Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Nor do I own any characters in aforementioned series. All rights and privileges belong solely to Masashi Kishimoto, the series' creator. I just wrote this fan-fic was all...
Daughter of the Dawn
Chapter 12
"You aren't serious." Pein didn't even give Zetsu the grace of looking at him as his finished his report, staring out onto the drenched city in deep thought and, dare he say it, confusion.
"Deidara's jutsu was some sort of newly contrived suicide jutsu, it blew up a 10 mile radius." "That dumbass wasn't joking when he said he wanted to go out with a bang. There was nothing left but a crater. No trees, no wildlife, nothing. They didn't have a chance I guess."
Konan's eyes grew wide as she stifled a gasp. Pein seemed to be in just as much disbelief as she was; he got up quickly, pacing back towards where Konan stood in the doorframe. The skies suddenly opened up, pouring bucketsful of rain immediately bringing a deluge on the village so drenching that Zetsu's clothes hung to him like a lead weight. Thunder sounded ominously in the distance. "Thank you Zetsu-san. You can go. Be forewarned however, I'll be calling a meeting within the hour."
Zetsu nodded, thankful to get out of the heavy rains, and was gone into the ground within seconds.
Konan absentmindedly folded a paper butterfly, as she spoke up, "He was lying. He had to be Pein-san. Madara-sama wouldn't die that easily, explosion or not. After all, he's lived for over a hundred years, and-"
Pein held up his hand to silence Konan. "Yes, Zetsu was obviously lying. But why does Madara-sama want everyone to think that Tobi has been killed? And as for the boy… that's what I'm more concerned with. I don't think he would let the boy die, but it might have been unavoidable. At any rate…" Pein trailed off, going through a quick series of handseals. Konan recognized them immediately, as her ring began to glow white hot on her finger, signifying that 'Leader-sama' was calling a meeting.
"I suppose you're all wondering why you've been called here. Obviously Deidara-san and Tobi-san haven't retrieved the Hachibi, as you can see. …There's been a change of plans." Pein's penetrating eyes closed for a moment, as he pushed back his annoyance at the blonde bomber. "Deidara has died."
"Blew himself up, the idiot." Zetsu put in.
After a short silence Kisame put in, "…Wow. I mean, I knew he was a little touched, what with the art thing and all," Sasori scoffed almost inaudibly, as Kisame continued, "but still, I never thought he'd do it. He was a pretty strong member too…wonder why he had to go and do that…"
"Ha, fuckin' bitch-ass pansy! About time, seriously. At least we don't have to listen to his bitchy, girly whining anymore."
Sasori just stared blankly in shock, not willing to admit to himself the loss he felt deep inside. He had come to slightly respect Deidara as a partner- and compared to Orochimaru, to even appreciate him, since at least he had a general sense of art; of course he'd never come out and say any of that though, but still, Deidara using his suicide jutsu just like that, it was crazy. The brat had always gone on and on about his 'true art' or whatever it was, but Sasori had never believed he'd really go so far as to blow himself up. Of course, he did do his best to tune his partner out when they started into one of their arguments on art- maybe if he'd had the patience to listen a bit more intently, he could have foreseen his partner's intentions and done something to prevent it, like refusing to let Tobi go with him. Come to think of it, what about Tobi? But before Sasori could voice his slight curiosity about the semi-retarded member, Kisame seemed to read his mind.
"Hey, wait a sec. What about Tobi? I mean, you could never get that kid down, even if you tried to chop him in half or something, so where's he?" Kisame asked, scratching his head, shifting his weight and placing his sword on his other shoulder. "Who attacked them anyway?... It must've taken a helluva lot to drive Deidara to use that jutsu."
