A/N: Welcome, welcome! This new arc brought to you by: ObsidianSickle's creative naming skills! Introducing the Chuunin Exam Arc! Made from blood, sweat, and time. Warning: contains fluff and angst. Side effects include euphoria, depression, crying, laughing, frustration, sympathy, and in extreme cases, hysteria.
Lol, I just felt like I had to do an advertising thing. XD Yeah, the side effects are kinda exaggerated, though I know my cliff-hangers have frustrated some, while other scenes have made readers cry. :p So let us begin this new arc prepared and well warned, shall we?
Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Last Peaceful Slumber
Nariko was sitting down next to Flower-chan in the mess hall, kicking her legs forwards and back as she sat at the table, eating her food quietly. She was feeling restless at the moment and found it hard to sit still, even though she had been told many times that she should keep still. It was impossible though, Nariko thought, she had hadn't been able to see the outside world in days, and it was making her nervous. She was reminded too much of the hole that she had spent most of her life inside. But Flower-chan had been insistent. One morning she had shut the window and would not let Nariko open it for any reason, saying that now it was too cold to have the window open.
"When is Itachi-sama coming back?" she asked, stuffing some white stuff, called rice, into her mouth.
"Don't talk with your mouth full," Flower-chan reprimanded her, "And I told you three times already today, Kit. You have such a single-track mind."
Nariko swallowed her mouthful, unsure of what a single-tracked mind was, and stirred her food around in its bowl, "I know, I know. But eight days seems so long!"
"Don't play with your food," Flower-chan scolded again, frowning, "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to try and teach you table manners."
"Why?" Nariko turned her eyes towards the azure-haired woman, curiously. There were a number of times over the past few weeks that she was talking like she wouldn't be around later to learn, and wonder if it was a waste of time to teach. Nariko was beginning to wonder if she really wouldn't be around.
"Because they're so bad that I'm beginning to wonder if you're beyond hope," Flower-chan responded, "But eight days is not that long in comparison to how long you've waited. Be patient."
Nariko nodded mutely and took another clump of rice, which she deposited into her mouth. Chewing slowly she paid little attention to the door of the commissary opening, until she realized that Flower-chan had gone very still. Looking over to see who it was, Nariko managed to stifle her squeak and not fall off her chair—but it had been a very near thing.
It was the leader of Akatsuki, and he stood in the doorway with a dominating air that caused Nariko to shrink away and hide behind Flower-chan as much as she could. He turned his strange-eyed gaze to the blue-haired woman, who had not yet turned to face him.
"Konan," he said, and Nariko puzzled for a moment before realizing that he was talking to Flower-chan.
"What's wrong?" Flower-chan asked, turning around, her voice becoming flat.
Nariko had only seen Flower-chan with the leader a couple times, but every time he was near her, she promptly became like Itachi—blank voice and face. Afterwards, she would stay like that and it would take a little while before she would become the happy and kind Flower-chan that Nariko knew. Whatever the Leader had done to make her become like that around her, Nariko didn't know, and was afraid to know.
"There's been an infiltration," replied the leader equally as flat, "A team of Konoha shinobi have come to rescue our sensei."
"How is that possible? He was locked in one of our deepest cells," Flower-chan replied, sounding slightly surprised.
The leader shook his head in response, like he too was unaware of how it had happened. Whatever was happening was beyond Nariko though, and she had no idea what was happening. The word 'infiltration' was not one of the ones she was familiar with, but it must be bad, as there were people in the halls running to fix whatever wrong had happened.
"Konan," the leader said again—Nariko wondered if that was the name of the ever so nameless Flower-chan, "I want you to find them."
Flower-chan gave a curt nod and then, much to Nariko's alarm, she fell apart. Or that would have been the best way for Nariko to describe what happened, because she didn't have any other way to put it. What happened was that Flower-chan had suddenly started to flake, layer upon layer of pieces of paper falling away until there was nothing left but paper. And then, just as she had seen before, the paper started to move and fold itself. This time they formed into little insects, that Nariko had seen in the summer months—wasps they were called, and they had a terrible sting. All the paper wasps then took flight and stormed from the room with an angry buzzing only made louder by the flapping of paper wings.
