So...hi!
Ohh boy...every chapter I write gets more and more fun and the plot gets thicker and thicker...--jumps up and down like a rabbit on crack-- I had to put that in there because I always get called that...Again, always longer than I expect but if it's good then I don't care.
I apologize for the fight scenes...they're SO hard to depict...putting a scene onto paper with action is just really hard, so I could except flames or whatever for those parts...
Whatever, just READ.
Chapter 14: For When Girls Fight...
"You plan to let go of my wrist anytime soon?"
"Not until you stop turning around like a crack-ridden rabbit."
Sakura scowled at his insult and jerked away from him, but his hold was tight. It was a long and tiring journey up the river; a steady uphill incline with slippery, marshy ground with assorted plants that snapped and the constant rustling from the tree or bush they had just passed. It was not the wind, despite what Sasuke had been telling and reiterating for the past half hour; that nagging feeling that someone was following and straying in your shadow, breathing when you breathed; the hair on the back of your neck straight up as a constant reminder that she ignored.
She was not the only one...Hinata noticed too, and looked back over her shoulder every so often at Sakura, who would ignore Sasuke's exasperated roll of the eyes and speak with hers, "Just wait for now." Naruto, in turn, would look back as she did, his eyes would find where Sasuke and Sakura's hands together and grin his stupid grin, then watch Hinata's intense and distant gaze that saw nothing. Lee led the way without looking back or speaking at all, and Ino and Shikamaru followed a couple feet behind him, arms linked, Ino occasionally pointing out plants and flowers, informing them all of what she knew about botany in a loud obnoxious voice.
One plant particularly piqued her interest; a twisting purple vine with black leaves that seemed to feed from a willow tree; its' ebony pointed spikes stuck deep within the bark. She dragged Shikamaru back to look at it; crimson liquid streaked the trunk and caught the overcast light that hovered over the trees and she remained utterly fascinated.
"That's pretty sick," Shikamaru muttered, gently stroking the end of a cone-shaped spike that protruded inches out. Naruto reached for one and Hinata looked up at him as though he were crazy; Ino snapped at him to keep his hand back.
"Favoritism," Naruto grumbled, watching Shikamaru grin as he snapped one off–Ino blanched– and he picked his teeth with it.
"For all you know that could be poisonous!" Ino snapped, slapping it out of his hands.
"Shouldn't you know? You are the one who works in a flower shop after all," he accused playfully, but taking a regular toothpick out of his vest pocket and chewing on it. She frowned; he only did that when he was extremely stressed...as of late it had been occurring more and more often.
Lee was far ahead, not slowing down in the slightest, and Naruto and Hinata were now becoming distant; Sakura and Sasuke passed and Sakura said, "Are you coming?"
"Yeah, give me a minute," Ino said, still intrigued and waved them away. After another moment, Ino sighed and took her man by the arm again and they walked.
"What was the sigh for?"
She smiled slightly. "I don't know...I thought it was beautiful. But hearing me be loud and stuff, people don't expect me to sit and enjoy flowers."
Shikamaru shrugged. "Well everyone thought I was just a lazy slacker...and they were wrong."
"But you are lazy."
"I beg to differ–"
"When's the last time you watered the plants? Or cleaned the bathroom?" Ino demanded, raising an eyebrow at him and watching his face.
"Well that's boring," Shikamaru said defensively, mimicking her facial expression and she burst out laughing loudly and swiftly unhooked her arm and jumped on his back.
"So troublesome," Shikamaru muttered in mock loathing; she pouted and wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, arms around his chest, and let her long blonde hair fall in front of his face as she kissed the top of his head. He parted the curtain of hair so he could see where he was going and looked up at her.
"Dare I say you're beautiful? Wouldn't want it to go to your head," he murmured, grinning. Ino legs tightened around him to hold on.
"I think it already has," he added, and she gasped in mock hurt and forced her lower lip to tremble. He nearly tripped and looked ahead to see where he was going.
"I like hearing that I'm beautiful," she whispered, speaking against his neck; she shivered as his fingers gently toyed with her hair...
But his hands were gripping the bottom of her thighs to keep her from sliding off...
SLAM!
Unbelievable pain erupted in her head as in a second flat she was on her back, being dragged across the dirt by her...hair? Yes, her hair; she struggled to free herself but the grip on her head was so strong it was impossible to lift her chin to see if anyone had noticed what had happened.
"SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"
Ino heard Naruto's cry and dug her heels into the dirt trying to slow whatever was dragging her down, but her neck and head were immobilized; forced to stare up at the overcast sky as it rushed past; she heard the others yelling but with the sound of her skin scraping across the dust, she couldn't decipher anything...
"You sonofabitch!" she screeched in one breath, digging her heels deeper and reaching toward her hair with a kunai; while she loathed short hair with a passion, it was the only way to get herself out and put both her arms back to find the hand that was dragging her along like a child with a sled–
If only there had been a hand to find; instead a moist vine dotted with short sharp feelers pierced the skin of her fingers as she grasped it, assuming it had been human; she swore and twisted like a fish to escape. Whatever was carrying her along obviously had no manners; tiny pebbles scraped across the back of her legs and skull and her fingers found the giant knot of hair that it had formed in it's...claw? She wasn't sure what to think of it.
