's voice is tense.
Sasuke hears a small groan. He turns around. Karin is waking up.
"Karin," says Sasuke, reaching out for her, "What happened?"
Karin looks at Sasuke in surprise and then starts blushing.
"U-Um…" she says bashfully.
"What happened?" Sasuke asks again, more demanding. He shakes her slightly. He never was one to be gentle anyways.
As if she is snapping out of something, Karin's face changes from shy to serious. She looks at Suigetsu briefly and then looks back at Sasuke.
"We don't really know," she says, "We were doing fine. No one was bothering us or anything. Then, all of a sudden, they broke down Sakura's door and pulled out a stun gun."
"Where's Juugo?" Sasuke asks.
"He got away," Karin says, "He was getting us chocolate."
"Is there any chance that he'd try to get us out?" asks Sasuke.
"He definitely is going to try to get us out," says Karin, seemingly insulted that Sasuke would even ask such a thing, "He's insanely loyal."
Sasuke is a little taken aback by her fierceness to defend Juugo. He doesn't remember them getting along that well in his own world.
"Do you know where we are?" Sasuke asks.
"The dungeon," Karin answers.
"How much time do you think it will take?" asks Itachi.
Karin looks slightly confused by Itachi's question.
"For Juugo to get here," Sasuke says.
"Not long," says Karin.
Suddenly, the sound of a heavy door being pushed open rings throughout the dungeon. All of them listen to the footsteps that follow shortly after. The steps are fast, like the person is running. Judging by the sound of the steps, Sasuke figures that the person is quite big.
And surely enough, shortly after, Juugo shows up at the other side of the bars, slightly out of breath.
"Itachi-sama, Sasuke-san, when did you come back?" Juugo asks as he unlocks the lock on the door.
"What time is it?" Itachi asks.
"6 o'clock," responds Juugo.
"We've been back 3 hours," says Itachi.
"Where is Sakura-sama?" asks Juugo.
Karin, as if noticing that Sakura isn't with them, looks around hurriedly, "Where's Sakura?" She seems a little panicked. Suddenly, she slaps Suigetsu. "Get your stupid butt up, Suigetsu!" Suigetsu, as a result, jumps up and takes a fighting position. Had they not all been stressed, they likely would have found this funny.
"What happened?" Suigetsu asks. Sasuke can tell that the situation hasn't sunk into him yet. Karin drags him up by his hand and they all walk out of the door that Juugo has just unlocked.
Karin ignores Suigetsu. "Where's Sakura?"
"Akatsuki has her," Itachi answers.
"Again?!" Karin sputters.
"Aa," says Itachi, "We have to get to the Emperor."
"What?" Suigetsu says, "What's going on?!"
Sasuke doesn't listen as Karin fills Suigetsu in on all she knows. They continue running and soon, they can hear guards chasing after them. They continue running and running. Sasuke isn't even sure where they are going. He doesn't know where the Emperor's room is. He trusts that the rest of them know where they're going.
Just then, Itachi stops. Some of them screech to a stop behind Itachi, in an attempt to not bump into him.
"Hatake," says Itachi.
"You snuck Sakura out of the palace and as a result, she has been captured by the Akatsuki for the second time," Kakashi says, "Your motives are questionable."
"Believe what you want," Itachi says, "Is the Emperor in?"
Kakashi sighs as he walks a few steps down a turn in the hallway. The rest of them all follow, but they all stop when they see a huge door. Judging by the fact that they are stopping here, he assumes that this is the Emperor's room.
Kakashi knocks on the door twice, then a voice greets him. "The door is unlocked." Kakashi proceeds to push open the door. And then they are inside. The insides of the room are just as extravagant, if not more so, than Sakura's room. Unlike Sakura's room, however, there is an office area and that is the first area you see when you walk into the room. The Emperor's quarters seem to actually be split up, unlike Sakura's.
"I was expecting you," says the Emperor. No matter how Sasuke looks at him, the Emperor and Sakura cannot be related. One of these days, he has to ask Sakura who her mother is. That will prove Sakura's parentage, right? He has met Sakura's mother before, so he would know. "Tell me…what happened to my daughter?"
"I brought her out of the palace," says Itachi.
"And why would you do such a thing?" asks the Emperor.
"She wanted to see the outside world," Itachi answers. "She has always wanted to see the outside world." His words seem a little far away, Sasuke muses. Is it because he is thinking of Sakura right now? Maybe he's remembering their moments together – or a moment together.
"This is precisely why I wouldn't let her out!" the Emperor scolds.
"You could have let her out with a team if you wanted to," says Itachi, "Keeping her locked up in here was causing her to suffer - couldn't you see that?"
Sasuke expects the Emperor to get mad – to start seething in rage even, but he doesn't. He sits there, fairly calm, yet kind of nervous at the same time. He must be worried about Sakura, Sasuke figures. The Emperor doesn't seem to be very emotional. Instead, he seems very kind.
"What are you going to do to fix this?" he asks.
"The Akatsuki will only talk about their demands with you," Itachi says.
"Personally, I assume," says the Emperor.
"Aa," Itachi responds.
"That is dangerous, you know that," says the Emperor.
"She is your daughter," says Itachi, "Your only daughter."
Silence.