The leader followed the swarm, and closed the door behind him, leaving a very stunned Nariko behind in the mess hall. She finished her meal alone, which she supposed was fine with her—it wasn't like she hadn't had to do so in the past, but this was the first time that she had to eat in absolute bewilderment. When she was finished, she left her dishes out and left to go find out what was going on, only to find that the entire place was empty of all people. Wandering the hallways alone was eerie, and she began to grow nervous, being on her own. She didn't like being left alone for long periods of time, because she felt like she had abandoned, and then if she was left alone even longer, she began to remember the room that she had lived most of her life in. She did not like to remember that place.
Her footsteps echoed with each step and she grew more and more nervous with each one. She should go outside, she suddenly thought, if they weren't here, then they must be outside. It made perfect sense to her, and she quickly made her way through the tunnels of the mountain. She hadn't been outside since she arrived here, but she was quick to find the exit. There was no one by the doors either, and they had been left slightly ajar. Hurrying forwards, she ran over to the doors and pushed them open, feeling a very cold blast of air as she did so, causing her to flinch away, but not for long. She wrapped her Akatsuki cloak around her more firmly, and stepped outside. Her jaw dropped.
Thick white cold stuff covered the ground, the trees, and the rocks; the lake in the distance was hard and flat. She could hardly believe her eyes, and as if under an enchantment, she took a wandering step outside. The white stuff crunched under her feet and she jumped back almost instantly. It was so cold that it stung her bare foot. She wished she had brought her shoes, but she didn't like wearing them indoors. She was tempted to run and get them, but she was only going to be out for a few minutes. She would find everyone first and then she'd go back.
There were lots of rough bits in the white powder, in contrast to the smooth parts everywhere else. The others must have run through the white stuff, while dealing with the 'infiltration'. She took another step into the cold; if she moved fast enough, she could barely feel how cold it was. Taking a few more leaping steps forward, she stopped and stood in the white stuff, which was midway up her lower legs. She started to shake, though she wasn't scared—but she was so very cold! Not only was she shaking, but also white stuff came out of her mouth when she breathed! It alarmed her at first, but soon Nariko was having fun exhaling at different speeds, watching the silvery mist spew out.
But she must look for the others too, she reminded herself. Prancing forwards in the white stuff, she followed the messy marks. They led off towards the forest and as she followed them across the plain, they broke apart and when in different directions. Stopping still, she cocked her head to the side; which path should she follow? Looking around her, she spotted the lake in the distance. People would go there, most likely, she decided, where else would they want to go?
She started down the plain towards the lake, her feet kicking the white stuff up in the air, and it fell back down in sparkles. She didn't notice that her feet couldn't feel the cold anymore, or anything else for that matter, nor did she notice that her toes were starting to turn blue. She was having so much fun that she paid little attention to how she was feeling. She had never seen anything like this before!
It was then that she lost her footing and was sent tumbling down to the ground, where she began to roll a few feet. When she came to a stop, she was covered in the white stuff, and looking up at the sky. Nariko started to laugh, it had been fun rolling down in the cold stuff like this, she hadn't had so much fun in a long time. She blinked up at the sky, a smile on her face, and then blinked again in confusion. There were white dots floating down—hundreds and hundreds of them. On landed on her eyebrow and she blinked again in astonishment as turned to water. It was the white stuff—it was falling from the sky like rain. Except cold—and it was falling slowly down, instead of fast. White rain…it was so pretty. She would tell Itachi about the white rain when he got back.
She lay in the white stuff for a long time, watching more of it falling from the sky. It held her eyes captivated, and she could not look away. There was so much of it, and it never seemed to stop coming. She did not notice that she could no longer feel her fingers, or that the sky was getting darker as the sun set. She didn't feel all that cold, actually, the longer she lay there, the warmer she began to feel. There was a warmth in her stomach that was growing, keeping her from feeling cold. And she was getting sleepy too. Maybe she should take a nap for a bit, and let the white stuff cover her.
