Trigger warning for sexual assault!
This chapter is also a bit intense...sorry for all of the interrogation scenes. I feel like that's something kind of important to espionage though, so it's a little unavoidable. Regardless, it's a nice long chapter! And hopefully a little bit exciting!
I did get a few reviews discussing how human Kakashi is in this fic, and I'm very happy about that. That was one of my primary goals with Kakashi; I read a lot of fics where he's very suave, or very confident, but just my personal interpretation from the manga and the show is that he's solitary, anti-social, and very guarded. I think it's fairly common knowledge that he was a confident child, but the death of his closest friends changed him irrevocably into someone much more humble, which I've really been trying to bring out in him. If you have any constructive criticism for my characters though, feel free to tell me about it!
Like always, I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Please read and review! I love reviews!
Sakura woke up shivering. Unsurprisingly, Kakashi hadn't returned for another night to stay warm. He was holed up in a tree somewhere, and she'd spent the night unpleasantly cold. But she was a shinobi, and she could handle worse than this.
It didn't exactly make her feel better.
They all woke silently, checked the site for any sign of their presence, and then took off. Kakashi clearly felt much better; his gait was strong and even, not favoring either side. She felt briefly proud of her growing skill. He'd had three broken bones just two days ago, and now he was hurdling through the forest at breakneck speed.
She tried not to think too much about the previous night. It hadn't exactly been a failure. She'd learned a few really interesting things about the most mysterious man in Konoha, and she'd summoned all of her courage to break the physical barrier between them. Maybe she hadn't gotten her intimate under-the-stars kiss that she'd read about in romance novels, but a kiss on the cheek was something, right? Sakura flushed. She'd had one kiss before, a brief peck with Sasuke before he left their village forever, and it had been pretty anticlimactic. She found herself wondering what kissing Kakashi would be like.
Would it be like that childhood kiss she'd shared with Sasuke, quick and innocent? Or would it be more like something she'd read out of a novel, deep and intense and mind blowing? Were kisses even like that? She'd always suspected that the authors had exaggerated...but as a woman with embarrassingly limited experience, she didn't feel like she was exactly a subject matter expert.
And wasn't that the root of her problems? Sakura was inexperienced. She was shy about it, but honestly she'd poured her heart into jutsu after Sasuke had left. She'd had nothing else, and it had provided her with a much needed outlet for her emotions. Heartbroken, she had avoided all of the experiences common to young women her age. But her lack of experience only served to cripple her now.
She frowned, annoyed. Everybody was better at this than her. If Ino had focused more on jutsu and advancement, she'd have blown through this mission easily and made it to jounin testing. Sai probably blew through it too. He was handsome, and could be very charming when he wanted to.
She glanced over at him. With his sleek black hair, delicately featured face, and athletic body, he probably had his choice of willing jounin to practice on.
They shared a collective sigh as they passed the Earth village that they'd planned on spending the night in, and continued to run. It looked like a slice of paradise. But if they made it to the next town before night, she knew that they'd be stopping to refresh. Highly populated towns were pretty great for losing followers in, and though Kakashi was a stickler for tactical movement, he did love to be clean.
They continued to run for the entire day.
"These guys are a bitch to follow! I can barely track them!" Shin growled, his eyes narrowed. He cast the ninjutsu again, the Chakra Trace Jutsu that he specialized in. It functioned similarly to the Byakugan, allowing the caster to detect and trace the chakra of other Shinobi. But these strangers were clever. Their movement through trees minimized the trace that ninjas generally left behind, and their path was extremely evasive. They appeared to be steadily moving east, but they occasionally circled back or changed direction.
It was common evasive maneuvers, but it still frustrated the trackers following them to no end. Shin, annoyed, turned to one of his teammates.
"Takaki! Can you get a signal back to the compound yet?" The shorter jounin glowered, black eyes barely visible over the high collar of his jacket.
"No. Their dish is down, it got destroyed during the runaround." He clicked the radio off, tucking it back into his carrier. "One of us can go back, for reinforcements."
"I don't know. They're probably going to stop in a town tonight to try and lose us, so we have to strike soon or we may lose them. I'm going to need at least two of you to track the big guys, and someone with me to take Sakura. Her chakra levels are extraordinarily high, we need to make sure to incapacitate her."
"What's the plan after that? We don't need all of them. Just one will do, we can get all the information that we need from just her. But they're going to follow us." Takaki sounded very nervous. "They killed Ryo's whole team."
"Well, they won't get too close. They won't want us to hurt her."
Sakura could have cried from joy. This town was much larger than the one that they had passed, a busy trade town in the middle of the Nation of Earth. They slowed down at the borders, assessing each others' appearance.
"It's alright," said Kakashi. "Let's swing by this store. We'll pick up some local clothing, and drop off our gear. This is what we call a hidden embassy; the store caters to Hidden Leaf Ninja that come in to exchange clothing and items, and they get a monthly check from Konoha. There's a few in every Nation, and it's almost impossible to track them down."
Sakura's eyes widened, surprised. She assumed that one had to just memorize where all of them were, since she doubted that any shinobi would jeopardize the store by writing an address down. Anyhow, it looked discreet enough. It was a dusty little shop, right at the edge of the market area. They slipped in without notice.