Then, the Emperor sighs. "Schedule a meeting then."
X
Present day
8:42 PM
Akatsuki Base
They had sworn not to harm any of them so long as the Emperor kept his word. They hadn't brought many soldiers with them. They are trusting Akatsuki's words. It's a risk they're willing to take. Besides, Itachi had said that the Akatsuki always keep their word.
And now they are seated at a table in an otherwise empty room. There are no windows and the room is large, but there is nothing special about the room.
Soon, the Akatsuki file into the room one by one. Sasuke manages to recognize most of them, either from previous meetings or rumors – Pein, Konan, Deidara, Kisame, Orochimaru, Sasori and Zetsu, though Zetsu, in this world, isn't one person. He isn't sure what they are called by name, but they are twins. Maybe Zetsu A and Zetsu B. Who knows? Or maybe, Akatsuki just refers to them as one person. Who knows? He mentally shrugs. Besides that, Orochimaru had winked at him when he walked in. Sasuke almost forgot how creepy the sannin was. It has been a while since he'd slain the snake master.
He finds that he doesn't care much for the other members. He barely has time to acknowledge their presence anyways. They get right down to business. Pein sits down right across from Sakura's father.
And they start talking. "Pein," Pein introduces himself.
"Dan," says the Emperor. Dan? He's pretty sure that Sakura's father's name is something like Kikashi or something. He remembers thinking it was very alike to Kakashi's name, but that's about it. Either way, her father's name was not Dan.
The two of them shake hands.
"I would like my daughter back as soon as possible. Please state your demands."
"Getting right down to business, eh?"
Sasuke doesn't care enough to look up to know who it is that said the words. Someone must have sent whoever said the sarcastic words a look, because no one responds.
He has a bad feeling about all of this.
He doesn't really pay attention to what they are talking about. It seems civil enough…so what is this horrible feeling he is getting at the pit of his stomach?
He looks from one Akatsuki member to another, examining each one carefully. They haven't made any suspicious movements yet. Nothing is out of the ordinary.
He only blinks before he can feel the tension grow drastically.
Bang!
They had all pulled out weapons. Guns, as Sasuke heard them being called. Pein had used the weapon. Everything had moved so fast, and then so slow.
And then, Sasuke stares down at the body lying on the ground, disbelieving.
There is a bullet through the person's chest. Blood pours out of it as a man Sasuke recognizes races up to the man and tries to help him. Kakashi. Kakashi is trying to help the dying person. Why is he even trying to help? There's no use, right? The person was hit in the chest with the 'gun.' No one uses guns in his world. He isn't sure how to deal with it. Unlike the jutsu they use in his world, these bullets can't be dodged easily, if at all. He could always use a bunshin or something, but there doesn't seem to be any jutsu in this world. Chakra doesn't seem to exist. Sure, he can use his sharingan, but his body cannot match up to the speed of the sharingan in this world.
Sasuke, who normally feels invincible…feels vulnerable for the first time in 3 years.
He barely registers a furious Itachi moving from his protective stance just in front of Sasuke.
Sasuke looks down at the ground. In his momentary shock, he hadn't been able to register that it is Sakura's father, the Emperor, bleeding profusely on the ground.
"We had a deal," says Itachi rather calmly. His face betrays his voice, however.
"You forget who we are and what we stand for, Itachi," says Pein. From the corner of his eyes, Sasuke sees Kakashi's head perk up as if something very interesting has just happened. He has probably been suspicious of Itachi for a long time now.
Itachi continues glaring at Pein and the rest of them.
Pein shows no emotion at all as he says, "Be at the next meeting on time. You know the way out." He then leaves the room. The rest of the Akatsuki follow.
"Traitor," Kakashi says. "She trusted you!" He is seething in rage.
The emperor opens his mouth to say something, but his pain causes him to wince. Kakashi shoots him a look. How is it that Kakashi can boss the emperor around like this? Or maybe the emperor knows that it's better to listen to Kakashi this time.
Itachi, however, has no reaction to Kakashi's words. "We should get out of here fast." He turns and walks closer to the dying emperor. Kakashi glares at him and Itachi stops. "You'll carry him then." He takes out his cellphone and starts dialing a number. He watches as Kakashi hoists the emperor onto his back. When he is sure that Kakashi is ready, they rush out. Sasuke stays behind Kakashi. He watches as the emperor's body twitches every once in a while.
He looks at Itachi's back. He looks no different. It doesn't seem like he cares much for the emperor. Well, Sasuke knows that Itachi cares for the emperor to some extent – after all, he is Sakura's father. There is no way that Itachi doesn't care that Sakura is going to lose her father if he doesn't get them all out of the base as soon as possible.
Sasuke also wonders how Sakura is going to take all of this. First, her father's life is in danger, and second…Itachi's betrayal will likely be exposed soon.
This chapter was hard to write. :( I went through writers block sooooo many times. :( Sorry if it wasn't good ; ; This chapter had to happen before...some stuff could happen. :( I foresee loads fluff in the next few chapters. :)
Considering Sasuke knows that Itachi's secret will be out soon, Itachi likely knows too! What will he do? Will he get the chance to tell Sakura himself? Review please! I want to know what you think! :)
Until next Thursday! 8D