About twenty Narutos sprinted past her; a few leapt over her and their sandals pounded on the ground adding to her throbbing headache she had earned. Strangled yells pierced the air and many flew back and disappeared...where was her goddamn boyfriend? He wasn't made a captain for nothing...
But her heart stopped as she heard his yell, for she knew it well, echo from so far away...had this thing gotten him too? It was time to stop wondering and start doing something about it. Gritting her teeth she reached back once again and rose the kunai above the knot of hair; as she brought it down, hoping to cut herself free, another vine had grabbed her unused hand and pinned it in the way–
She shrieked; that plant was too damn smart; she felt warm blood soak her hand, but her head gave a bit and she lifted her chin to see the others; Sakura and Naruto were in the lead, but Shikamaru was nowhere to be seen...And her mind was racing–why was she getting thrown around by a goddamned plant? Raising the knife again, she held her breath: Hopefully she came out of this with a hand, and she brought it down again, hoping that it slit her hair effectively this time.
But this time she missed completely and the vine had wrested the kunai from her and tossed it aside; as she watched the world race by, it was left in the dust...and before she'd realized it, so was she. The grip on her throbbing head loosened and she skidded to a stop on her back and the vine had let her hair go, leaving leaves and thorns tangled in a mass of different shades of blonde. She retched, trying to catch her breath as she shook, raising her chin to find a crowd of Naruto's running full force at her once again.
"HEY!" she screamed, raising herself to lean back on her arms and reached out to grab the nearest jacket; "Where the hell is Shika–ma?"
"INO!" Sakura screamed; placing her feet apart she flung her arms out, a shuriken originating from between each two fingers whistled as they passed dangerously close to Ino's head; Ino swivelled and watched them embed themselves in the twisting tree that had been awkwardly lumbering after her. Leaves were slashed off and apart in ribbons and vines were sliced in uneven pieces to land on the ground, and the tree collapsed, the vines twisting and writhing and resting. Naruto's clones continued to beat the living hell out of the tree that was now motionless, and Ino pulled herself to her feet, stunned.
"STUPID PLANT! ATTACKING SOMEONE WHEN THEIR BACK IS TURNED! THAT'S COWARDLY, DAMN IT!" the clones echoed, still punching the lifeless tree, which almost seemed to sigh as it's vines relaxed.
"Naruto, stop, it's done!" Sakura yelled; Sasuke, Hinata, and Lee ran up and stared wordlessly at the fallen tree.
"Let me get this straight," Ino said, wrapping her hand around the other to quell the profuse bleeding. "I just got attacked and dragged around like a rag doll BY A PLANT?!"
"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, making a face. "You're bleeding...the back of your head–"
"Oh, I'm fine, 'cept I'm gonna beat the living hell out of that thing!" she shrieked, running toward the tree that the clones had now abandoned; they had vanished and now Naruto was looking at it.
"That was some plant," he said, and Ino shoved him out of her way and kicked at the tree trunk, cursing.
"Stupid plant, stupid vines, stupid dragging, stupid–"
"Ino," Sakura said, taking her by the wrist and dragging her away, "you seriously need to calm down, you were fine a few minutes ago–"
"That was before I got attacked by giant tree with vines growing out of the trunk and it made me stab my own hand and where's Shikamaru?" she rattled off, suddenly pale. Sakura bit her lip.
"When you were pulled off his back he turned around and the tree's vine, well, hit him."
"Hit him?"
"Yeah, hard...into the air and–"
"Into the AIR?" Ino asked, eyes flashing dangerously; Naruto bounded forward and Sakura shook her head no but–
"Yeah, like this," Naruto said, pointing at an imaginary object and illustrating it's projected path of flight; he drew an arc, and Sasuke grimaced. Ino, shaking in pain and anger, roughly picked Naruto up by the collar and shook him.
"YOU'D–BETTER–FIND–HIM!" She shrieked as Naruto's head jerked forward and back.
"Ino, enough," Sakura said calmly, and Ino shoved Naruto away from her and pulled another weapon from her waist; seething, she started slashing through the growth in random directions, and they certainly pitied whoever got in her way.
"Shikamaru!" she yelled, throwing her head back and begging the sky for a sign.
"Yes?" he answered loudly, waving an arm above his head from his place about the length of a football field away; a bit shaken and carrying his other limb tenderly, he stepped through the bushes carefully and continued to wave. "Ugh...these plants are such a drag."
Ino was utterly relieved and sprinted all the way to him and threw herself on him, once again wrapping her arms and legs around him and laughing. "Thank god you're okay!"
"Mm, I'm fine," he muttered as she squeezed him nearly to death; she loosened her grip and scowled at his long hair full of thorns and leaves...he held a clump of her long blonde locks and gave her a questioning look.
"That," she said, pointing to the corpse that still lay on the ground, twitching occasionally. Shikamaru's eyes found her profusely bleeding hand and then the blood dripping from underneath her hair and seemed angry.
"She took a beating," Naruto supplied; the rest of the group had caught up.
"I'm fine...your arm," Ino muttered, watching him hold it close to himself and not letting it bend. He shrugged.
"Troublesome...really, I'm not in pain–GOD WOMAN, DON'T TOUCH IT!" he roared as Ino gave him a disbelieving look and roughly bent his limb at the elbow.