The white dots where getting thicker… and bigger too. Really big… That one there was huge, she noted with dim awe. It looked the size of a butterfly… It moved like one too, she thought vaguely. The huge dot got bigger as it circled down. It was a butterfly, Nariko smiled at the thought, it was one of Flower-chan's butterflies… And then it flew away. Nariko made a slightly pouting face, but then closed her eyes. She was so very tired.
"Kit!"
Someone was calling her… Kit… Flower-chan called her that… She was being called by Flower-chan…
There was a crunching of snow and voices as people moved towards Nariko. She just wanted them to go away, she was so tired, and she felt hot. She wanted the people to stop shouting and just let her sleep…
Konan knelt down beside Nariko in the snow, worry marring her face as she examined the girl. Deidara, Hidan and Kakuzu stood off to the side, having convened towards the area as she had indicated to their respective search parties that the girl had been found. Now they stood in waiting, some of them almost anxious to hear the woman's assessment of the girl's state. They could all feel the Rokubi's chakra swirling actively in the girl.
"She's hypothermic," Konan told them, and she patted Nariko's face, "Kit…Kit… Stay awake, Kit. We need to get you inside."
"The white rain…is so pretty," she mumbled sleepily in reply, "It's so very…nice…"
"Yes, Kit, it is," Konan replied hurriedly, "Don't fall asleep now. I know you're tired, but try to stay awake."
"I'm…too…hot…" she muttered.
"She's delirious. We need to get her inside, now," Konan snapped at the three members standing nearby, "Rembrandt, get your ass over here right now. Carry her on your back."
Deidara bounded over like he had been burned; everyone knew better than to cross their Flower-chan during a crisis or otherwise. Picking up the frail girl, Konan draped her over Deidara's back and after making sure he wouldn't drop her, she snapped at him.
"Move!"
He moved, trotting as quickly through the snow as he could possibly move, with Konan behind him, Kakuzu and Hidan bringing up the rear.
"Move faster, Dei!"
"I'm going as fast as I can, un!" Deidara complained, kicking great drifts of snow aside as he charged back up to the entrance.
"Can't you feel the chakra spiking out of control?" Konan demanded, her temper flashing, "If we don't get her treated soon, we'll lose the Bijuu with her. It'll most likely try and keep her alive in order to save itself, but if she grows too weak, then it might take advantage of that and break loose! And then I know that I'm not going to be the one who explains to Pein why our hideout is destroy and why we're short a Bijuu, because you can't run fast enough!"
Deidara muttered something that sounded like: 'we'll all be dead anyway, so it doesn't matter', but sped up regardless. The four of them charged through the doors, the guards letting them through without question as they flashed their rings. Nariko must have passed out, because she no longer was semi-responsive. As they charged through the hallways, Konan dismissed Kakuzu (Moneybags) and Hidan (Dirt Mouth), telling them that she no longer need them. They had found Nariko, and if she regained consciousness with those two around, she would be frightened out of her skin. And there was no telling what would happen then.
Deidara kicked the door open to the wing that was their infirmary and dumped Nariko down in an empty bed. Other lesser subordinates of Akatsuki barely glanced over as the two entered, they were treating their own wounded—the infiltration team had done a good number on Akatsuki, but not without suffering losses of their own.
"I wonder why she went outside, yeah," Deidara puzzled, watching as Konan checked Nariko's forehead once more.
"I don't know. I'll find that out later," the azure-haired woman replied, not liking the symptoms.
"What do you want me to do?" Deidara asked, sounding like he was willing to accept the fact that he may be forced into assisting with whatever she would do.
"Leave!" Konan hissed back, shooting him a glare, "You're wasting space! Get out of here."
Deidara scuttled out of the room before she could further reprimand him, just as another medic approached Konan. Inwardly sighing, she wondered what the man wanted, feeling like she was being constantly interrupted.