A tiny, rather shriveled old woman was at the cash register. Innocuous clothing hung everywhere, tacky pieces that seemed to excel at repulsing the viewer. Sakura scowled. This was the clothing that they would wear around town? The woman looked up and smiled.
"Kakashi-kun," she laughed, sliding off of her chair and hobbling forward to wrap her arms around him. He laughed uncomfortably, but didn't struggle. "You came back to see me!" Sakura was surprised that the woman could recognize Kakashi with his disguise. He looked distinctly different, at least at first glance. Perhaps she was a very old friend, pun not intended.
"Manami-sama," he replied, finally prying himself loose. "Good evening! Three sets, please!" She took his hand and squeezed it before shuffling back behind the counter. Sakura stifled a laugh. Kakashi noticed and leaned over. "Manami-sama is a kunoichi," he murmured. "She's the Hokage's cousin. She used to live in Hidden Leaf, and emigrated here to help protect shinobi from her village that come through this town." Sakura's eyes widened. So the eccentric old woman facade really was just a facade?
Manami came back with three bundles, pressing each into their hands. She stopped at Sakura, reaching forward to cup her face after giving her the clothing.
"So pretty!" she chuckled, pinching Sakura's cheeks rather painfully. She managed to smile through watering eyes. "Reminds me of myself, back when I was a young ass-kicker. Go on darlings, use the back room."
Sakura nearly choked, not expecting any part of that sentence. Kakashi grabbed her arm and yanked her through the back with him and Sai.
The back room was just as inconspicuous as the front. There were packing boxes everywhere, and a few dingy dressing stalls. A single lightbulb hung overhead, casting the room into deep shadows. She was pretty sure that the thing in the corner was a mirror, but it was covered in a thick layer of dust. She coughed, casting Kakashi a confused glance.
"Don't we send her enough to keep a shop running?" she asked, wincing from the dust. He nodded.
"Of course. But the idea is to keep people out of here. She uses the money to pay for her food and apartment, and to rent this space. If somebody was in here when we stumbled in, kitted in stealth gear, we'd have to kill them. They could jeopardize the shop and we would have to move her. She wants people in here for as short of an amount of time as possible, if they even happen to stumble in." He stepped into a dressing room.
She sighed and followed suit. But she was rather pleasantly surprised to find that the clothing that Manami had handed her was actually quite fashionable! She had a light vest, ruched at the waist in a flattering way, with a bow at the back of her neck. The material was a very lovely lilac color, with pale pink flowers patterned across it. The pants were soft and loose, flowing to the clasped base at her ankles. The effect was really quite feminine, but so comfortable that she felt like she was bathed in silk. Last were the shoes, soft pink sandals, and a silver comb that Manami had left for her. Sakura smiled, picking it up and winding it into her hair.
She stepped out and was rewarded with some very surprised looks from the men. Kakashi looked discreet, in a high collar brown jacket that just hid the bottom of his face. Sai looked quite pleased in a comfortable black yukata.
"That comb was mine," said a soft voice from behind them. They whipped around. None of them had heard her come in, which was saying something. "I was very proud of my long hair, back when it was still black. I have many combs that I used to decorate it." The old woman chuckled. "Keep that one, it looks lovely with the pink." She turned and shuffled back out of the room.
Sakura's fingers found the comb. It was real silver, soft and heavy and quite valuable. She was touched by the woman's generosity.
"Manami-sama was known across the Nations for her taijutsu, as well as her incredible beauty," said Kakashi quietly. "She's a very old ally, and a good friend to have." He didn't give them any more detail, instead launching straight into the rules.
"Everybody drop their henge tonight," said Kakashi, dropping his own with a small release of chakra. Sakura and Sai followed suit. "That should help us cover our tracks. Again, no drinking and limit socializing. We're staying in the Four Winds Hotel up the street, two rooms. Sai and I will share a double room, Sakura can have a room to herself. The names are under 'Hiro.' Don't bring attention to yourself. Get some dinner and a bath, and we'll leave tomorrow before sunrise for Wind." They all nodded in silent agreement and turned for the door.
"Kakashi..." Sakura's hand shot out, touching his elbow gently. He paused, turning slightly. "I..um...do you want to get something to eat? With me?" A hot blush covered her face, but she needed more time alone with him, to try to get him to relax around her. He seemed to feel differently though.
"I'm going to the bathhouse," he said, not unkindly. "And probably just spending the night in my room. Sorry, just a boring night for me." He waved and then disappeared. Sakura groaned. Well, that was the clearest NO that she had ever seen. She fingered her portion of the money, enough for some dinner, and took off to a small outdoor diner. At least she could get some udon.
The cook smiled at her as she pulled out a chair, fragrant smoke wrapping her in a warm embrace. She ordered the spicy seafood udon, picking at fried gyoza while she waited. It was a pretty lonely night, just her and the silent chef. She shrugged her vest closer, wishing that she'd asked for a jacket too. The temperature would drop very soon, so she didn't have a lot of time to finish her meal and get inside. The hot udon was a pleasant way to end a mission though, warming her from the inside. She sighed, appreciating a meal of fresh noodles and vegetables after several days of scavenging or going hungry. It was doing wonders for her mood, considering she just got shot down again.
