Chapter 11
Sakura sighed as she leapt through the trees. They had been traveling all day, and her mind was tired from thinking over everything that had happened recently. She looked out of the corner of her eye to the person beside her. Making sure she wasn't doing anything funny. Kakashi had suggested each of them travel with another person so they could keep a close eye on the sound nin's. Naruto was paired with Juggo, Sasuke with Kakashi, Sai with Suigetsu and Sakura with Karin. It was some of the worst pairings ever. Juggo's silence was driving Naruto crazy. Suigetsu's abrasive personality was causing Sai to be more emotional then usual, and Karin didn't like Sakura, and vise versa. The only ones who were alright, were Kakashi and Sasuke.
Each time Naruto tired of trying to talk to the silent Juugo, he tried talking to Sakura, but each time she had snapped at him. For hope of a better reaction he tried Sakura again.
"Sakura-chan?"
"What Naruto?!"
He stopped for a moment from what he was going to say to her, and responded, "What is wrong with you?! You've been in a bad mood since we left!"
"Nevermind."
"Sakura-chan!"
"Naruto, I don't have to tell you, and even if I was going to, I wouldn't tell you when there were so many people around!"
Naruto immediately turned to Sasuke, "TEME! What did you do to her?!"
Sasuke turned towards Naruto and glared at him, leaving his question unanswered. Naruto paused for a moment when he realized he might actually be right this time.
"Whoa, Sasuke I didn't realize she was your woman?" Suigetsu stated.
Naruto sneered, "She isn't she is my-"
"NARUTO!! FOR THE LAST TIME, I AM NOT YOUR WOMAN!"
Sasuke ignored Suigetsu's comment, as Sakura blushed. Karin noticed the pink across Sakura's cheeks, causing anger to explode inside her. Over the past couple days, Karin had been fuming over the fact that she was not able to see Sasuke, and that he was not able to see her. She knew that Sakura and Naruto were able to see him, which only added fuel to the fire. She had been worried something might have transpired between Sasuke and Sakura during that time, and now she was almost certain that something had. 'Sasuke left you, and then met me and chose me to be one his team with him, he said he needed me, so why…' She gritted her teeth together.
"There is no way Sasuke would go for a weakling like you, Bitch." Karin shouted suddenly, her words dripping with malice. The whole party stopped and turned to her, surprised at her sudden outburst. Sakura and Karin faced each other, glaring daggers at one another.
"So you think I'm not good enough for Sasuke-kun?"
"That's right Bitch! He would never like a girl like you! You're too weak! That's why he asked me to be on his team, and not you!" She smirked trying to size Sakura up.
"Both of you stop it." Sasuke said more motioning for Karin to stop. He became more irritated when they didn't listen. Sakura heard Sasuke, but she wasn't about to back down from the crazy fangirl.
"Alright, chick fight!" Suigetsu said, encouraging the two angry girls.
"Suigetsu's right, Fight me Bitch and we'll see who wins." Karin said.
Sakura furrowed her brows, "Karin stop it." Sasuke said taking another step forward.
"No, I don't have to listen to you." She said pointing at him, then turning back to Sakura.
"So you are saying you want to fight me to win Sasuke-kun's affections?" Sakura asked now fuming on the inside. 'Stupid girl! Sasuke-kun is a person, he can't be won over! Dammit I hate girls like her who only think of Sasuke-kun as an object!'
"That is exactly what I'm saying! Geez, when will you get the hint! Sasuke left you and never came back for you! Why you might ask? Because HE DOESN'T LIKE YOU!" Karin was happy with herself. She could see that her remarks were getting to Sakura since her face start to contort with anger making her nose crinkle and eyes furrow. Everyone who was listening was shocked. No one had expected her to say something so taboo to Sakura. Sasuke looked to Sakura wondering what she was going to do or say. "Sakura-chan…" Naruto said watching her worried.
Something inside Sakura had snapped, she felt all the muscles in her body begin to tighten. Without another thought she lunged off the branch, faster then anyone thought she could. The next thing they all knew Sakura was being held by Sasuke, as she struggled against him, trying to get at a surprised looking Karin, 'She's fast…'
"You stupid bitch! You don't know anything do you! He didn't leave Konoha because of me, You IDIOT! And Sasuke-kun is a person! Not an OBJECT! He isn't something that can be WON like a trophy! I'm going to KILL YOU!"
"Sakura." Sasuke said trying to hold her down and get her attention.
