Chapter 20: Fatal Gambit
Little Falcon: Yes, you're not dreaming! I have updated. I have been in the longest writer's block and I am desperately clawing my way out! Thankfully this is the first story I've decided to update so make my efforts count please.
Standard Disclaimer: I only own the idea that's all. If I did own this series I'll be the happiest person on earth!
Her vision swayed as her veins felt the burning trails of the poison circulating within her body. Nevertheless, the pain did not dull the spine-chilling sensation given by those murderous glares directed solely at her. A tight smile lifted her lips as she gazed at the new arrivals. At last, all the players are in the field. "Your move," she said under her breath as her eyes rested on the masked general comfortably sitting on the bloody corpse of the person who faithfully stood as his "counterpart".
In a flash it happened all at once, her enemies lunged towards her while the red sand's champions intercepted them almost immediately. Her emerald eyes saw every detail clearly despite her body's failing condition. Scanning the awakened battlefield, she mentally counted the one who called themselves "Akatsuki"… one was missing. Suddenly, her heart made a great throb that surprised her senses and then soon after, it started beating out of rhythm, confusing her system.
"Get those unconscious soldiers away from the battle. Let us handle the rest," the lazy tactician commanded as he immediately understood that having ordinary shinobis fight against those cloaked bastards is a futile attempt; unnecessary blood will be spilled. Shikamaru clucked his tongue like voicing a complaint before he, too, ran into danger.
When the sand master was only a few feet away, he watched her create some hand seals and disappear in a puff of smoke. "This is bad, Gaara. We need to get to her NOW," his brother frantically brought up as he approached him. "... The poison in her blood is different. She can't heal herself even if she tried," Kankuro berated himself for being such a fool for believing that Sakura is a traitor. "That elixir was used to especially end the life of those from the Tainted Kunai…"
"NANI?" The young Uchiha gritted his teeth while his advanced sharingan tried to locate even traces of the kunoichi's presence.
Her trembling hand injected a serum directed to the large veins in her neck. The empty vial landed on the forest floor as her vision began to stabilize bit after bit.
"As expected from the last heir of that legendary bloodline," a voice spoke from almost all directions, disturbing the silence of the forest. "I must admit I didn't foreshadow an event in which the Akatsuki's existence will be discovered by an individual who spent only a couple of days within the government walls. But, of course, I never realized that there is still a survivor of that wretched bloodline," it echoed throughout the canopy
"You seem to know a lot about my family," Sakura replied casually while struggling to decipher the source. Her body beginning to regain its bearings.
"The greatest tacticians the world has ever known. Their skills are both revered and feared. They can both start and end war in an instant, or so they say," the sinister chuckle that came after made the hair on the back of her neck stand.
Slowly Sakura turned to her right and looked straight ahead. "Do you know WHY the Tainted Kunai was so feared?" A shadow emerged from nothing but she was still as collected as ever even as beads of sweat were forming on her forehead. "It's because when WE move… each move has a purpose,"
"Even when I was merely four, I understood that the clan began to form atrocious ideals that would surely garner the contempt of other nations. I wasn't surprised when one day we were wiped out. The fact that they haven't predicted that outcome was evidence enough that they were blinded by their empty confidence just like you were. Needless to say, your little orchestration in the meeting hall in which you revealed to me about the red sand and the Uchiha's involvement with my family's massacre did nothing to impinge my principles. On contrary, you even helped me make the first step towards your government's demise,"
The spiral mask did nothing to hide the fury in his words as he lashed out. "And you want me to think that you planned this moment as well? You, alone and dying, against me- the very ancestor of the Uchiha and the core of the Akatsuki? In what world could you have imagined killing me?"
"Wow, Uchiha Madara, what an honor," the kunoichi didn't even disguised her sarcasm. "First of all," she counted with her fingers mockingly "I am not dying. And secondly, whoever said that I'll be the one facing you?" As if on cue, two figures jumped in between them… both facing him. One bearing the same crimson eyes and the other surrounded by tendrils of formidable sand.
He has heard enough to both astound and frustrate him at the same time. Sakura had everything planned? And an Uchiha is behind this coup? What the hell is going on?
His chest swelled with pride as he heard only a little of her revelations. Her blatant sarcasms made his smirk grow; it was after all her spunk that made her so irresistible. A tight knot in his gut formed as he saw how pale she was becoming and how ragged her breathing is. It is true that she wasn't dying but something is definitely wrong with her.
His wicked laughter disturbed the perched fowls so much that they took flight. "Two knights defending an insignificant pawn… pathetic," as soon as he was done with delivering his colorful insult, he activated his sharingan and tried to force a colossal genjutsu on the three of them but Sasuke countered it while the sand master commanded his sand to do an offensive maneuver, all at the same time.