"Seat taken?" Sai pulled out the chair beside her and joined her. "I swung by the bookstore first. They had some interesting titles. That smells good, what kinds of udon do they have?" He picked up a paper menu, scanning the items.
"Hey," greeted Sakura wearily. "Did you buy anything?"
"No. Not enough money. But I wrote some down to buy when we get back." Sakura glanced at the cook, but he was busy chopping onions, and didn't seem remotely interested in their conversation. Still, it would do best to be careful anyways.
"Yeah. This has been...fun, but I'm starting to get nervous about getting caught back up at the hospital. Things change every week, I've missed so much already." She sighed, drinking a spoonful of the savory broth. "So, why Ino?" She seemed to throw him off a little bit with the question.
"Oh, I don't know. She's grown a lot since we first met. She's much nicer now, and she's funnier. I guess she looks prettier too, when she's being kind of shy around me," he mused, wiping the condensation from his glass of water. "Maybe just because I've gotten to know her better." Sakura smiled grimly. Ino was going to lose her mind, she'd been crushing on Sai for years now, and it had only gotten worse after Sasuke had left. But...honestly, she was really enjoying their reestablished friendship. In some ways, their sadness and recovery had brought them back together, and Sakura remembered why they had been friends. She would be happy to see Ino with Sai, they made a very attractive couple.
"Yeah...she's grown a lot." The old Sakura might have been jealous, not necessarily over Sai, but more likely over her old rival's budding romance...but she was too disappointed over her own recent failures to really want to put herself into another triangle. She just hoped the best for them, bitterly glad that they wouldn't have to suffer over it like she was. The cook handed Sai a bowl of fresh udon, and he began to eat hungrily.
"I think I'm going to go," she murmured, getting up. She dropped her money on the counter, leaving Sai to his meal. At least she wasn't hungry anymore...but she still felt pretty gross. It was definitely time to shower. Sai waved her off with a small smile, his mouth full of hot soup. She made her way back towards the hotel, shivering slightly as a cold wind blew over her.
The hotel was nice enough, a quiet little place with a modest lobby. "Guest of Hiro," she informed the clerk, holding the room key that he handed her like the sweetest, most delicate treasure. This was the ticket to the shower that she'd been dreaming about! Sakura could have cried, but preferred not to make the clerk feel more awkward than he had to. She found the stairs and practically skipped up to her room.
A shower! Finally! She slowed to a stop when she saw Kakashi reaching for his own door as she rounded the corner. They met eyes, and he froze before closing his fingers around the knob.
"Kakashi," she said, moving forward. He waited, gaze steady. "Did you eat? There's a good place just down the road." She was a little bit concerned, but he seemed to withdraw from her. "You need to eat, you're still healing. Actually, now that I think of it I should reseal some of those-"
"I'm alright, thanks Sakura." He shut the door behind him.
Crestfallen, she opened her own door, closing it quietly behind her. She was a thousand miles from her goal, perhaps even farther from it than she had been before she'd started. He didn't even want to talk to her now. Cursing Tsunade for this useless mission, she began to strip off the fine clothes.
Sakura knew better than to sleep with the window open, but there wasn't much she could do about the tiny crack in the corner. She didn't even notice it.
It had been a long week. She sighed, rolling her head to stretch her aching neck. The hot shower hadn't helped much, although the hot water on her sore, dirty body had been heavenly at the time. She certainly felt cleaner. Her hair was fresh and wrapped cozily in the towel, skin shining pink from the scrubbing. She eyed the cloth bundle on the bed; a cheap robe, provided by the hotel. How nice! She slipped into it.
Sakura didn't want to think about what Tsunade was going to say about her failed mission, but she was a natural worrier, so she really couldn't help it. I'm going to be a chunin forever. And she's going to fire me as her apprentice, and I'm going to live in my crappy apartment alone until I die. Maybe I should get a cat. She entertained the thought. But it slowly began to lead her down an angry trail. She flopped irritably onto the big, soft bed.
This is wrong. He's a good person, and all this stupid mission has done is make us confused and drive us apart. I…I like him. Sakura buried her face into her pillow, groaning to herself. Why did Tsunade have to go and give her strange feelings towards him? And if she really did like him, then what did that mean for this mission?
She drifted off to sleep slowly, her mind tossing and turning until finally she was too tired to distinguish the individual thoughts. She was so tired that she didn't feel it when a hypodermic needle shot through the crack in the glass and punctured her skin.
Sakura felt like she was swaying gently.
It was similar to how she felt when she'd had too much to drink. A moan bubbling in her throat, she struggled to remember why she'd been drinking. Ino…I was drinking with…with Ino…
Her eyes rolled nauseatingly in her head, the world spinning as she struggled to control her stomach. Another lurch, though, and she couldn't keep down the sudden burst of hot liquid in her mouth. Gross.
Somebody echoed her statement faintly, probably Ino. She sighed, trying to open her eyes, but it was just too damn difficult. She tried clenching them instead, but nothing seemed to help the overpowering drunkenness. She coughed, clearing her throat of bile, and managed to drift back to sleep. Ino would take care of her.