Pein looked to Zetsu, whose white side immediately replied, in a strained voice, "Tobi is dead as well. They ran into that Uchiha brat, and Deidara decided he had to use his specialty when neither one had enough chakra reserves left to keep going." "Guess he had his male pride wounded or something stupid like that, so he decided to just blow them all up. Reached 10 miles around, so Tobi and Itachi's brother didn't stand a chance. Better off without those annoyances anyway, I was getting to the point where I was going to eat them, no matter what anyone said."
A sharp gasp sounded from the floor, as Sakura's hand flew to her mouth, shock taking over her petite form. She fell to her knees, and then back to a seated position, staring at the base of the immense statue in stunned silence. Attention had turned however to Itachi, once Zetsu had mentioned the younger Uchiha was dead. All eyes were on him, save Sakura's, waiting to see how he would react. He just stared indifferently into the silence though, making no move to show that he cared about the boy whom he had so purposefully left alive.
"Um, Itachi-san… you okay?" Kisame asked carefully after a few moments of pointless staring.
Itachi turned slowly to face him, crimson eyes boring into him. "Hn." He replied indifferently. Then, after a beat, "If that is all Leader-sama, we will be going."
Pein waved the Uchiha off. "Yes, that's all. However, now that Deidara and Tobi were unable to complete your failed mission, you will have to take care of things, with no room for mistakes this time. Do I make myself clear?"
Kisame nodded quickly, muttering a low "Hai Leader-sama", Itachi merely inclining his head an inch or so, as he turned and jumped swiftly from the statue, leaving the room without a second glance, Kisame following close behind him, and throwing a pitying and confused look at the dazed kunoichi on the floor as he went.
Zetsu left as well, his astral projection sputtering out. "Sasori-san, I take it things have been going well here. You will continue to watch my daughter until I return, since at the moment, I have matters to attend to. We obviously can't seal any more biju, even with Kisame-san's huge chakra reserves, unless a replacement for at least one of the deceased members is found. If you need anything, do not hesitate to contact either myself or Konan-san. And..see to it that Sakura-san finishes healing Hidan, he will be needed for missions immediately." Pein brusquely ended, closing his eyes and breaking the handseal he had been holding, Konan fading away soon after.
"Yeah, like hell I will fucking bastard!! I'm not gonna get killed like gay-ass and his fuckbuddy, so screw you!!" Hidan yelled after him, his head nearly falling off from the force of his yells. Sasori cringed, trying to tune him out as he jumped gracefully off of the statue, Hidan's voice following him as it reverberated around the huge room. "Dammit, that sucks, seriously! Hey, girly, where the hell are you?"
Sakura didn't even lift her head to meet Sasori's gaze, Hidan's ranting reverberating off her eardrums in a low drone. As Sasori made his way to her side, she finally noticed his presence, pushing herself shakily from the floor with one arm, the other one wrapped protectively around her middle. Plastering a smile onto her face, she refused to let these people see how weak and broken she felt, saying quietly, "Let's go, Sasori-san. Seems there's a lot of work to do, huh?" As she turned, walking quickly from the room, she made sure he couldn't see the single tear that trickled down her cheek, burning with all of the pain she felt deep inside, or the hundreds of others threatening to spill any moment if she dared to let her thoughts drift to her dear Sasuke.
Sasori wasn't stupid, and it was obvious that the brat was in shock. He'd seen plenty of shinobi exhibit the same symptoms- although usually they fell into shock after being poisoned, or impaled, and were just too weak to take the pain being wrought on their system. This was different…she was in shock, yes, but it wasn't from some sort of physical blow. And Sasori had never been the best with understanding emotions, even before stripping himself of his own. They were useless, as her current broken state only served to prove. Such a strong girl, with such potential, and something as insignificant as an emotion was now dragging her down.
Of course, that also meant he had no idea what he was supposed to do, to get her out of this annoying situation. He certainly didn't want to be babysitting a mopy little emotional teenage girl for the next week or so. Yet it wasn't like he'd ever been taught what to do in situations like these. When his parents had died, his grandmother had first lied to him, and then used puppets as a means of escape from reality- but somehow he didn't think anything here was going to interest Sakura quite enough. He'd have to improvise. There was no way he was letting his careful plan go down the drain now- Sasori did not lose. He would find some way to make this work, and maybe even turn it to his advantage.
