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Akemi awoke to…nothing. No sound, no light. No signs of life anywhere. Where am I? And why am I always going unconscious? Stupid move Akemi…
She could tell she was lying on a hard bed…Well that was nice of them…
But when she tried to prop herself up, her right arm protested the movement. Pain screamed through her once again. She fell back on the mattress limply, instead reaching out with her other hand to try to feel out her surroundings. Her fingers brushed a rough stone wall; she could feel nothing on the other side of the bed.
"Great, I'm in a dungeon," Akemi muttered to herself. And if she didn't get out of there soon, she thought grimly, she'd go crazy talking to no one but herself.
"I felt that way when I first came here, too." Akemi shot up into a sitting position, hissing and clutching her shoulder which (not surprisingly) still didn't want to be moved. She knew that voice. Something in the darkness moved – Akemi could sense it drawing nearer. A candle flickered suddenly. Then she saw his face.
At that moment it seemed to be the most welcome sight in the world. But then again, after straining your eyes in the dark anything could be a welcome sight.
"Sasuke."
"Akemi." He didn't return her relieved smile.
She tore her eyes away, instead taking in the dull walls, the sparse furniture…and then her eyes were back to Sasuke. There really wasn't much else to look at in the room.
He was watching her with a mixture of animosity and suspicion. Considering what she'd done to him last time, she couldn't blame him. Or was that concern she saw in his expression?
"How's your arm?"
Aha! So he does care. "I could use some painkillers," she replied bitterly. "But I'm sure it's better than it was."
He nodded once, pulling a small bottle from a hidden pocket. Akemi swallowed down the two pills he handed her, trusting they weren't sleeping pills…or poison. "It was dislocated. We did what we could with limited medical ninjutsu."
'We'...? A grim expression settled on her face. "So that redhead is with you? And who was the one who knocked me out?" Her eyes narrowed at the memory.
"Karin's the one you fought. The other was Suigetsu." Sasuke's tone remained indifferent, and he didn't offer any further information. "I told you it wasn't me who'd stop you."
This time Akemi glared openly at him. "But you let them do this to me? And now what am I, your hostage?" her voice rose impatiently.
"I didn't send them after you. Karin sensed you following us. She only told me she needed to deal with someone. I didn't argue – we couldn't expose our location."
"A typical excuse. I guess it didn't occur to you that the 'someone' was me?" Akemi folded her arms, ignoring the dull throb in her shoulder.
"I warned you. And why do you still care what happens to me?" Sasuke growled.
"I don't care. I only wanted to tell you that Tsunade sent out another search party. They'll drag you back to Konoha if they have to." Her voice dropped to just above a whisper. "And I want you as far away as possible."
Sasuke kept his expression irritatingly neutral. He already knew people were after him. He'd expected it. He also knew Akemi was lying about not caring. She was forever contradicting herself. She wanted him to stay in Konoha, but she'd let him leave. Now her voice was telling him to run, while her eyes pleaded with him not to.
He couldn't stand those eyes. He turned to leave. "We're staying here for a few days. Don't worry, it's not the type of place that's easy to find."
Sasuke got halfway to the door before a hand slapped onto his arm, nails digging in. "I am not staying here. I will not be held captive in one of Orochimaru's damned hideouts!"
His expression darkened. Or maybe it was a trick of the candlelight flickering over his face. "You don't have a choice."
"Why? I'm not an invalid! And you sure as hell have no right to treat me like a prisoner! Or are you worried I'll go free and immediately reveal your hiding place?" she spat.
He grabbed her wrist, prying her claws off. "I'm not letting you leave, Akemi." With that, he left her alone in the dreary room with a single candle. She heard a click as he locked her door from the outside.
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"Feisty one, isn't she? Sure you can handle her?" Suigestsu was leaning casually against the wall when Sasuke came out. All he got for an answer was a deadly glower. Suigetsu smirked at Sasuke's back as he stalked away.
Further down the hall Sasuke heard muttering, cursing, then something breaking. Karin. He stopped at the open door to her room… "Still no luck with the hair?"…And would've gotten his head taken off by a hairbrush had his reflexes been slower.