"Hey, wake up."
Sakura felt that odd drunk feeling again, her mouth totally dry. She moved her tongue feebly, trying to spread some moisture, but there was nothing there.
"Wake up!" the voice returned, sharp and demanding and definitely male. She frowned, struggling to open her eyes. She wasn't expecting the hard slap, which came out of nowhere and bowled her over on its path. She tried to cry out, but she couldn't make a sound. Somebody yanked her back up, and she felt something soft against her lips. Sakura flinched until she felt the cool water running down her chin, and she quickly sucked several mouthfuls from the skin until it was taken from her.
She blinked rapidly, trying to clear the fuzzy outline around everything. She wasn't in her apartment, or Ino's, but in some big, overgrown forest instead. She shook her head.
The forest! She gasped, the scratchy motion of air against her dry throat causing her to succumb to a fit of coughing. Nobody moved to help her, and finally she managed to quiet. She was very acutely aware of the fact that she was sitting in the company of three total strangers, in the middle of a mission, and that her situation was perilously dangerous. But she couldn't have gotten up if she tried; the forest still spun around her.
"Hey Sakura," said the man in front of her, his gapped smile slowly coming into focus as she squinted. Shin? She gaped at him. "So, we have enough of the drug to keep you compliant for the rest of the trip back to the compound, but not enough to keep you knocked out the whole time. Sorry, but you're going to have bear with us."
The way he said compliant made her skin crawl, but she didn't exactly have the wherewithal to fight back. All she could do was whimper when his hand grazed her ankle, sliding upwards before tightly gripping her bare calf. Sakura flinched and tried to jerk away, but her range of motion was minimal. She tried to summon the chakra to burn out the drug, but she felt completely scattered.
"This is a special tranquilizer," said Shin, noticing her panic. "It's a mild paralytic, combined with a strong sedative and a chakra-enhanced destabilizer, specifically for shinobi like you. It's pretty nasty stuff in large doses, you threw up a good amount. You'll need to drink some more water, because we need to bring you back alive." He returned the skin to her mouth, but this time she shut it tightly, her glare sharp and hateful. He sighed and lowered it.
"I'd hate to scuff up that pretty face out here. It's really not my thing. I think you and I would both enjoy it much better back at the compound, where I can do my best work." With a threatening flick, he whipped out a small, curved knife, and Sakura began to shake.
Suicide jutsu…I can do that. I know how to do that. All I need to be able to bend is my wrists. She breathed hard through her nose, wondering if she would be able to summon the courage. But…Kakashi said we needed to hold out for twenty four hours. We won't get back to the compound by tonight, especially if I'm walking. So if they don't rescue me by tonight…
Sakura tried to hold out hope. They took her last night, she was sure, so it was true that they'd gained hours on her rescue team. But Kakashi and Sai were sure to know exactly where they were headed, and she'd bet that they would be in hot pursuit. She tried to calm her shuddering breaths, eyes closing to avoid having to see the ugly knife waving in front of her face.
This time, when he offered her the water, she drank.
They plummeted through the forest, the trees a passing blur as they followed Kakashi's ninken. The dogs were not like normal hunting dogs; they didn't bark or howl to indicate where the scent trail led them, but tracked it in total silence, depending on their master's speed to synchronize their travel.
Kakashi could have kicked himself. He should have realized earlier that they would target Sakura, the youngest of the group. Not because she was weak, but because their enemy could depend on their protectiveness towards her. If he'd behaved like a real team leader, and not an emotionally crippled idiot, he would have insisted that they share a room…but he'd been terrified of what would happen if he and Sakura were alone together, and the thought of her spending the night with Sai made his hackles rise. He felt no animosity towards Sai personally. They were really great teammates; even now, flying at breakneck speed through the trees, they were totally in tune with each other's movements. Sai wasn't much of a talker, which suited Kakashi just fine. He trusted the relatively fresh jounin to have his back when he needed it, and he was a skilled fighter.
But when he thought about Sai and Sakura, standing close together, embracing on that cold night…
It made his blood boil, his vision blur with anger. And it blurred now, as he thought of what their sneaky enemies could be doing to his poor student, his strong and sweet girl. His teeth bared in a furious snarl under the mask. He was going to tear them to pieces. Chakra flowed erratically through his body, and unconsciously he let it pool into his hands. He was going to blow through them with a Chidori that ripped them in half. White-hot sparks began to buzz at his fingertips, and Sai shot him a concerned glance.
The dogs slowed, stopping and looking up at their master. Kakashi and Sai dropped from the branches.
"The trail just turned into a fork," said Pakkun, his small brown face deathly serious. "One chakra trail goes straight towards the compound, and the other goes slightly southwest. Four shinobi plus Sakura, and I can't tell which group took her with them; they must have split her clothes or something to trail the smell both ways." Kakashi's vision went red for a moment, and he struggled to control his breathing as his heart quickened in growing fury. Pakkun paused, sensing the change in his master. His ears lowered slightly.
"We can split up," offered Sai hesitantly, also sensing that something was off. Kakashi hadn't changed posture or expression, but Sai had heard his breathing become harder.