Walking quickly to catch up to Sakura, he carefully placed an arm around her shoulders. Sakura froze, every muscle tensing; he momentarily had second thoughts, maybe what she needed wasn't comforting, damned female emotions were so pathetically complicated. But then all of the emotion she'd been so carefully holding in threatened to spill over, and she leaned into his side, her body beginning to shake intermittently. It took a few moments for Sasori to realize that Sakura had started to cry.
She hated herself for it, Inner Sakura screaming at her with every shaky breath and choked sob. Here she was weak, again, and showing it in front of her enemies, S-class criminals on top of it.
He wanted to slap the brat- she was going to get his joints wet, and then he'd have to oil them again- but instead he tightened his grip around her shoulders, leading them towards her room.
By the time they arrived, the entire side of his cloak was drenched. He didn't waste any time opening the door to her room, gingerly lifting his arm from her, nudging her through the doorway as he said, "I'm going to get you some water- and tissues, before you cause my chest to warp. I'll be back in a few minutes, hopefully you'll have yourself better composed and thinking more clearly by then."
Sasori had every intention of leaving the brat alone until she calmed down, and was actually capable of rational thought again. Her sobs sounded like a whining little dog that had just been beaten senseless, and soon enough her tears really would eat through his carefully applied finish and start to warp the wood. She had a bathroom with a sink and toilet paper in it anyway if she really needed anything. But what crying was doing for her, he just couldn't understand.
He was nearly to his door, to his puppets, when Kisame suddenly turned the corner into the hall, carrying a huge pile of clothes. As soon as he spotted Sasori, he dropped them at the end of the hall and walked towards him, "Hey, so how is she?"
Sasori blinked a few times, before registering who he meant. "The brat? Fine I suppose. Right now she's crying in her room, and I'll check on her once she's done. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm rather busy." Sasori said curtly, moving past Kisame and towards his room.
"Hey wait."
Sasori's hand froze on the doorknob, as he gave an audibly annoyed sigh.
"I've been around Itachi-san a lot," Kisame continued, "and I mean, he doesn't like to talk about his brother, or what happened or anything much, but I mean, it's obvious that Sakura-san was on some team with that annoying blonde jinchuuriki kid Naruto, and with Itachi's little brother, when they were kids. She's probably all worked up about it because he died, and she didn't get to say goodbye or something messed up like that. Girls get like that." Kisame said matter-of-factly.
"I see. Well that's great and all, but I don't see how I'm supposed to care or how it affects me." Sasori stated coldly, opening the door.
"Well, hell, I'm just glad it's not my head then. I mean, Leader-sama's going to be pretty pissed off if he finds out you just ignored her, don't you think? …Besides, how would you feel if you were in her position?..."
Sasori paused, turning around. "I wouldn't, because I don't feel. In case you haven't noticed, I rid myself of those useless emotions. ..And I thought that in Kirigakure you were required to kill your teammates to progress to the next rank; how would you have any opinion on how she supposedly feels right now?"
"Oh, that was different." Kisame grinned, waving him off. "I mean, I got to do the killing, and anyway, didn't she like this kid or something? First her mother dies, then Itachi's little brother, it probably messed her up inside, making her feel like she's helpless. I'll bet if she got to be with them when they died, she wouldn't be such a basket case, but oh well."
Recalling the events of his fight with her, Sasori had to admit, the girl had seemed to have a problem with weakness and helplessness, to the point where she just wouldn't back down. Probably some sort of psychological complex, even if it did bring out her only admirable qualities. "What exactly are you suggesting I do?" Sasori asked in annoyance, his voice dangerously low.