"I'm going to rip your eyes out!" She continued to try and claw at Karin still struggling against Sasuke. Karin took a step back putting distance between her and the raging girl.
"Sakura!" He said more sternly. She was stronger then he was expecting, she was pushing him back.
"You're just like every other stupid fan girl!"
"SAKURA!" Sasuke finally got her attention.
"WHAT!" She stopped struggling, and looked to the side up into his onyx eyes, realizing she just yelled at him.
"That's enough." He said calmly and slightly flattered at what she had said about him. Although you wouldn't know it from looking at him, since he seemed to be composed as always.
She continued to stare up into his eyes, losing her self in them. Everyone watched in amazement as her temper began to melt away.
Scratching the back of his head, Kakashi spoke, "Alright well, we will rest here for tonight. Tomorrow we will change up the pairs." Once he was finished he jumped off the branch heading to the ground below, followed by everyone else, except Sasuke and Sakura, who were still staring at each other.
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Karin stomped around taking a seat on a tree stump. She leaned back against a tree, still fuming. Suigetsu followed her, taking a seat beside her.
"That was a little reckless don't you think?" He asked, whispering.
"I was trying to prove something."
"And what might that be?" He asked curious.
She smirked, "Well, he protected me when she came at me. That has to mean that he cares for me, more then he cares for her."
Suigetsu took a moment to think about what she said. "Hmm? No, that isn't how I saw it."
"What do you mean that's not how you saw it?" She asked, annoyed.
"Well if he was protecting you, then he probably would have gone to you instead of stopping her, and considering he is still holding her, I would guess that means he cares for her."
Karin snapped her head around to look up into the trees. Her mouth fell open as she gaped at the scene above. Balling her fists together, she glared. 'I will get that Bitch no matter what! Even if it's the last thing I do!'
Suigetsu noticed suddenly a low growling sound. He looked over to Karin feeling the murderous intent she was emitting, and moved over slightly to get away from her dark aura.
"Sakura-chan, Sasuke, come on." Naruto yelled from the ground up to his friends. He didn't seem to notice Karin staring up at them glaring.
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Sakura had been staring at Sasuke for a good minute. It wasn't until she heard Naruto's voice that she broke out of her trance, and took a step back from him.
"Sakura."
"I know, your mad at me right?" She said annoyed and furrowing her brows. Sasuke ignored her snide tone.
"Why did you let her provoke you?"
"Why did you stop me?!" She snapped at him.
"She has skills that are useful for finding Itachi, and until I find and kill him, I need her skills to assist me."
Sakura didn't know what to say. Instead she looked at the ground, Karin's words ringing in her head. She turned, about to jump to the ground.
"Sakura"
She turned around to look at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Thank you."
A moment later he jumped down to the ground, leaving her alone on the tree branch. She continued to stand there, shocked. 'Sasuke-kun…yo-I…' She was at a loss for words. Finally her expression softened and she smiled softly watching him below, 'Your welcome, Sasuke-kun.'. After a few moments she joined them taking a seat beside Naruto and ignoring Karin, who seemed to still be mad at her.
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Somewhere in the country of Lightening…
Two men were sitting on opposite sides of the room to each other in the dark. One was getting restless, while the other was molding chakra silently.
"Itachi-san, I'm getting bored of this." Kisame said watching him from across the room.
"…."
"What are we still doing here anyway?" he asked annoyed.
"Kisame, I told you we are waiting."
He rolled his eyes, "I know what were doing here, what I mean is what are we doing in this room? Why aren't we at a bar enjoying sake, women and eventually killing someone?"
"Because we already killed they're feudal lord."
"Yeah, but they don't know who it was that killed him"
"…"
Kisame furrowed his brows together noting his silence. "Itachi-san they don't know it was you who killed him right? I mean you can kill a person without ever being detected, so they must not know."
"…."
Kisame leaned forward in his chair his tone more serious, "Itachi-san, did you let someone see you killing that whiney man, and then allow them to live?"
Itachi looked up finally at his companion still not speaking. "Dammit! Why did you do that? Now they are going to send for-' His eyes widened momentarily as he realized what Itachi had been planning. "Wait…..I think I see now." He leaned forward looking back at Itachi, with hard eyes.
"Did you do this so you could see your cherry blossom again? Or so you could get your Jinchuuriki?"
"I did what I had to." He smirked slightly, but Kisame couldn't see it since the top of his cloak covered his mouth.