"I can fix it quick," Sakura said, and reached for the bag normally on her shoulder...it was gone. Whirling around, she spotted it, tan and in a heap far away near a large flowered bush; she jogged back to get it. The rest of them started back toward their destination at an average pace, and Sakura reached the bush, stooped, and grasped the strap; the rest of the bag was near the roots of the bush and she could not see it. As she tugged, someone seemed to exert equal, if not more, force and yanked the strap from her hands...she blinked, then reached for it again and repeated her action; she swore as it was ripped from her hold once again.
"Are you fighting with that plant, Sakura?" Naruto asked; Lee and Sasuke watched in interest as she plunged her hand underneath the leaves and felt for the person yanking the other end of the bag. Scowling darkly at this annoying idea of a joke, she placed the side of her head flat to the dirt and peered within the branches, fingers grasping the strap once again and her eyes were now accustomed to the dim light and she swore once again as the glint of a kunai stared her down–
The bush shuddered and thankfully her body reacted faster than her mind: In less than a second her head was out of the bush, she brought her feet under her and distributed the chakra among her toes and hands and shot up on all fours like a cat and she heard the weapons whistle as they passed beneath her, barely missing her sandaled feet. Still in the air... Exhilarated, she held her breath as she sent her own weapon into the bush, eyes narrowed to search for the stalker...voices were calling her name behind her and she landed on all fours, raising her head with her pink bangs falling over her face.
"Hell!"
Sasuke skidded to a stop in front of her, yanking her to a standing position by clutching her upper arm; she shoved him aside and continued to stare at the product of nature that had just attacked her.
"It's got my bag," she snapped, putting out an arm to keep him back.
On cue he growled and the glaring crimson Sharingan blazed in his eyes; Sakura caught the weapon thrown back at her from the bush and Sasuke's arm effectively blocked the other, both clattered to the dust. They both stepped back slowly to gain distance, breath held, waiting–
"There!" Sasuke yelled, and Sakura let three shuriken fly and knew it would send them back effectively–sure enough she caught each between her fingers and a twisted grin graced her face. Smart plants.
"SET THE DAMN THING ON FIRE!" Ino shrieked as though it were the most obvious thing in the world; Sasuke ignored her screaming and placed his fingers to his lips as though blowing out a candle...the bush seemed resistant as the tips merely smoked, although the entire shrub was engulfed in flames. Sasuke tossed his head pretentiously and ceased his attack, scowling at the shrub that did not have a singe.
"Smart...set the papers on fire," she said, shaking her head at him and powering up chakra in her hand, more specifically, her fingers, and slashed viciously at the bush; the leaves sizzled, burned and fell to the ground; she repeated her action until it slashed back at her–tiny cuts etched themselves into her face as the branches caught her in the jaw, leaves nicking her skin–sucking her lip, she prepared to lunge herself forward again but Sasuke caught her around the waist and dragged her back, just barely out of it's reach.
"Leave it!" he ordered, putting an arm in front of her defensively as the branch went for her face again; it wrapped around his wrist and began to tug on him instead, another one slamming into the side of his face; he cried out as the thorns ripped deep through his flesh, and Sakura slashed through the vine with a hand of chakra and stomped on the writhing end that had fallen to the ground...
"It grows back," she muttered, feeling the vine creep up her ankle; it wormed up her muscular calf and the buds of thorns embedded themselves in her flesh and began to grow as roots would in the ground–
"ROOTS!" Ino screamed, holding up Shikamaru, whose arm was clearly broken after she had wrenched it around, and Sakura turned in confusion, earning another whip with a branch across her face–"Go for it's roots!"
Sakura twisted awkwardly, for the vine still had a painful hold on her leg; she fell to the dust and the ivy now attached to her other leg, binding her limbs together, but her arms were free...she saw Sasuke as the shrub dragged him closer and closer, and his fire techniques seemed so ineffective and they shouldn't have been...
"A bush...a damn bush!" Sakura shrieked, placing her fingers flat to the dirt and directing a thin stream of chakra across the ground, heading straight for the roots; her arm shook and she ignored the throbbing pulse in her calf as the thorns penetrated deep, and absentmindedly her other hand let a kunai fly to severe the binds on Sasuke, for he had been nearly pulled into the shrub. And her blue stream was almost there...
A branch came down and severed it in half and the string broke, sending a jolt up her arm as if smacking a nerve wrong. Huffing, she did it again, but not sending it straight for the roots this time...it snaked and formed a circle like a lasso on the ground and completed a circle with a wide radius around the bush–
She flinched as Sasuke's body landed heavily, prostrate, next to her; struggling to hold her arm straight and wincing against the lashing branches she nudged his head with her nose and he groaned, raising his bloody face to see her. A surprised screech left her mouth as the vine now began to bind her hand to the back of her leg.
"Can you get your hands free?" she asked, quelling another flinch as the tip of a branch cracked like a whip, whistling too close to her face, and he raised an eyebrow.
"What a question," he said, blowing a stray ebony lock to clear his vision, a pretentious grin appearing on his face. Sakura returned it, equally sly, and although he mentally reminded himself to stop grinning at her, it didn't work. Shaking his head, he asked, "You have something in mind?"
Oh god, do I, Inner Sakura said in a quiet voice, watching him work his fingers through the vines the best he could, the bonds...bondage...This is really not the time to be concocting kinky ideas in your depraved little mind.