"Not a good idea," growled Pakkun. "They're all extremely strong. One went towards the compound, three went more west, but all of them will be challenging to fight, even for you Kakashi."
"We split up," said Kakashi, voice hard and determined. "They're faking us out. They either think we'll assume that Sakura went with the larger group, so they gave her to the one going to the compound, or they foresee that and she is with the larger group, which means they'll circle around to the compound." Sai nodded. "I think they'll underestimate us. I think she's with the group. So, I'm going to follow that trail with the ninken. Pakkun, you lead Sai towards the compound. Sai, send a bird with me. If one of us finds Sakura, Pakkun will return to me, and the bird to you."
Sai and Pakkun didn't hesitate, turning and beginning their travel dead west. Kakashi hesitated for only a moment before turning and following the rest of his pack southwest. He prayed that he was right. And he didn't dare let himself think of what they might be doing to her, because if he did then he was going to lose his mind.
Sakura sniffled, trying not to lose her pride. It was humiliating, being forced to travel in her underwear. She wasn't even afforded the dignity of covering herself with her hands, as they were tied very tightly behind her. On top of that, she was sluggish and clumsy from the drug, her head spinning with every step.
Shin walked behind her, and sometimes she felt the unsettling touch of his hand graze her hip; she would jerk away, stumbling weakly into bushes and trees, occasionally falling.
"We're going to have to carry her," sighed one of the other men, not turning around. "She's loud and slow, her friends are going to catch up to us. So we can either interrogate her now, and leave her here, or we can carry her and try to beat them back to the compound." Shin tapped his lips, eyes roaming over her body in a very unwelcome manner. Sakura shivered.
"Hm...I'd really rather take my time with her," said Shin. Sakura didn't know if she should feel relieved or horrified. "But I guess you're right. We'll run slower carrying her too. She's heavier than she looks."
Sakura stumbled backwards, heart pounding. She needed to escape! Her head spun, but she summoned all of her strength and began to run.
She heard laughter behind her, but she had to try! Her movement was restricted, but she was still a shinobi. She ran as hard as she ever had, her legs numb beneath her as she tore through the trees. She heard her toes crunch against rocks, but she barely felt it.
Her breath was coming harder and harder, and her head was so painful that she could see black spots begin to appear, but still she ran.
"Shin. Come on. If she passes out we're wasting our time."
Sakura felt a sharp pain in the back of her leg, and she fell with a low cry. She reached down with a shaking hand and touched the handle of the kunai that had punctured her calf, skewering the flesh entirely. Gritting her teeth, she yanked it out.
"Ooh, you're tough," said Shin as he lifted her onto his shoulder, carrying her easily back to where the other two waited impatiently. "I wish I had the time that I needed for you."
"Why...are you...doing...this?" panted Sakura, every word an effort of will. Her tongue felt thick in her mouth from the drugs. "Why...me...? I...didn't..."
"Didn't what? Didn't do anything?" finished Shin, his hand sliding up her thigh to squeeze her ass. She suppressed a whimper, not willing to give him the satisfaction. "Don't play dumb, it's not cute. I knew the second I saw you in Funa that you were a kunoichi. Small town, you see, and your muscle tone gave it away." Damn dress. Dammit, Kakashi! "So I knew once shit went down, who to follow. I like kunoichi. They're cute and they're tough, a real pleasure to peel apart."
"Please!" she gasped, fear replacing every other thought in her head. Her legs kicked feebly. "Please...don't!" Having reached the other shinobi, he laid her on the ground, more gently than she was expecting. She saw Shin's handsome smile, his kind eyes that glowed at her from under messy brown hair. She saw now that he had no soul behind them.
"I'll tell you a secret," he whispered, his lips touching her ear. She had a sudden, horrible flashback to that moment on the ceiling when Kakashi's had done the same. She cried inside at the soft, innocent memory. "I love cutting women up. Gets me really worked up, if you know what I mean." His fingers slid up her leg to gently skim the outside of her panties, in case she didn't get the implication. Sakura gagged, revolted.
"Let's see if you're a natural pink."
"I'll...talk!" she gasped when she saw the silver flash of his knife. "Name...is...Kuniko! Rogue...kunoichi!" She struggled to spit words as she watched him spin the knife, his dark eyes locked on hers. She tried to summon tears, but Sakura wasn't much of a fear-cryer to be honest. And right now she had nothing to offer. "We're...we...are...mer...cenaries!" She noticed a small motion in the corner of her eye; the slender man that had been ahead of her was now watching her very carefully. She tried again to summon tears, but none came. "Please! Believe me!" Her last cry was a beg.
Shin looked up at the man, who narrowed his eyes at her before shaking his head. Grinning, the shinobi swung the blade. All Sakura saw was a flash of silver, and suddenly there was a sharp pain in her arm. Crying out, she struggled, but his other hand came up to grab her neck and pin her to the forest floor. Sakura began to scream. Why knives? Why can't they just punch me? I hate knives!
"Liar," whispered Shin. He watched her face as the knife twisted. Disgusted, Sakura summoned all of her strength and spat in his face. Rather than look angry, he looked even more excited. "By all means, keep lying to us. Takaki is an experienced interrogator; he can tell if you're not telling the truth. And we have hours."