"Just… be there for her, I don't know. When women get all emotional, they need someone there, just to feel support or something. I don't really get it, I just know they do." Kisame turned back towards the clothes pile at the far end of the hall. "Anyway, I've got to get going soon, so I have to get these clothes washed for Itachi-san. I'll see ya." Kisame grabbed the pile of clothes back into his arms and walked off down the hall, leaving Sasori standing in the doorway.
Sakura had to get out of there that was all she knew, as she glanced around frantically at her surroundings. She had to be with Naruto, with Kakashi-sensei…did they even know about Sasuke? If they didn't, what would they have to say when she told them, when they learned that she'd been living with his killer for the past month, had learned to trust him- had she even started to care about Deidara? Nothing made sense, all she knew was she needed them, and she needed them now. Kakashi-sensei always had such practical advice for every situation, and Naruto...he was just unique; every situation could be turned around once he was there. All she wanted to do was collapse into his arms and cry forever. To be there for him when he needed support.
Suddenly the door opened, and Sakura forced down her choked sobs, using the bed's downy comforter to quickly wipe away her tears.
"Have you calmed down yet b- Sakura-san?" Sasori asked, catching himself just before his favorite name for the girl slipped out. Looking at her though, he could she that she hadn't. Her face was a shiny mess of tearstains, and her breath was still hitched and coming out in ragged bursts. Sasori stood there for a moment, unsure of what should be done. Comfort her, just be there for her, that was what Kisame had said, right? Well, he was here, and she was still acting irrationally.
The awkward silence that followed was finally broken by Sakura, voice weak, but surprisingly level, as another wave of tears threatened to spill, saying, "What do you want?"
Oh, how many answers Sasori could give to that simple question. Most of which would probably get him punched through a wall. Thinking quickly though, he replied, "I was concerned about how you're doing. After all, you've suffered quite an emotional shock, and as a medic, I think you know what implications shock can potentially have on the body. Oh, and here's your tissues."
He walked over to the bed, throwing them at the edge, before sitting down at the foot of the bed himself. Sakura glared at the tissue box, before turning her gaze to him. "So what, did you come here to watch me cry, to have a good laugh about it later? I don't need your sarcasm, and I sure as hell don't need your pity!" Sakura kicked the tissue box, and sending it flying and just nearly missing Sasori's face. He glared at her, struggling to restrain himself from poisoning the impertinent woman right then and there.
Right, be there and comfort her. This was certainly the last time he took advice from Kisame; he felt like impaling the Kiri-nin right about now, and slowly stripping off his flesh with a hot iron while he was still alive. Gruffly, Sasori pushed himself up off of the bed and turned to go. "I wasn't offering you my pity." Satisfied when there was no sarcastic reply, he smiled to himself as he walked to the door.
Suddenly though, he heard a strangled sob, followed in quick succession by more, louder sobs. Against his better judgment, Sasori turned back, returning to Sakura's bedside, picking up the discarded tissues as he went and holding them out to her.
Sakura reached out as if to grab the box, then suddenly clung to Sasori's arm, burying her face in the material. He stiffened at her touch, but thinking back to Kisame's words, as well as his own plans for the girl, he forced himself to relax, and sat down beside her, removing her head from his arm and instead pulling her close and letting her bury it in his chest as she continued to sob uncontrollably. As an afterthought, he started to rub her back in a, hopefully comforting, circular motion.
It was quite some time before Sakura was able to talk again. "I don't need tissues…" She sobbed. "Tissues won't bring him back… Nothing will. I failed him, I failed them all. What…what will Naruto say?... Will I fail him too?... Will I have to stand by and do nothing while he dies?!..."
"You're letting your emotions get the better of you again. Don't ever forget what I said to you in that cave Sakura-san. What would you have done if you had been there? Nothing would have changed, only you would be dead as well. Even I couldn't stop something as powerful as what Zetsu-san described." Sasori explained, continuing to rub her back with one hand as the other carefully lifted Sakura's chin to look Sasori in the eyes.