Inner Sakura, once again, was a total bitch.
And while the thorns dragged across his flesh easily he eventually freed his hands and prepared to jump back up.
"Wait!" she snapped, and he remained on the ground, holding his hands as though they were still bound, scowling. "Stay down."
Sasuke glared at her, hoping that she knew what she was doing, because so far she wasn't putting up a very good show. She kept her hand steady as she could as he watched her try to slip her fingers underneath the rope to free herself...as she struggled to multitask...she tossed her head angrily and Sasuke continued to stare at her face. Becoming flushed and even angrier that she could not break the vine, the entranced boy could not suppress his amused smirk...well, she was in pain, but it was pretty funny...
"Yes, this is hilarious! Do something," she snapped, awkwardly throwing herself at him and sinking her teeth into his hand; he let out a noise somewhere between a growl and a chuckle, trying to ignore the shiver down his spine as she held on like a child. Without pulling his other hand from her mouth he worked with the vines holding her; as he ripped them off, she let her grip with her teeth loosen...she was free, and Sakura looked up at him from the ground, letting her lips drag mockingly softly over the skin of his hand. Uncomfortable, he redeemed himself by reacting on a whim and, using his hand that was free, slapped her ass-she jerked away from him.
"STO–OP!" he yelled, annoyed that he was so vulnerable feeling around her, and kept his mouth shut and kneeled low toward her to keep up appearances, not looking at her mouth hanging open...he had the distinct feeling he would pay for that, somehow. Now he wasn't even sure why he yelled at her to begin with...or what he said 'stop' for.
Naruto's obnoxious voice sounded from what seemed like so far away... "SAKURA! ARE YOU OKAY?"
"FINE, JUST STAY–BACK!" she yelled, gritting her teeth as the pulsing from her calf seemed to jolt her entire body–Sasuke huffed and still laid there, asking her with his eyes what she wanted him to do. She seemed to push the recent incident out of her mind.
"Fire," she whispered, caressing the sensual word, her sly grin disguising her pain as she raised herself slowly to sit on her feet, keeping the fine line of chakra from her finger loose. Sasuke did not acknowledge her, but his fingers performed the signs faster than ever as he held his breath...a small puff was all he would need...placing his fingers to his lips he crawled slowly across the dirt, eyes watching the shrub, which lashed out occasionally and shuddered ominously, as if it really watched their actions too.
"Take–your–time," Sakura stuttered sarcastically as the small vine on her leg continued to feed off her, thrashing and dancing and jerking her; she still held the chakra line and dragged her finger a bit to let out more slack...Sasuke lowered his mouth to her finger and let out one little spark–
The bush shuddered violently as it round itself in a tall and dangerous ring of fire, and Sasuke smirked, Sakura watching the flames dance in his dark eyes.
"Now?"
"I'd appreciate it...this sort of hurts," Sakura murmured, and Sasuke was not sure if she was talking about the growth now clawing up past her knee or the fact that the line of chakra she held between her fingers supported a fire on the surface that was licking her flesh; Sakura quickly wound her fingers through the fiery rope. Sasuke grabbed her wrists and tugged along with her as the rope slid across the ground...the lasso shrank quickly around the bush and in another second, the line had effectively burnt through the roots, which sizzled and seemed to scream in pain as they twisted upon themselves in black cinders...the roots were dying and without warning the rest of the bush erupted in vibrant flames...
Sakura let out a scream and jerked as the vine on her leg grew yet another deep thorn into her flesh, this time her thigh and her chakra line snapped and lay glowing on the ground. Lee and Naruto rushed forward to grab an arm and drag her back away from the still flaming bush...Sasuke glanced at her, her yells pounding on his eardrums...he watched a figure rise from within the flaming mass, and the outline of Sakura's messenger bag caught his eye–
"Sakura!" Lee cried as she elbowed him away and stumbled forward, the look in her eye frightening as she attempted to run with the vine still sprouting and growing, now well attached to her thigh and snaking up her side.
"What the HELL are you doing?" Sasuke roared, running up to her and wrapping his arms around her waist, dragging her as she kicked and fought to unleash her spleen on the figure who finally turned to acknowledge the girl screaming at him–the fire was dying and in the light glinted the mask of an ANBU officer.
Sakura threw her elbow into Sasuke's chest...hard. His grip loosened and he cursed himself as she took advantage and ran forward, wondering how she seemed to be able to pack such a damn punch with just a little bit of chakra, in the same rib every time, nonetheless.
The ANBU officer took off, her bag clutched to his chest as though cradling a child and the medic stumbled into a tree trunk, still trying to go after him...the plant seemed to pulsate and glow as it rotated slowly around her thigh, one particular branch nearly around her hipbone; she pushed off the trunk and scooped a paper off the ground that had fallen out...reports and parchment fluttered in the air like ribbons and Sakura grabbed them as best she could, clutching them as though it was all she had left...
The officer was gone, his presence marked only by the papers littering the ground. Meanwhile Sakura was standing in the middle of a clearing, bloody and scratched as she glared in the direction the thief had left. Seething, she used the heel of her hand to wipe blood from the corner of her mouth.
"Sakura, damn it!"
She glanced over her shoulder to see her friends running toward her, stricken, Ino dragging Shikamaru along the best he could go...it seemed his fall had left him with more than a twisted elbow.