Kisame sighed and sat back in his chair looking pensive. 'I would be surprised if he did it for the girl…'
"How do you even know it will be Konoha they contact, or even send Kakashi's team for that matter?" He questioned.
"They will be the ones dispatched."
"What if they're on a mission and they can't come, hmmm?"
"They'll be here."
"Even so, are you saying that I can't leave this room, or the village will try to kill me?" He asked annoyed.
Itachi nodded and closed his eyes once again to mold chakra, "Yes."
"Dammit! I'm so bored!"
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It had been 5 days since they left Konoha. Kakashi had changed the pairs around since that day. Naruto was still with Juggo, mostly because Kakashi knew that if he paired him with anyone else, he would end up picking a fight with them. Sai was still with Suigetsu, but Kakashi was with Karin and Sakura was with Sasuke. No one had brought up the incident between Sakura and Karin since it happened. It was obvious the air between Karin and Sakura was thick, and no one wanted to try to make it better.
They arrived on the outskirts of Lightening late on the sixth night.
"We'll camp out here tonight, and tomorrow I will go into town and address the officials while you seven wait here. I need to speak to them alone before we enter they're town, everyone understand?"
Everyone nodded, Kakashi heard some 'Hai's' as they were all setting up tents and a camp fire. Everyone was moving quietly and swiftly. Kakashi watched the group of mismatched shinobi, and smirked before setting up his own tent.
Later that evening, after everyone had gone to bed, Sakura was lying awake staring at the ceiling of her tent. She sighed rolling over. 'I need to get some sleep. It's possible that we'll run into some Akatsuki members tomorrow.' She tried for the next 10 minutes to sleep, but failed after tossing and turning trying to get comfortable. Frustrated, she got up leaving her tent to get some fresh air, hoping that it would help remedy her insomnia. She looked around the area noting how close it was to the town. Deciding she wanted to sit in the clearing past the trees, she made her way through the small border of forested area towards between her and the clearing she could see ahead. Her eyes were still adjusting to the dark making things difficult to focus on. As she got closer to the town she found it was getting easier to see, because of the lights from the town ahead. Once she was out of the trees she continued to walk on the grass looking for a good spot to star gaze, when she noticed she wasn't alone.
"Sasuke-kun?" She asked looking to the figure sitting on the grass facing the town. He turned to face her.
"Hn."
She walked up to him taking a seat beside him. "Can't sleep Sasuke-kun?" She asked looking at the town ahead of them, just as he was.
"Something like that."
She looked at him out of the corner of her eye. His expression was stoic and he was unmoving. He turned his head to look at her, noticing she was looking at him. She blushed and turned her attention away from him.
"Sakura, you should go back to sleep, you need your rest."
"I would if I could, but I can't sleep either." She was trying to will the pink on her cheeks off.
"Why what were you thinking about?"
She was not expecting him to ask since, normally, Sasuke didn't pry into things. She looked down at her feet sadly. "Nothing that matters."
"It has to matter if it's keeping you awake."
"Well maybe I just don't want to tell you what it is."
He smirked slightly, "That's fair." He turned his head back to looking at the town. She turned to him, surprised.
"That's it? That's the most you're going to try?"
"I'm not going to try and force something out of you, if you don't want to talk about it."
"Sasuke-kun, I was thinking about you."
He looked at her again this time they're gazes met. "And what about me were you thinking, that was keeping you awake?"
He could see her cheeks starting to turn pink as she looked at him. "I was thinking about…I…." She looked away from him again, embarrassed to say what she wanted to. He put his thumb and index finger on the bottom of her face, pulling it back up towards him.
"What Sakura?" He asked softly.
"S-Sasuke-kun … I-" She took a quick deep breath then continued, "I don't want you to leave. I want to be with you, and I want you to come home." She put a hand on his arm clasping his shirt in her fist, not wanting to let go.
Sasuke stared back at her with a stoic expression. He was thinking about what she had just said to him. After a few moments pause, he leaned forward pressing his lips against hers gently. It was a soft kiss that made her stomach knot up. Sakura was not expecting him to kiss her, but she didn't mind none the less. They broke apart a moment later staring into each other's eyes.
"Sakura, tell me that again once Itachi is dead."
She gaped at him trying to think of what his reply would be once Itachi was dead; if he meant that he would say something different, or do something different. She smiled softly at him, and nodded. "Thank you Sasuke-kun."
He let go of her face turning towards the town once again. She stood up smiling still, "Sasuke-kun you should be going to sleep also, your going to need your strength."