"O Messenger of God, what of the new hostage?"
Konan turned and looked over at a hospital bed that the man indicated to. In it lay an older man—late forties—who had white-blonde hair, matted with blood. There was a nasty looking gash in his shoulder, and a few cuts and bruises on his arms. She narrowed her eyes—she had seen him while scouting out the infiltration team. She remembered his piercing royal blue eyes.
"Stabilize him and then throw him in a holding cell," she said seriously, slipping into the roll that she had taken upon deciding to follow Pein's dreams, "Pein-sama will determine what to do with him later."
"Hai! Pein-sama's word is law," the medic replied seriously, before scuffling away.
Konan sighed inwardly and pushed away the inner twang of unease that she felt when she heard him spoken of with such high respect. She couldn't be distracted now; she had to focus on Nariko. Damn Itachi, she thought with empty resentment, he just had to leave her with his Jinchuuriki. This girl was such a handful. Letting out another sigh, she began to tend to the hypothermic girl, praying to whatever gods there were, that she could get Nariko's symptoms under control before the six-tailed weasel decided otherwise.
It was late at night when Team Seven returned home—close to midnight. They had traveled faster the past couple of days because Sakura felt that they had taken long enough already in their travels and were running low on supplies. They had had enough food to last them the last bit of the way if they rationed it and picked up the pace. If they bought any more supplies, they would have had too much then, and it would have been a waste of money.
As it was, they had barely stumbled through the front gates when the guards at the door leapt up upon spotting them. Confused and bewildered by their sudden movements, Sasuke automatically put a hand to his kunai pouch, but the two men did not attack. Instead they rushed straight over to where an exhausted Sakura stood, looking absolutely relieved at seeing her.
"Sakura-san! It's a blessing that you've come back this evening. They need you at the hospital right away!" the one said hurriedly.
Sasuke had barely any time to register what the man had said before Sakura ran off down the road in the direction of the hospital. Sakura had been so exhausted a moment before, that he was having a little trouble realizing that he was watching her receding back. Naruto glanced at him and Sasuke shrugged, he was uncertain if he was meant to follow, but he decided to anyways, not really caring what Naruto did; Naruto chose to follow as well, and the two of them caught up to Sakura and the one gate guard. He had followed her to give her information on what was happening on the hospital, and Sasuke only caught the end of the package.
"…been four days since it happened. They just came in a few hours earlier. Tsunade-sama's been on her toes trying to get her duties as Hokage done while keeping an eye on him. All our best medics are on the field and we only have a couple left and a few nurses. Things will go much better now that you are here. We were instructed to send any returning medics to the hospital immediately—what luck it was that you came in."
"Alright, thank you," Sakura replied in a professional sounding tone, "Return to your post and send more help as available."
The guard nodded and left just as they reached the hospital's front doors. Naruto looked like he was going to open his mouth and question Sakura, but she strode briskly through the front doors, leaving no time for inquiries. She crossed the linoleum floor and spoke with the woman behind the counter and received one sentence of information. Sasuke tried to ignore the smell of the hospital as he followed Sakura to the elevators, Naruto asking questions the entire way.
He observed as Sakura swiped a cardkey through the slot on the inside of the door and pushed the fifth number in the elevator door. The fifth floor—wasn't that where the emergency or unusual cases were sent? Sasuke remembered something of the sort, and whatever had happened was very bad.
"You guys didn't have to come," she said to them as the doors rumbled shut, "I probably should have said something earlier, but…"
"Sakura-chan, will you tell me who on earth is injured?" Naruto asked, for what seemed like the twentieth time since they came through the hospital doors, "What's going on?"
"Well, technically, I'm not supposed to tell you," she said with an air of uncertainty, "But I suppose it could concern you. A rescue team came back a few hours earlier today and the person they rescued was badly injured. And they need all available personnel to help keep this person alive because the intelligence they acquired is invaluable."