Sakura's eyes closed. He might be right...Kakashi and Sai were sure to be hot on her trail, but she had no idea how far behind her they are. Could she really endure this for hours?
Her green eyes opened again, determined. She had to.
The trail shot straight. Kakashi's nose twitched as he followed it, his pack of ninken verifying it as they traveled. He was more sure as they ran, that he was tailing the group that had Sakura.
If they hurt her...if they killed her...
He let the rage carry him through the trees, breaking his top speed record easily. He was a trained professional, and never panicked...but the thought of Sakura being carried nude through the forest, enduring who knows what at the hands of these criminals...it was enough to make him push past his own limits.
He felt the wound in his side reopen from the strain of fast travel, but he didn't waste a fraction of a second on it. The other wounds were probably suffering too, but they fell pretty low on his current priorities.
He launched himself off of another branch, trying against all personal limitations to make himself faster somehow. And all he could hear was his own voice echoing through his head, taunting him as he ran. On my word as a jounin, while I'm still alive you won't be a hostage. Stupid man. He had failed her, and all because he'd let himself get distracted and influenced by his teammate. And now she was going to die...he was going to lose yet another teammate and subordinate...
Kakashi's hands shook as he ran. His sharingan opened, laser focused on the trail. He wasn't going to lose another one.
Sakura would have smiled if she'd had the energy. She didn't know how long it had been, but the men were clearly growing more anxious with every passing moment. Two were now pacing, Shin and the third man whose name she didn't know. Takaki hadn't left her side, hands poised threateningly over her neck.
He'd been periodically choking her for who knows how long, but Sakura still preferred it to the knives. She coughed weakly, determined to not give in.
"We don't have time for this. Use the genjutsu." Shin directed the words towards the third man, who looked to be the oldest of the group. The man shook his head.
"I don't know...I haven't used it on a person yet. Reiji was the only one who'd used it for interrogations before, and he's dead now." Sakura felt a horrible sinking feeling, a feeling that she knew exactly which jutsu these men were referring to.
"Well...what's the worst that can happen? If you mess it up?" Shin was looking significantly less confident, considering how much time they'd wasted.
"She can die," said the man, shrugging. "Quickly, too." Nobody seemed to bat an eye at this, but Sakura was struck with sudden fear. She'd prepared her suicide jutsu for when the time came...but she hadn't been prepared to die at their hands! She didn't even know if she could die by her own hands!
"Hm. Yeah, that would suck. Man, I really wish we could have gotten her back to the compound. Alright, go ahead. I guess if she dies, her teammates will probably follow us back to avenge her, and we can capture one of them." Shin squatted, reaching down to stroke her face. Sakura would have bitten him if her muscles weren't so weak, so she had to settle for a venomous glare. "Sorry that we didn't get that date, sweetheart. I'd have loved to have gotten some alone time with you."
Sakura closed her eyes, unwilling to watch as the man prepared his jutsu. She tried to gather the remnants of her courage, tried to find her focus. Whatever this man did, she would have to survive it. She would have to resist, hold out until Kakashi found her. Because he was coming.
"Itami no jutsu."
When the genjutsu hit, she realized that she could have spent years mentally preparing, and she still would have been thrown off her feet. Her throat felt torn; she heard a distant whining sound, like that of an insect, and she realized that she was screaming.
Her whole body jerked, but Sakura was beyond noticing anything outside of her own darkened mind. She could see nothing, smell nothing, all she could taste was the blood in her mouth from where she'd bitten her tongue, her teeth puncturing the skin all around. She could hear her own distant screaming, and nothing else. It was awful! It was like fire, eating her entire body up in an intense burning sensation, like all of her bones breaking at once.
The sensory deprivation made it a million times worse, like she was suffering totally alone, surrendered to the void to be consumed. Like she was in hell. Like nobody knew where she was, would ever find her. Sakura had a moment of sanity to wonder if she had actually died.
Kakashi had acknowledged her presence somehow, back in the compound. Could it be pushed back? Sakura struggled to summon her chakra, to fight the genjutsu, but the drug rendered her helpless; all she could do was suffer. She had to bear it.
The pain died as suddenly as it came, but Sakura still panted and sobbed, her eyes nearly blinded with tears. The deep green of the canopy over her was more beautiful than anything she'd ever seen. Her body shuddered from the after effects, and she tried to curl up in a ball, but a firm hand grabbed her by the neck and held her still.
"That was a few seconds," said the shinobi, his hard blue eyes staring down at her. They were like shards of ice. Sakura felt another sob shake her, but her throat was too torn to allow any sound to escape. "Are you ready to talk? Or are you ready to upgrade that to a few minutes?"
Sakura felt fresh tears come on as she realized that she only had one answer. She choked back a sob, shoulders trembling, but she felt no inclination whatsoever to give her village away. She simply tried to resign herself to a very, very painful death...unless...
It was too late. He had realized that she wasn't ready to talk, and before Sakura could even consider forming the suicide jutsu, he struck her again.
"Itami no jutsu!"
Sakura's breath left her as it struck again. She ground her teeth, trying to find her hands to form the seal to break the genjutsu, but the way that they were tied behind her left her helpless to it. She couldn't even feel her fingers, much less forms seals.