"He's got my bag!" she raged, pointing in the direction he had gone. Her friends stared at her incredulously as the girl groaned about her loss while the vine continued to lengthen and attach, tiny thorns embedding themselves into her flesh.
"A fucking bag! Look at you!" Sasuke roared, spinning her around and shaking her as if she could not understand. "What was so important about that bag anyway?"
A strange expression swept across her face so quickly and the silence that came with it was enough to pique the interest of all; wincing, her knees locked noticeably and she put her arms out to balance herself; the inner toil was gone.
"Well?" Sasuke demanded, not completely realizing he was supporting all of her body weight, but her pain hit him like a slap in the face as her knees gave way and she threw her head back, screaming at the top of her lungs–he lowered her to the ground, stricken, the others crowded around and watched in horror as the vine plunged yet another thorn, this time straight into her hipbone–without warning she plunged her hand into her pocket, whipped out a kunai and prepared to bring it down on the vine but Lee caught her wrist and held it firm.
"We got it."
Hinata, while awkward with the use of tools, took one of the few kunai she owned and gently slit the vines that were around her leg; Lee ended up stepping back as Sasuke pinned Sakura's wrist to the ground to keep her from helping, while the quiet girl continued...the medic's shuddering breaths were that of a rabbits, quick and shallow, but she never stopped straining against Sasuke's hold. Glaring at each other in defiance, Sakura sucked the blood of her lip and tried to hold her shaking body steady as Hinata gently tugged the vines off her leg.
"Thank you," Sakura said quietly to Hinata, shoving Sasuke's hand away and raising herself to lean back on her arms; the look on Sasuke's face was a universal warning, and Hinata excused herself and hurried toward Ino, who was attempting to help Shikamaru. Now it was just Sakura and Sasuke; the former pulled herself gingerly to her feet, tested her weight, nearly collapsed again but began to walk anyway...
She went about two more steps before being ruthlessly yanked back.
"What do you think you're doing?" Sasuke hissed, searching her with his dark eyes; Sakura wrenched her wrist away and continued walking, but he stepped in front of her; she glared at him with a gaze that he never remembered being so unfeeling, so cold.
"To get my bag," she stated flatly.
"You want to get killed over a stupid–"
"Nobody said you were coming with," she interjected rudely, beginning to –attempt– her typical strut she teased the human, the male part of his mind with. This effect was ruined when she stumbled and fell to her knees, during which time he took the opportunity to slip an arm under her and drag her to the nearest tree trunk. She clenched her jaw out of annoyance and let out a gasp as he roughly shoved her against it; her back stung with pain and she let herself slide to sit underneath the swaying branches. Expression livid, he pointed a finger at her and jabbed it obnoxiously within her reach at her face as he spoke:
"You are being stupid, you are being stubborn, you are being unnecessary. You almost got yourself killed over a messenger bag full of some reports and papers that are on file in your office that you don't need. You are a fucking medic, now you sit there against that tree trunk and heal yourself damn it!"
Sakura's mouth was a round 'o' of utter surprise and she stared up at him, glanced at the finger waving in her face, and back at him. Satisfied, Sasuke huffed and turned his back on her, which not only was a mistake but just asking for his life to be a bit shorter than he might have hoped. But he still chose to underestimate her, and this was the reason he was knocked to the ground for the nth time that day, wrestled with her, but ended up being shoved against the tree trunk, exactly where she had been just seconds before. In startled confusion he now stared at her, wondering just how she had managed to overpower him in the first place, but he had no time; she now had her finger in his face.
"Now you LISTEN!" she screamed; the rest of them chose to ignore the argument rather than intervene. "I'll make this simple and to the point. Do not tell me what I can and can't do, okay? You have a lot of nerve saying anything when you made the mistake of going with a bunch of people who ended up turning on you, and leaving me with a concussion and a bro–"
She very noticeably bit her tongue and left it at that, folding her arms with her piercing jade eyes staring through him, trying to instill guilt; it was there but he would never concede defeat, not to Sakura. Struggling to ignore the memories she reminded him of, his mind wandered instead to how cute her face looked when she looked as though she would love to murder him right then and there.
Why must I keep using the word 'cute'?
"I'm going...not that you should care," she added nastily, hobbling off toward the others. He watched her walk away, almost annoyed that she had decided to stop yelling at him, all up in his face and such...now she was talking to the rest of them, convincing them to let her go find the officer that had stolen her things. Predictably, Lee was protesting; Sasuke smirked as he listened to Sakura become fresh with him too, and mimicked Lee's vain words under his breath; amusing. And no matter what, he knew she would win.
"I don't want you going alone," Lee pressed, as if his opinion would change her mind, sway her decision.
Like he could stop her...she's too crazy and determined...
Sasuke thought this lazily, watching her wave her hands and argue with each member of the group, and in the end there was no way they could have continued reasoning with her. She won.
I expected her to.
His feet carried him over to the others but his mind wandered elsewhere; Shikamaru commented on how bloody his face was he shrugged it off as he did everything...Sakura was still talking, and while her voice did tend to drone on and on he found it kept him calm...like a gentle hum that was buzzing underneath his thoughts...
"Lee, I promise...I'll be fine..."
"You can't say that, Sakura, look at the state you're in now!"