He gazed at the town in front of him a few moments before standing up, "Let's go."
They walked back to they're respective tents. They walked in silence together, not awkward but calm. Once they arrived Sakura turned to Sasuke and grabbed his hand. He turned to her, holding her hand in return. Looking up at him, she smiled one of the smiles she always saves for him, "Good night Sasuke-kun." Going up onto her toes she kissed his cheek.
"Good night."
Squeezing his hand she turned around going to her tent, having the feeling she was going to be able to sleep fine now.
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"Itachi-san, how much longer are we going to linger in this place?!"
"It's almost time, be patient Kisame."
"If we waited here all this time and the Jinchuuriki didn't come, I'm going to be pissed." Itachi sighed silently, annoyed at his companion.
"They will be here tomorrow."
"How do you know that? And if it really is Kakashi's team that was dispatched, what are you going to do about the Jinchuuriki and the girl? Which will you choose?"
"Kisame, Naruto-kun is a must. We have to take him into Akatsuki if we are to complete our goal."
"So are you saying you want nothing to do with the girl?"
"…."
Kisame sighed. He knew he didn't want to push Itachi any further since he was stronger, and had a short fuse. He sat down in the chair across the room from him, grumbling. "Fine then! But they better get here tomorrow or I'm gonna go crazy."
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Everyone woke up around the same time, packing up they're tents in turn. It was shortly after that Kakashi left to head into the town, leaving everyone else behind. Naruto and Juugo had gone out to get some breakfast, returning shortly after with some fish. Everyone sat silently around the fire, which Sasuke helped to ignite, as they watched the fish cook. Sakura was running through what had happened the night before in her mind, and was smiling.
"Oi Sakura-chan, what are you all smiley about?" Naruto asked sitting across from her beside Juugo. They seemed to be a lot more comfortable with each other now. Sakura immediately wiped the smile off her face, and turned red, "What smile? I'm not smiling."
"You were a second ago, and now your going red." Naruto teased.
"I am not going red!" She tried to will her face to be pale, but it didn't work. Everyone around was smirking, except for Karin, who was sitting between Sasuke and Suigetsu glaring at her.
"Naruto's right you are turning red." Sai said sitting beside her.
"I'M NOT! Just shut up! I'm fine."
"Sakura-chan's blushing!" Naruto hollered pointing at her.
"Naruto if you don't stop it I'll kick your ass!"
"What are you blushing about?!" Sai asked smiling.
"I'm NOT!" She exclaimed.
"HAHA! You're so red Sakura-chan! Did something happen with Sasuke again?" Naruto asked.
"I never said anything happened the first time!" She retorted.
"No, but it was pretty obvious." Suigetsu said smirking.
"Dobe." Sasuke said.
"Teme?"
"Cut it out."
"AH HA!" Naruto declared standing up and pointing at Sasuke.
"See that right there is proof! Teme what did you do to her?!"
Karin was getting all the more angry as the seconds went by. "Naruto sit down!" Sakura said getting irritated.
"NO! I want answers."
"Dobe, just sit down."
"You know you can really tell that you three used to be teammates." Suigetsu said lying on the ground lazily. They each stopped they're argument and looked at him, surprised. "Well, it's just you all have a history and it shows in the way you interact with one another… it's funny."
"Makes me sick." Karin spat out.
Everyone looked to Karin, "Whatever Karin, you're just jealous." Suigetsu said amusing himself further.
"I AM NOT JEALOUS! I have nothing to be jealous of!"
"Yes you do, you're trying to hide it, but you're doing a terrible job. Everyone here can tell that you like Sasuke."
She immediately threw a kunai at his face, but to her utter annoyance, he caught it with ease. "Temper, temper Karin." He shook the kunai back and forth as if waving a disciplinary finger at her.
"Shut up Suigetsu, you don't know what you're talking about!"
"Sure I do. If I'm wrong then pray tell, explain to us what that big blow up in the forest was the first day we left? You got mad at Sakura because you thought she was, how shall I say, stealing Sasuke away from you."
"Suigetsu, Karin, both of you stop it." Sasuke said trying to keep them calm.
"Why should I listen to you?!" She screamed out at him.
He turned his head to look at her, his expression stoic. "Because I said so."
"Well maybe I don't want to be a part of 'Snake' anymore!"
Naruto, Sai and Sakura all exchanged confused looks, not knowing what she was talking about.
"I've never kept you here, if you want to leave, then go."