Sakura shook her head. "..I failed them… Everyone. My mother, and Sasuke-kun…even Deidara. And I should hate him! But…. They're all dead, and I wasn't strong enough…."
"No, you aren't. But it has nothing to do with your physical strength from what I can see. You are a very skilled kunoichi, that I cannot deny. Your problem is getting too emotionally attached to others…" Sasori paused for a moment. "But you can't help your situation here, and I suppose in a way, your ardent, unyielding attachments, as stupid as they may seem, are a type of strength. At least you know what you want, and who you care about, and you stick by them. You couldn't have done any better than your commitment to them." Sasori felt nearly sickened by the compliments he was feeding Sakura, but at the same time, deep down, he couldn't deny what he had said, which was what troubled him the most. At any rate though, Sakura had finally started to calm down a bit, her sobs breaking up as she leaned in to Sasori. It took a few minutes for him to realize that she had fallen asleep against his shoulder, her body still shivering with subsiding sobs.
"Um, so….Itachi… Uh.." Kisame awkwardly tried to start a conversation, not really sure of what he could even say. "Heh, about your brother, kinda sad, huh, that he died without you getting to fight him?" He rubbed the back of his neck.
After a beat, Itachi's emotionless voice sounded quietly through the rain. "He isn't dead."
"What do you mean he isn't, Zetsu-san, back there, just said-"
"He is not dead. Do not make me repeat myself again." Itachi turned and glared at Kisame, who nodded nervously in reply.
"So, then what's the deal? Damn, I've never seen Zetsu-san be wrong, but your brother must be pretty damn amazing if Tobi and Deidara-san kicked it, and he survived."
"Zetsu-san was obviously lying, but that is no important. Right now, we must find my brother, and deal with matters. He must be convinced one way or another of the truth." Itachi said with a note of finality in his voice.
Kisame could think of a million questions, and a million reasons why none of this made any sense, but knew better than to open his mouth. The rest of the journey was made in silence.
"Itachi knows his mission, and he will carry it out, whether he believes me dead or not. Even if he were to deviate from it slightly, things will still work according to plan. Besides, the boy is smart enough to know that I wouldn't be killed by such a petty jutsu. What I worry though is whether he is smart enough to realize that Sasuke survived. But you did say that he spoke with you." Madara's gaze bore into Pein's as his subordinate quickly replied.
"Yes Madara-sama. Just before he left, Itachi contacted me and told me that he knew you and his brother were still alive. He wished to confirm that he should still follow the orders he had been given previously, and I told him to proceed."
"Good. We should have everything settled then within the month." Madara pulled the hood over his cloak, stepping out into the rain as he prepared to leave. "Oh. I will still be acting in the role of an Akatsuki member, most likely no more than scouting though. However, if any of the others see me alive, I expect you to have a legitimate reason prepared for my survival. Also, I will be seeing the Kyuubi jinchuuriki soon, I have things to attend to. Once I have done so, I will contact you, and I expect you and Konan-san to immediately head out for its retrieval."
"Yes Madara-sama. We will retrieve the Kyuubi, and ensure that Uchiha Sasuke manages to come under your supervision one way or another." Pein bowed respectively to the Uchiha and turned to go inside.
"Pein…that won't be necessary. Take care of your end, but Sasuke will be mine, and you don't have to worry about my affairs. Just get me that jinchuuriki. And make sure your daughter is well prepared to see her old friend."
"Of course."
I actually didn't realize that this chapter is so short until I got it up here. But I guess it's better than nothing. Lovey dovey Sakura and Sasori stuff starts next chapter, and if you still haven't figured out at least part of what Pein and Madara(mostly Madara, that ass) want to do, you'd better start thinking a little harder. As for Sasori...what he's trying is obvious, at least to us readers, lol. Not to poor Sakura though. Anyway, sooo sorry that I didn't update for so long.