"Who is it?" Sasuke asked bluntly, even though he knew Sakura would probably outright refuse to tell him, "How does this concern Naruto?"
There was a stoic silence from Sakura. He wasn't all that surprised, actually, he had expected her to refuse or simply not to answer at all. Naruto looked frustrated, but he did not push it further either. The elevator rumbled to a halt as they came to the fifth floor.
"It's Jiraiya-sama," she replied tonelessly just before the elevator doors opened.
Sasuke was more surprised that she actually told them than hearing it was Jiraiya, however Naruto was victim of an entirely different kind of surprise. The fox-faced boy leapt out of the elevator after her with his eyes wide.
"Ero-sennin?!" he exclaimed, concern marring his face severely, but Sakura was already back to ignoring him.
She walked up to a nurse who had come forward with a clipboard, and took it from her. "What's the status of the patient?" she asked, scanning the clipboard, seeming oblivious that he and Naruto were standing idly behind her.
"Sakura-ch—?"
"He's growing weaker, but we've slowed the process down," the nurse replied, "He's in room five hundred fifty six."
"Thank you," Sakura replied, walking on down the hall, the clipboard firmly in front of her face.
"Do you need anything?"
"Take these two to a waiting room and make sure they are comfortable," Sakura replied, not looking up.
"But Sakura-chan—!"
"Naruto, no," Sakura dropped the clipboard to her side and gave him a powerful look, "All you can do is wait. It sucks, but when it's all you can do, do it without question."
"But—"
Sasuke put a hand on his best friend's arm, shaking his head firmly when he received the questioning look. Sakura was in her element here, he could tell she knew what she was doing, and anything she said was law in this place. He and Naruto would not interfere, and he tried to convey that as best he could by turning his head towards her, his expression serious. She gave him a grateful look.
"Go."
She didn't need to be told twice. She whirled on the spot, striding down the hallway with a purpose to her step, leaving he, Naruto and the nurse behind. Naruto watched her go and then finally looked away when she had rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. The nurse's expression was sympathetic, but she didn't say anything to the two of them in regards to what had just transpired.
"Please follow me," she told them politely, turning and heading the opposite way.
Sasuke let go of Naruto's arm and followed as well, with his best friend trudging solemnly beside him. His chakra was glum, and anxious, but Sasuke did nothing about it, Naruto would be fine. He knew his best friend better than that, even if Naruto was so down that he didn't even say a word to the nurse when she stopped them in front of a room across from the elevators. Sasuke muttered an awkward thank you while Naruto pushed past him and opened the door.
There were already two people inside, Sasuke knew, and he didn't recognize their signatures, but intended on finding out who they were when he entered the room. He followed Naruto and observed the room. It wasn't fancily furnished; two couches sat opposite one another over a low coffee table, and a few pictures decorated the walls. What the pictures depicted was invisible to Sasuke, as he just sensed the blank surface of the glass. Along the left wall, there was a countertop with a sink, some cupboards above. A coffeemaker sat next to the sink on the counter and was brewing some coffee already when they entered.
"Naruto, Sasuke! I wasn't expecting you two to be here this late at night," one of the room's occupants said with mild surprise as they entered. It was Hatake Kakashi, "I guess you heard the news then…"
Naruto mumbled a response and gave a glum nod; he slumped over to one of the couches and sat on the far end not looking at anyone present. Sasuke followed suit except he sat at the other end of the couch from Naruto, across from Kakashi. Meanwhile, the other person in the room, who had been standing by the coffeemaker acknowledged him too. It was Mitarashi Anko.
"Hey, Uchiha, Uzumaki," she said with a tired looking smile, "Been a while."
"It's good to see you up and about, Sasuke," Kakashi commented in a cheerful voice, though his chakra signature was coming across as slightly anxious, "You're in much better condition than when I last saw you."
"I'll say," Anko said coming around with a cup of coffee and sitting next to Kakashi, "You seem to be getting around very well even though you've lost your eyesight. Your rehabilitator did an excellent job, though I can't imagine it's been easy. How've you been, hun?"