Karin's eyes grew wide when she saw who she'd chucked the hairstyling missile at. "Sasuke! I didn't mean to throw that at you. I thought you were…" she trailed off, realizing she wouldn't get on his good side if she admitted to fighting with Suigetsu again.
"Hn. I know." Sasuke held the brush out to her. "You never miss, do you Karin."
Her hips swayed suggestively as she sidled over to him. She gave him a flirtatious glance, fingers brushing his as she accepted it. "Not unless I mean to."
That look always made him want to cringe. He wasn't amused. And he was far from seduced. "So you were just toying with Akemi."
Karin's playful look vanished. "We went over this," she replied testily. "At least I followed your "no killing" policy. How was I supposed to know she was your ex-girlfriend?"
"She's not my ex-girlfriend," Sasuke said through gritted teeth.
"Hmph. Well, anyway, since you're so intent on keeping her safe, I'll be sure to stay well away from her." The redhead turned back to the mirror and ran her fingers through her choppy hair. Catching Sasuke's hard glare in the reflection, she added offhandedly, "You might want to watch Suigetsu, though."
He was gone before she could aggravate him further. He didn't see Karin's fists clench hard enough to snap the brush in two…
Sasuke refused to rethink his decision to keep Akemi with them. But, damn her, she had not only turned his life upside-down; now she was affecting his entire team. With the exception of Juugo. The mentally unstable shinobi seemed more concerned about being confined in one of Orochimaru's secret bases than "taking care of" the new kunoichi. Which was best, Sasuke thought as he sought his own solitude.
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Meanwhile, Akemi sat alone with her thoughts. This, she discovered, was a dangerous thing, especially when they wouldn't settle. It was almost as dangerous as talking to herself. She was just about to send herself into a meditative trance when she felt the darkness move. Near the door, just beyond the glowing circle of candlelight, something stirred. And rising from the floor, formed into a man. She gasped, instinctively clutching a kunai.
"Ah c'mon, there's no need for that." The figure stepped into the light. Silver hair, pale skin, and rows of pointed teeth were ghastly illuminated.
Akemi didn't doubt that this was Suigetsu. Since she already had a grudge against him, she didn't believe she'd get along with him, either. Obviously he had other ideas.
"Still mad at me, huh?" he said, reading her mind. "Can't we just forget about that? Sasuke fixed you up, and now I'm here to…make amends." His grin never wavered as his eyes swept over her body.
Instantly Akemi regretted her belly-baring, short-skirted choice of uniform. "I'm not interested in your apologies." Her voice held as much steel in it as her eyes.
"I never said I'd apologize." He closed the distance between them.
Pride made her refuse to back up. "Then you can just slink out the way you came in."
She attempted to shove past him, which only resulted in her being shoved against the wall. She sucked in a breath when her shoulder hit the rock painfully. A breath that was almost instantly stolen as Suigetsu's mouth covered hers. His tongue plunged in while his hands assaulted her, traveling down her body, playing over bared skin.
Everything in her struggled against his leanly muscled body holding her firmly against the wall. Her good arm twisted out of his grasp, her hand still gripping the kunai, moving just enough to slice across his abdomen.
Suigetsu jerked back, more out of surprise than pain. A short laugh escaped him. "Well all you had to do was say 'no'."
Water, not blood, dripped from the cut and seeped through his shirt. Akemi watched in horror as the wound already began to "heal" itself. "What are you?"
"I've been called a lot of things. Bastard, monster, prodigy…take your pick." Those unnervingly sharp teeth flashed again when he smiled. "Hey, when you get sick of being Sasuke's plaything, come find me." He appeared to melt into the floor, slinking out just as she'd told him to.
Akemi stared in silence. She didn't feel like she could collect herself again. After being beaten, locked in the dark, left alone, not allowed to leave…and, on top of that, being thoroughly creeped out and harassed by a strange man…well, something had to give.
There was a ten-second delay, and then…
Akemi's scream echoed throughout the small chamber and filtered into the hall. It reverberated off the stone walls, finally reaching Sasuke's ears as he sat in the training room, sharpening weapons. The sound took a moment to register; Karin never screamed, and there was a very small chance of any damsels in distress being nearby. Except…
Akemi? Kuso! Suigetsu's smirk, Karin's barely-concealed jealousy, Juugo in demon form…All these images flashed through his mind. Sasuke wasted no time navigating the maze of tunnels to get to her room, far removed from the others. That might've been his first mistake, he realized. He should've kept her closer.