It was much worse this time, but she was determined to ride it out. Her brain felt scattered, everything in pieces. It felt like years before she was able to collect a single thought. Stop screaming. The horrible fire consumed her, lit every nerve ending in agony, but she managed to close her throat, forcing the scream back down where it began to build up inside of her. Breathe. You can do this. Yes, she could do it, but for how much longer? She tried not to think about it.
Endure. Endure. Endure. Endure. The chant echoed in her head, and she clung to it like a lifeline. She just had to endure. Kakashi would find her. She clung to that too. He would save her, and she would be alright. She would be on her way back to Konoha with him, because he would never leave her here to die. He loved her.
He loved her. The thought kept her alive through the pain. She tried to hold it, but it wasn't long until it was all too much and she began to scream again. This time, there was no end in sight. He messed up the jutsu! I'm going to die! And I never even got to tell him!
The whining was getting louder, like a mosquito getting closer to her ear. She shook her head, trying to dispel the noise. Was it her screaming? Was her throat tearing itself out? It felt like it, but then again her whole body was on fire. The screaming sound grew, and she desperately hoped that it wasn't the sound of her own death coming.
The pain ended.
Sakura lay on the ground, unable to even gasp for breath. Her throat was totally raw, as though sliced open with a knife. She could hardly swallow. Her vision was blurred, face completely soaked with tears. She stayed perfectly still, unable to process anything for the moment besides her own body.
As she lay there, her senses slowly began to respond. It was over the course of minutes that, one at a time, they came inching back to her. The shrill screaming was still there, but Sakura was pretty sure that it wasn't coming from her. She felt groggier than she ever had in her life, but she tried to shake the tears from her eyes, rubbing them on her shoulders as well as she could.
The screaming continued to get louder. Sakura cringed, swallowing painfully. As her eyes cleared, she saw the greatest thing that she'd ever seen in her entire life.
Kakashi was here! He was here! Fresh tears threatened to blind her again, and she fought them valiantly. She could barely see him; he was a blur of motion, meeting the nameless shinobi that had been torturing her strike for strike with taijutsu faster than she could even follow. Her eyes caught on a body; the screaming sound had been Kakashi's chidori, as evidenced by Takaki's obliterated torso on the ground. She let herself succumb to the tears, but this time she cried from relief. Her ordeal was over.
Hopefully. The stranger was proving to be more of a challenge than Sakura would have expected. He was extremely fast, equal to Kakashi in speed despite his small stature. Her eyes scanned the field. Shin was stirring slowly against a tree, but from the sheen of sweat on him he'd been fighting for a good while. Though he was incapacitated for the moment, it looked likely that he would rejoin the fight soon.
Sakura had to help him! She focused on her breathing, tried to pool her chakra inside of her, but the drug's effects were still strong. Frustrated, she tried again, fists clenching. If she could focus her chakra, she could expel the poison...but it was the poison that crippled her! She watched Shin rise, saw his hands begin to form seals. She couldn't even shout a warning. Kakashi's back was to Shin, his kunai flashing sparks as it rebounded off of his opponent's.
"Kakashi..." the whisper came softer than the wind. But he responded, dodging to the side immediately and letting Shin's summoned knives whip past him and strike his own ally. The man grunted in pain, dropping to a knee.
Abruptly a knife slid across his throat, spilling vivid red blood down the front of his black shirt. When he fell, she saw Sai standing behind him, kunai in hand. He watched Kakashi carefully, ready to intervene if he had to.
It wasn't necessary. Shin, being wounded from the previous fight, didn't stand a chance. Kakashi had him by the neck and was opening his Sharingan, and she'd never seen the expression on his face before. It was pure, unadulterated hatred.
Sakura, arms bound behind her, began to struggle towards him. She gathered her legs under her, tendons screaming, and managed to push herself upright rather shakily. She took a few stumbling steps towards Kakashi, and then a few more. When Shin began to scream, she found new strength and moved faster. Sai's mouth opened in surprise, but he didn't stop her.
Sakura nudged herself in between Kakashi and Shin, who dangled from the air in Kakashi's hands. Neither broke eye contact, Shin's shrill scream shredding her eardrums...but she'd suffered greater pain. She stared up at Kakashi's face, his expression twisted with rage.
"Kakashi," she whispered, her voice a broken squeak. "Don't do this. We're better than this." She rested her head on his chest, neither able nor willing to do more. She was exhausted inside and out, hardy able to stand as it was. "You're better than them."
She was sure that, like before, he would ignore her and simply complete what he had set out to do. Like before, with the young chunin that they had stumbled across. To her surprise, Shin's screams dramatically quieted into moans, and Kakashi's arms lowered. Sakura looked up and saw that he was looking down at her, the look in his eyes somewhere between pained and indescribably gentle. His Sharingan was open, but she had never felt more safe.
Sakura felt a jerk around her, heard a dull crack, and Shin's lifeless body dropped to the ground behind her. Sakura's mouth opened and closed like a fish, at a total loss for words. But she was still encircled in his arms.
In a motion too smooth for her to intercept, Kakashi reached up and yanked down his mask, baring his disarmingly kind face for a fraction of a second before covering her mouth with his and plunging Sakura into the most intense kiss that she had ever experienced.