She looked hurt. Those were not the words she wanted to hear. She was about to respond when everyone turned to the voice that suddenly interrupted everything.
"Alright, get up everyone, we are heading into town." Kakashi said walking up to the camp site, but stopped when he had a look around. "What happened here?" He asked looking around at all the annoyed, smirking, stoic, and confused faces.
"Nothing, we should go." Sasuke said standing up.
"Kakashi-sensei what happened?" Sakura asked.
"I went to see the officials whom are taking over temporarily for the feudal lord, until they can appoint another. Surprisingly enough the town is in rather good shape, the assassins didn't really destroy anything, but the officials have reason to believe that they're still in the town. They want us to seek them out and get rid of them, as soon as possible."
"Strange that they would stick around, isn't it?" Sakura asked.
"Yes, but at the same time, if it really was Itachi then it would make sense. He is after Naruto and sticking around to find out which team was sent after them, would make it easier for him to pinpoint Naruto's location."
"Kinda like a trap?" Sai said.
"Yes, actually, a lot like that." Kakashi replied.
"Wait, so you're saying that if it was Itachi, he may have killed the feudal lord just to get to Naruto?" Sakura asked putting the pieces together in her head.
"It would seem that way, but we won't know until we find out if it really was him or not."
"Well then let's get started." Naruto said starting to walk off. The anticipation of facing Itachi was building inside him. He both hated and liked fighting him, because he was strong and a worthy opponent. At the same time however, he wanted to cause him great pain for what he did to Sasuke and for what he was trying to do to him.
"Not so fast Naruto." Kakashi said stopping him.
"Why? Are we missing something? We already cleaned up camp."
"No, that's not it, were going to need some help for this." Kakashi cut his thumb on his vest and crouched down. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
Poof. As the smoke dissipated, a pile of ninja dogs was revealed. "Yo Kakashi… oh Sasuke, glad to see your back."
"Aa."
"We need to search the village up there for the assassins of the feudal lord. The town officials have reason to believe they are still in the town, and we need to find them as soon as possible. As well you should know, they are believed to be Akatsuki members Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. Howel when you find the trail. Go."
A second later the spot they occupied was empty.
"I'm sure that's pretty handy." Suigetsu said.
"I think I could probably find them faster. All you have to do is ask." Karin said annoyed with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I thought you didn't want to anymore?" Suigetsu asked. Team Kakashi looked at her confused, not knowing what she was talking about.
"Well the only reason Sasuke asked me to join him was because of my ability, right? So I might as well use it, no?" She said in a sarcastic mocking tone.
Everyone looked at her curious and confused. "I would think that you were planning something unpleasant." Suigetsu said.
"Why would you think that?"
"Probably because a moment ago you were in a really bad mood." Naruto said.
"Keh, it passed." She snorted.
"Well then, would you see what you can find?" Sasuke asked.
"Alright."
There was a moment's pause as everyone stared at her. She was staring into the distance, not focusing on any one thing.
"I feel two large familiar chakra's in town."
"Is one of them Itachi?" Sasuke asked.
She looked at him and nodded slightly. Sasuke felt a surge of anticipation run through him.
"Interesting ability." Kakashi said examining her.
He was about to ask her more about it, when a loud howl was heard.
"Let's move out, and stick with your pairings."
The space they occupied was empty a moment later as eight shinobi were now rushing through the streets, almost unseen.
"Kakashi, we found the scent, it's this way." Pakkun said running up beside Kakashi.
"Karin?" Sasuke asked.
"We're heading in the right direction. They are in that old castle over there." She pointed to a large broken down building at the end of the street. Kakashi's team was still confused at her ability, but was too focused on what was to come to think about it deeper.
They now knew it was Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. Sakura felt her heart start to race. She didn't want to see Itachi, especially not after learning he actually had feelings for her. She wanted to kill him and see him suffer for what he had done to Sasuke, and for what he was doing to Naruto. She balled her fists together stealing a glance at Sasuke. 'He looks calm, but he must be feeling anxious.' The group continued on in swift silence.
Alrighty another chapter down :) I meant to put it up earlier today, but I was fairly busy so I wasn't able to. I hope you all enjoy thi chapter also, and I realize some of you were expecting Karin to die, but I only meant they were going to have a squabble (haha, funny word) so I'm sorry to all the Karin haters out there, but she is still alive in this story. I can't say any more then that cause if I did you would know if I decided to kill her or not :) Anyway THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! You guys are, as usual, awesome!