Sakura's eyes narrowed. "Are you saying I can't handle myself?"
Lee looked a bit wary, but his expression was one of deep concern for her. "No...it's just...this place is dangerous. Really dangerous. It's just not a smart move."
"She's not going alone," Sasuke said quietly; Sakura turned her narrowed gaze on him but he raised the bar, staring back. "I'll make sure that she doesn't."
"HAH!" she burst out, now turning her back on them all, watching him over her shoulder with a smile...a smile that she meant to look...Sasuke thought to himself...god, what's the word?
Sexy?
"You all continue up the river to find Tenten...it's imperative that we find her...I'll catch up with you later, I promise. It'll only take me a bit."
With one last look with a tone that Sasuke just could not place, she sauntered off in the other direction, leaving the rest of them to stare after her.
"Be careful, Sakura," Lee said, and Sakura glanced at Sasuke before giving Lee the simpering, trying–to–be–innocent look.
"Of course," she replied. Sasuke was not as calm anymore.
What does she think she's doing anyway? Acting tough and all that when I know she's in so much pain...showing off...being stubborn...and then looking at me like that...looking at Lee like that...
With a heavy scowl Sasuke jogged after her, and she occasionally glanced at him over her shoulder with that same strange smile on her face. Is this how she got her way? She would never have done this when she was younger...she sure had changed...
Or maybe when she was young...she didn't know how.
"He's dead, Kurenai...DEAD...you're just going to have to accept it."
Hate was separated by a desk: One watched the other with a superior air, the other with underlying fright, the first confident, the second struggling to be calm.The truly opposite pitted against each other with the judge as a bystander, new to her job and fairly bored with it.
So Tsunade let Anko do her job while she stood, staring out the window, mumbling to herself, ignoring what was going on around her...perhaps she was that reluctant to do her job, or maybe she was a bit intoxicated, it wasn't certain. The truth was that she had expected this day to come sooner than this, and now that it was here...she did not embrace it with any comfort. Since her predecessor was not even technically, officially deemed deceased...just lost. About damn time someone let her know the old man was wandering off on his own.
Fingers splayed on the desk, knuckles white, the interrogator glared down at her with adrenaline pumping, intimidation heavy in the atmosphere. Demure, Kurenai looked up at her indifferently as she knew how, though this was not her style; she wore her heart on her bright red sleeve, no question.
"He's dead, Kurenai...you're just going to have to accept it."
The only comfort–if you could call it that–she had received was a curt nod. A nod.Was one little nod going to piece her shattered remains together once again? Was a nod going to comfort her and help her sleep at night knowing the one person she loved was never coming back? A nod was nothing. It was uncaring and cold, and was just one of many nods to every one that died.
Anko was the one who delivered that nod, on a day she certainly considered the worst of her life.
"First off...how did you come into contact with this boy?"
Kurenai didn't answer: She trusted Kakashi. He would talk for her. She didn't dare deal with Anko...more likely than not it would erupt in an ugly personal battle that she would rather not fight.
"Did I stutter?"Anko thundered, eager to get the answers quickly...she would have to wait.
"No, but you did spit," Kurenai replied immediately, putting her hand over her mouth; Where did that come from? Careful Kurenai...
"Oh, so suddenly we have a backbone?" Anko taunted, taking a seat at Tsunade's desk as if she owned it; Tsunade could sense the tension–even through her intoxication– a mile away, and took advantage of the slight pause to leave the room. "That's a switch," she hissed as the door shut behind Tsunade.
"Why do you hate me?" Kurenai asked, attempting to change the subject the best she could...she knew he would show up soon and it was the first thing to slip off her tongue.
Anko blinked and her narrowed eyes relaxed slightly. "Hate you?"
"You can't deny that," Kurenai said quietly. "I know you're the one who tipped off the substitute nurse. Just...I'm not sure why."
"It's not that I hate you," Anko started, genuinely taken aback.
"What is it then?" Kurenai asked, trying to sound casual, but in her heart she truly wanted to know...why did Anko have such an attitude toward her? She could admit to herself that she was a bit stiffly polite to the interrogator...bringing the news that had turned her life upside-down, while not her fault, still left a check mark in Kurenai's mind. And the fact that Anko had pretty much told her to 'get over it' boiled her normally calm blood in a way that caused her to see red every time she spotted the purple-haired woman. Was Anko...jealous?
Not of Asuma.
Anko did not answer but instead dramatically shoved her chair away from the desk, stood, and stomped to the window that Tsunade had been staring out of. Kurenai seemed indifferent to the drama and took to staring at the floor, wondering when Kakashi was going to come and deal with this hotheaded proctor, and this seemed to irk her companion; Anko chuckled quietly under her breath and tapped the window with a long finger. Provoking.
"What?" Kurenai asked, eyeing her suspiciously; Anko grinned; she took the bait so easily.
"Did you love him, Kurenai?"she drawled, speaking to the wall, but she didn't need to turn around to see the way the redhaired woman stiffened. "Well?"
"What are you talking about?" she retorted evenly, putting her hand in her pocket to hold the cold object between her fingers. If only for a second.