Admittedly the bar had been low. That soft, childish peck with Sasuke may as well have been a handshake for all the good it did Sakura now. Her hands were totally frozen in shock, eyes wide for several seconds as her brain tumbled down a metaphorical flight of stairs. Kakashi had wasted no time; his hands were gripping her back tightly, pressing her entire body flush against his. There was no tenderness, no questioning touch of a tongue against warm lips, nothing that she'd ever read about in Tsunade's mushy books on her night shifts; everything was just overwhelmingly him, the taste of him, the smell of him, his tongue plundering her mouth and challenging hers, forcing it to submit to the raw, unbridled energy of him. His touch was pure fire, a scorching heat that started at her lips and traveled to the tip of every finger and toe, igniting a long and deep burn entirely different from the one she had been experiencing not ten minutes ago.
When his left hand came up from her back to cradle the back of her head, she closed her eyes and let the frantic thoughts, the panic, all of it, fade from her mind and leave her in blissful silence.
It was heaven.
Some of the desperation leached away, and soon her tongue was playing lazily with his, her hands relaxing and sliding up to hook over his shoulders and hold herself tight against him. She breathed in deeply, letting the deliciously male smell of him wash through her like a drug. She moaned quietly, unable to stop the desire that was beginning to pump through her veins into her very bones; he growled in reply, teeth grazing her lips. His right hand slid down the small of her back, down and down until it was passing over her ass, giving her a teasing squeeze before continuing to her thigh and-
With a jerk, she was suddenly off the ground, her legs separated by a very hard thigh, the kiss deepening again into something more than a kiss, more than just his mouth against hers. It was like she could read his mind; all of the fear, the worry, the rage, the quivering relief, the apology, all of it communicated through the long, knee-weakening caress of his lips. And she didn't even know how to do it but she was communicating back, her relief and gratitude, the deep and tender feelings that she had towards this incredible, intelligent, protective man.
"A-hem."
With an audible pop, they broke apart, two sets of dazed eyes locked on each other for a moment before they totally froze. Sakura hadn't realized how compromisingly they were positioned, him with one hand on the underside of her thigh, the other wound into her thick pink hair. Her own hands were on the back of his neck, her fingers stroking the soft, short hairs that she found there. Her body flush against his, hips arched up, toes barely touching the ground…Sakura's eyes focused in and out, finally honing in on his flushed cheeks and reddened lips. That just happened! I just…we just…made out! What?! Where did that come from?!
Sai stood a rather polite distance from them, his back turned to afford them some sort of dignity. His ears, the outer shells just barely visible from beyond his dark hair, were tinged with red.
"I really hate to interrupt," said Sai, hands stuffed uncomfortably into his pockets. "But we have to move, before another team comes across these guys. You'll have to pick this up another time."
It was like the spell had broken. She and Kakashi were suddenly several feet apart, and she felt emptier than she had before. But…she couldn't quash the gratitude that she felt, how touched she was that they had trailed her all day to make sure that she made it home safe. She wanted to cry from the relief and the aftershocks of fear, wanted to hug and kiss both of them until they knew exactly how grateful she was.
"So...uh...do they have backup coming?" managed Kakashi, clearly trying to regain control over himself, and leadership over the team. Sakura almost giggled. "Did they know anything about us?" He couldn't quite meet Sakura's eyes yet, but she didn't hold it against him.
"No backup, although there is their friend heading towards the compound with my freaking bathrobe. Perverts." She grumbled, but didn't miss the flash of rage in Kakashi's eyes. Swallowing, she decided it would be best to press on. "They have no idea who we are or where we're going. Shin...knew my name, but he didn't believe it, and since I'm not in any bingo books he'd be hard pressed to find me anyways. I'm not sure if he passed it on."
Kakashi rubbed his chin. "Well...we have a solid head start on their friend. He'll probably spend some time waiting on his team before trying to find them, and by then we'll be long gone. So, I think it might be best for us to head straight back to Konoha." Sakura could have wept. "Are you alright to travel?" Sakura shrugged. The wounds inflicted had been shallow, but she was more concerned with the drug in her system. It seemed to finally be wearing off, but she had the feeling that they would be slowing down sooner rather than later. Regardless, all Sakura wanted was to go home, so she would do her damnedest.
Sai leapt up into the trees. Sakura made to follow suit...but Kakashi was suddenly beside her again.
"You left this in the hotel room," he said quietly, weaving the silver comb into her hair. He shrugged out of his green vest, pulling the worn material around Sakura's shoulders and zipping it up snugly. It was long on her, falling at least mid-thigh, but she sorely wished for pants. "Sakura...I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. It's my fault. I failed you as a leader." She shook her head, wishing she could hug him for everything he'd done for her.
"Kakashi...I..." she tried to find words, but again they failed her. But her courage didn't. Sakura reached up and gently touched his face, his eyes flicking over to meet hers. Mask in place, his expression was unreadable, but it didn't matter. She leaned up on her toes and gently kissed him through the mask. It's okay.
The world stood still for a moment, and then he was in the trees. Sakura sighed and leapt up after him.