From the way the duo move, it was as if they had been fighting side by side for years. Madara barely managed to defend himself as he was pushed to a corner. A gigantic wave of sand buried him in under a flash and with a mere hand gesture of its master- it crushed everything and everyone lying underneath it.
His brows furrowed as he didn't feel like he had concluded the battle. Opening his fist, the sand loosened and trickled away with the wind, revealing a ruined terrain but no body. "Kawarimi? (A replacement?)" His jade eyes scanned the area cautiously as the sand in his gourd swirled in impatience.
We were fighting a mere shadow? That's to be expected, he IS Uchiha Madara after all. With his katana unsheathed, his crimson eyes took into detail anything that is out of the ordinary… even a speck.
As the battle ensued, she tasted blood in her mouth. As expected of Kankuro… Sakura extolled the puppet master, who almost sliced her head off at one point, with a masochistic smile. The kunoichi snapped out of her reverie as soon as the battlefield grew still. The fight wasn't surely over… that much she can say.
From mid-air, a shape materialized right behind her together with a kunai that meant to hack her head off. "Really, you underestimate me too much," she said nonchalantly even when the blade was halfway down her throat. His hand sliced through it so easily, he knew it wasn't real.
"One more thing… whoever said I have to kill you?" Her emerald eyes glinted with the ferocity of a tigress as something beneath his feet illuminated, forming a complex circle around him.
"When did you…" his attempt to escape has been thwarted by a flash of lightning from a distance and the sand from everywhere that held him in place.
A dark smile was on her lips as her eyes lit up, reflecting the circle binding him to the mortal realm. "I told you, didn't I?" The kunoichi cut her palm and let the blood drip to the forest floor. "Every move has a purpose…"
Don't tell me… she even planned THIS moment? His pupils dilated upon feeling his chakra slowly draining from his body. This is… no! It can't be? The seal to counter the forbidden technique… I have perfected it. I know I have!
Interlacing her fingers, she dispelled her genjutsu on him. "KAI! (Release!)" only to form the real five pointed seal that was lying dormant around him as he was immersed in her illusions.
Waver. All she needed him to do was doubt himself even for the briefest moment, that's when she'll strike. Checkmate.
Uchiha Madara didn't even have the luxury of screaming as the five-pointed star devoured his being. Forever imprisoning him within its walls.
A blinding flash from where they came from immediately caught their attention and without hesitation, the two raced back only to find their enemy sealed and the kunoichi gone. Cheers from the battlefield at a distance reached all the way to where they were. Apparently, the other members were merely puppets as well and when the puppet master's strings were severed, the mannequins fell to pieces lifelessly.
Her heavy feet crunched the vegetation slowly invading burned remains of the once prestigious landmark of their clan. No where to go and no where to return to… looks like this is my only place. Moonlights seeped through the huge gaps in the walls and crawled over her unmoving body. Her tears shimmered like diamonds as it met the silver light from the broken dome.
Everything was just as I had predicted… it was flawless… perfect. With the last ounce of her strength she fought the tempting need to close her eyes but it did not last long. When darkness ate everything and silence loomed, Sakura understood what was happening. But like a splash of cold water, her senses was somehow refreshed as she caught his unmistakable scent- his cool water smell that she never dared forget. Inwardly, she smiled. That's right… you're the only thing that messes up my plans… my unpredictable piece…
"I thought you've learned your lesson well…" his deep, velvet voice echoed in her head like a song. "You can't run away from me…" she felt his lips brushing against her earlobe seductively as he whispered.
Was it his warmth or was it because of the antidote that she started to feel like she's bound to live no matter what. Whatever the case maybe… her heart no longer gives a painful beat and her lungs no longer inflate as if they would explode. For the first time in her life… she felt like she was forgiven… she felt she was truly saved.
The moment he witnessed her breathing freely again was the time he remembered his heart remembered how to beat again. It was merely a fluke. A hunch… a complete guess as to where she might decide to go to. The sand master thanked whatever higher power that led him here. The sight of her unmoving body made his blood freeze instantly. It was his blind determination that made his limbs move and discover that she was barely alive. His hands shook as he injected the serum to counteract the Kankuro's poison. They were cold… her hands… her legs… even her face. His brows furrowed as he rubbed his hands together with hers then whispered something to her ear.
Was it his imagination or did her lips began to form a smile? He didn't dare blink as he saw color return to her face and feel her hands weakly squeezing his. That was the moment, Gaara finally felt the bliss of victory.
Little Falcon: OMG! Okay two more chapters, one last lemon and then the epilogue. Don't hold back, read and review please…