"You know what I'm talking about," Anko said quietly in a sickeningly sarcastic tone; she turned and walked around the Hokage's desk and then to the left of Kurenai's chair; in circles she slowly paced, coming closer and closer to her seat. The demure one remained stiff and indifferent, though her crimson eyes were narrowed as she watched her progress; a vulture closing in for the kill of it's weak prey.
"Everyone knew, you know...everyone except you, of course...they say love is blind...I'd believe it," she taunted, voice volume lowered half an octave as her footsteps echoed ominously on the floor; the redhead watched her walk out of the corner of her eye.
"We are here to be loyal to our Hokage...we are here to protect the innocent, put young, aspiring shinobi on the path to greatness...we are here, sworn to serve the best we know how. Nobody usually settles down...nobody usually finds that one person that they would spend the rest of their life with," Anko continued, still pacing dangerously around Kurenai's chair; Kurenai's fist clenched in her pocket. "You're lucky if you do. And you shouldn't ever count on it...that person is either out of your reach–" She broke off, a sour look upon her face as she was reminded of her own pathetic wants. "Or–" she continued, stopping in front of Kurenai and staring down on her; she put her open hand near Kurenai's face, as if asking for a handout. "More often than not...they're ripped away before you have the chance to do anything." To emphasize her point, she closed her fingers into a fist and ruthlessly brought it back to her side, as if crushing a small bug.
"So what made you special?" Anko asked, resuming her circular path around Kurenai's chair. "How did you do it?"
"This isn't about Asuma,"Kurenai stated, nearly choking on her tongue after speaking his name for one of the few times since...he'd been gone. "The coldness from you...why?"
"If you haven't noticed, I'm not really nice to anybody."
"I can see that. Although you do have a soft spot for–" Kurenai broke off, wishing she hadn't brought it up...it slowly sunk in what the problem was...a fault that fell on neither of them, purely circumstance. Anko was livid.
"Who, Kurenai?" she asked, standing in front of her once again, towering, the jounin's name dripping mockingly off her tongue. "Since you obviously are an expert on feelings...you know now? The man that I will never have a chance with anyway...that you are now moving onto after your loss of Asuma?"
There was a pause and Kurenai had to stop and think once again...
"Kakashi...and I?" she asked, nearly stuttering, the look on her face bewildered and slightly amused. "We're not...I don't–"
"You were waiting for him outside the dungeons earlier," Anko accused, beginning her frightening circling once again. "I'm not an idiot...I know the entire story...I heard that he was the one to go get you after you ran off with the child."
"I was concerned...you have heard of Mrs. Haruno's recent murder? They were very close after Sakura severed ties with her mother...I was wondering if he...would be alright talking to the captives...he is my friend," Kurenai replied, anger vibrating throughout her normally light voice. "He came to warn me about coming back, since everybody was after my blood when they found out what I had done...because I am his friend. You're acting childish about this," Kurenai added, an ugly look making it's way onto her face that was not usual for her. "This idea of stealing men like we're in school is ridiculous."
Anko's face was in pure shock for a second as Kurenai's words hit her; while her voice had not risen, it was a figurative slap in the face.
Kurenai cried out as Anko took a handful of hair and by reflex smacked her hand away. Rising to her feet, she stood for the first time and faced the proctor, head-on.
"You really don't understand, do you?" Anko hissed.
"Don't ever touch me," Kurenai whispered, ignoring the rhetorical question.
"Don't ignore what I say," Anko ordered.
"I don't listen to you."
"Stop being so damn calm!" Anko screeched.
"Stop yelling."
"I'll yell at you if I damn please!"
Kurenai gasped as the stinging sensation of an open cut on her cheekbone; Anko grinned her vicious catlike grin.
"What are you going to do, Kurenai?" she asked, her tone so mocking that tears stung in the redheads eyes out of embarrassment. "Are you hoping Kakashi is going to get you out of your mistake?"
"Are you really that jealous?" Kurenai whispered in amazement. Anko's expression flickered for a moment...an infinitesimal flicker of sadness. Ignoring it, Anko swallowed and resumed her mocking demeanor.
"What are you going to do, Kurenai? You're going to let me walk all over you, draw blood from your flesh...berate you with my words? Come on now...what are you going to do?"
Anko repeated these words over and over, each time stepping a little closer to the redhead, who was shaking out of dangerous fury; Anko loved the power, the control, and satisfaction of goading her without retaliation...
"What–are–you–going–to–do?" Anko whispered, inches from Kurenai's face.
She should have known eventually...
The most silent of birds will always have their moment when they burst into a song that is climactic, but equally noiseless in demeanor.
The door to the room opened and Kakashi stepped over the threshold–
–just in time to watch Kurenai slam her fist–driven by vindictive fury– into the side of Anko's face.
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes." She copied his insistent tone with a grin.
"Mimicking isn't getting you anywhere," Sasuke said, keeping his arms folded as he stared at her, sitting on the ground, leaning back on her arms, breathing heavily. Despite that she had made it this far and outrun him for quite a ways, her leg would take time to heal and she was ready to go as far as necessary to the get her bag back for reasons unknown. Now she was catching her breath on the ground while Sasuke kept her from getting up. Normally she would sweet talk her way out of it or simply give him one good elbow full of chakra in the chest, but at the moment there was no energy to spare; deep holes decorated her muscular leg like holes blown in the dirt of a battlefield, smaller ones beginning to fade. Scowling darkly, she got to her feet, swaying a bit, and took one last deep breath.