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Akemi was crouched on the ground, her head in her hands, when the door burst open. Her head snapped up, recognition and then fury flashing in her eyes. A wicked left hook caught Sasuke in the jaw before he'd even registered her move.
"Uchiha Sasuke, I HATE YOU!" her scream bordered on hysteria. The entire scene caught him so off-guard that he could only stand there as she stormed out of the room.
Stale, heavy air filled her lungs. Candlelight painted eerie shadows on the walls. The sound of her running feet bounced back at her. Akemi stumbled more than once over the uneven ground. But she kept going, never hesitating until she came to where her path split.
It only took Akemi a few minutes to locate the exit with another jutsu. Once again she used her mind's eye, this time to find her way through the nondescript halls. Sasuke's house was nothing compared to this place. Each tunnel was meant to lead you further in, not out. And you never knew what you'd find if you happened to open one of the heavy wood doors.
Before long Akemi heard the awful sound of footsteps behind her…and the way out was right ahead of her. Thank Kami!
She burst outside into the soft haze of twilight, abruptly slamming into something in front of her…
"Sasuke?" she looked up, meeting his cold black eyes. Jeez, he's fast. How'd he–? She winced when he gripped her forearm, returning her attention to him.
"Where are you going?"
"Away from here. I told you, you can't keep me here! And after what your shark-toothed friend almost did to me, I think I have a good reason to leave!"
His hold on her became vice-like. "What?"
"Suigetsu had his grabby hands all over me!" Akemi shouted. She didn't want to be blunter than that.
A scowl tugged at his mouth. She felt his rage building and could only assume that he and Suigetsu's "friendship" had been on rocky ground from the start. "I'll take care of it," he said stiffly, dragging her with him as he walked back towards the hidden entrance.
"What? No, I'm not going back in there!" she protested and dug her heels in.
Her childish behavior only irritated him. "Where will you go instead? Out there?" Sasuke replied impatiently, turning Akemi around so she could get a good look at her surroundings.
That's when she realized she was standing in a vast field. Fog rolled over the ground. A forest rose against the horizon. Nothing moved, as if even the wind had deserted the place.
Akemi had been unconscious when she'd arrived there, and so had no hope of finding her way out. Unless she wanted to use another locating jutsu, which would require most of her chakra. Sasuke hung back as Akemi took a few more steps into the field. She turned slowly in a circle, confirming that there was nothing more to be seen. She built up a determined countenance to hide how defeated she still felt. Fighting was futile; trying to escape was useless, at least until she recovered a bit more.
"Okay. I get it now. You can't let me get lost, but you can't take me back yourself, either." Akemi sighed. "Funny, before you couldn't wait to get rid of me. What changed?"
Sasuke avoided her gaze. "Nothing. You think I want you here? I had no choice in the matter."
"Of course you did. You could've left me out here, hurt, alone. But you didn't." A hint of a smile graced her lips.
Sasuke recognized the look she was giving him, the one that made him feel like she could see inside him, right down to the things he kept hidden the deepest. He might not be able to hide much from her, but she couldn't lie to him, either. "And you could've stayed in Konoha, instead of being held here, since you said you don't care what happens to me anymore," he countered.
He'd caught her. She couldn't argue with that, not when it was the truth. Not when he'd seen through her. So much for "not caring."
Attempting to avoid another argument, Akemi said, "Well, I can deal with this, as long as you don't lock me in the room anymore."
"Fine. We're done here, then?"
"Yeah." Stopping at the entrance, Akemi took one last look at the sky, wondering when she'd get to see it again. Because unlike Sasuke, she couldn't accept a life lived in darkness.
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A/N: I forgot to say this last chapter, so much thanks goes to my beta for (temporarily) breaking my writers' block! Yeah, this chapter, hmm…I hope Suigetsu and Karin are ok. (Sorry for any OOC-ness!) It's a challenge, trying to write for them. Thanks for the reviews, by the way! I'm off to write my next chappie!