Sasuke's arm shot out and hit her hard in the chest, sending her to the ground gasping, torso shaking uncontrollably to the speeding beat of her heart...
"Stop–that!" she choked out, closing her eyes and pushing away from him as he scooped her body off the ground, carried it a few feet to a tree trunk, and she continued to punch him the chest.
"Put me down...I'm capable of walking."
"As you insist, princess," Sasuke said sarcastically, dropping her at the bottom of the tree in a heap. "Forgive me for trying to keep you from killing yourself."
"As if you've ever really given a damn," she spat, straining to lean forward and stand once again and Sasuke watched her indifferently as he stood next to her. Pulling her legs beneath her, she braced her hands on her knees and was about to stand when he roughly put out his arm and caught her in the chest again; wheezing, she fell back against the trunk and her legs straightened. Sasuke let her dig her nails into his shoulder for a bit as she fought against the curses she longed to scream in her pain that was now hitting her hard as the adrenaline began to seep away. He stared out at the clearing, silent, as she gasped and writhed next to him, nearly in tears...but once again she kept them at bay...she would never cry in front of him.
Sasuke stood and stared down at her, still red in the face and still raring to fight; he chuckled to himself and her eyes swiftly narrowed. Only goal in mind to tease her further, he reached down and ruffled her pink locks as if she were a little girl.
"Now you stay here...you're in no condition to be running around...I'll go get your bag that's so important to you." With a roll of the eyes he began to stroll off in the direction where papers littered the ground; apparently the officer had left a trail, which left reason to believe they weren't really dealing with whom it appeared. He bent down to pick them up.
"You!" he burst out, sucking on finger that had been close to being separated from his hand from the kunai Sakura had thrown with such careful aim. Still leaning against the tree she smiled sadistically, but there was high color in her face.
"Don't touch them."
"Fine then," he replied, raising his hands and backing away. "This can be your job for while I'm gone...if you're up to it."
"Get back here!" Sakura screeched, still straining to stand; Sasuke turned his back on her and waved lazily at her over his shoulder.
"Bastard," she muttered, glaring at his retreating form; he walked around a high clump of bushes and was out of sight.
Suddenly aware of how alone she was, she bit her lip for a full minute before calling softly... "Sasuke?"
There was no reply.
"Sasuke?" she said again, a bit louder; a rustling and he came back around the bush, seeming typically annoyed.
"What? Sakura can't bear to be alone?"
"Shut up...just wondering if you'd actually gone. You can't leave me here...wouldn't want that weighing on your conscious...sorry, you don't have a conscious," she corrected snidely, insults tumbling off her lips faster than she could think. To her surprise, he stiffened at her words.
"No conscious...sure...if that's what you truly believe," he muttered, watching her finally rise to her feet. She dusted herself off but still leaned against the trunk. He walked up to her in such a slow and dangerous way that she wondered if he was going to strike her, but he simply looked down on her, inches away from her face.
"Is that what you think, Sakura? I have no conscious? Yeah, I have no feelings whatsoever, so don't worry about saying anything that would hurt me."
She cast her eyes down uncharacteristically, twiddling her fingers. "I didn't mean–" Act the part.
"Well I do, despite what everyone thinks," he hissed, gripping her shoulders tightly and nearly holding her off the ground; it was more painful than Lee's had been.
"Sasuke...I'm sorry," Sakura whispered into his neck, voice begging to be forgiven...in another second he had wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. Smirking against his collarbone, Sakura felt him stiffen and abruptly pull away, his chest painted crimson.
His horrified gaze did not chill her and she tapped the kunai protruding him his chest with a spark of chakra that sent it through him; it whistled through the air with a thin string of chakra attached and slammed into a tree a few feet away, and with her limited energy she slammed her fist into his ribs; Sasuke was thrown against the tree with the string still through him and he slid to the dirt, groaning.
Sakura sunk to her knees and cursed; she hated when he was right...but there was no time to waste. On her feet once again, she limped slightly as she walked to the body of Sasuke and gave it a fierce kick in the ribs.
"We've been being followed this whole time...he made the switch once Sasuke was far enough away...waiting in that bush...I'm no idiot...I could see through a genjutsu like looking through a window...luckily you won't die," she told the motionless body...whoever had been disguised had passed out. She turned away and began to jog as best she could in the direction Sasuke had left, stopping to pick up the leaflets and reports on the ground. As she stuffed them in her pockets, she spoke to herself:
"And as for trying to leave me behind, Sasuke? You're dead when I find you."
I tried not to make it too obvious that there had been some trickery going on...
Sakura kicks major ass. :P
I feel so bad for Anko...I know she's the one that got punched but there are other reasons...I can't hate anybody in this show except Orochimaru.
-----
Sasuke: That guy did a terrible job of impersonating me.
Sakura: It's no walk in the park to act like YOU, Sasuke-kun.
Sasuke: Hn...
Sakura: I bet I could do it though! --pouts--Look at me, I am Sasuke Uchiha. My hair is prettier than a woman's and I require a million towels when I shower, and it flooooooows in the wind!
Sasuke: Shut up.
Sakura: Shut up, pink haired girl that I absolutely adoooore!
Sasuke: --walks off, pissed--
Sakura: --mimics-- Look at me! I'm brooding!
XD