"Fine," Sasuke replied somewhat truthfully; he was still a upset with what Sakura had done a few days previously, but he was alive and in relatively good health, not only that, but further progress had been made in his vision, and now when he had his eyes open, some very faint shapes could be made out, though there were no signs of colour. Fine seemed to be the best description of what he was feeling.
"I hear that Sakura moved in with you, against everyone's thoughts on the suggestion," Kakashi said conversationally, "How is that working out for you two?"
"Things are going well; it benefits us both, I believe," Sasuke replied carefully. He knew he was still going home with Sakura that evening, but he wasn't exactly looking forwards to living with her for the next few days. Up until that point, things had been going well, and he didn't want them to go differently, even though he found it hard to ignore what she had done at the moment.
"Really?" Kakashi sounded surprised, though whether it was genuine surprise or not, Sasuke could not tell, "I would have thought she would have been out of there in a week. What with you both being so stubborn and all."
Kakashi chortled appreciatively at his own joke, and though Sasuke knew he had meant well with the comment, he was a little affronted with the remark. Sakura had been very patient with him, he knew, and more than once he had acted out of line, but did people really think that they wouldn't have been able to stand each other? Well, he thought he wouldn't be able to stand her…but she loved him, and he knew that she would stay until the very end.
"It's only a temporary arrangement, yes," Sasuke remarked lightly, managing to keep the insulted tone from his voice, so that Kakashi didn't notice, "But she'll leave when we both see fit that it's time for her to go."
"Really now?" Kakashi sounded surprised again, "An interesting arrangement."
"I won't keep her against her will, but she is not to feel unwelcome," Sasuke replied evenly.
There was a pause from Kakashi, "You've grown up—a lot—Sasuke. It makes me realize how little I know you know; it makes me wish I could have been on your mission with you. Unfortunately, I had other places to be."
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said from the far end of the couch, speaking for the first time since they had come into the room to wait, "What happened on your mission? Why is Ero-sennin dying?"
Kakashi let out a hefty sight, "Here, Anko, I've done most of the talking so far. Why don't you tell them? Or at least start?"
Anko took a long draught from her coffee and then set the mug down on the table with a 'thunk'. After reclining back on the couch, she crossed her legs and sighed heavily.
"For a few months now, Jiraiya-sama has been monitoring the movements of Akatsuki," Anko started, and immediately Sasuke began paying close attention.
Even though he knew that Itachi was not at the hideout, whatever information he could get on Akatsuki would be helpful for him to find his brother in the future. He was suddenly very interested in what Anko had to tell them, whereas before he didn't really care all that much; he was only there because he would walk Sakura home and because Naruto was so obviously crushed by what had happened. He didn't let his sudden interest show, of course; he was well practiced in concealing his emotions, and for a good reason. He knew that Kakashi would most definitely notice any change in his interest and probably tell the Hokage. He couldn't have that, because he knew that the Godaime would not let him go out and seek revenge, not for a very long time at least; precious time—windows of opportunity for any tragedy.
"He had been out of the village for some time and we had been receiving periodic reports on the group's movement and keeping us appraised of anything that would suggest a threat to us. So far they have done nothing to provoke us, and we are not yet in a position where we could turn attention entirely to them. For the most part we've left them be, but we're still keeping an eye on them. However, couple a weeks ago, the reports we were receiving, stopped," Anko continued, putting nudging her coffee mug away from the table's edge with her foot, "Of course we didn't worry about it too much at first. Considering where Jiraiya-sama was posted, it is difficult to send in reports without being noticed, so we assumed that he was lying low for the moment. We would have waited for a much longer period of time…but then Tsunade-sama won the lottery."
Sasuke raised his eyebrows. The Hokage won the lottery? So what? He failed to see what that had to do with anything; was the Hokage going to pay them overtime for starting their search early or something? But judging by the serious looks worn by Kakashi and Anko, and the stony look that Naruto suddenly took, winning the lottery was apparently a very sobering event.
Kakashi noticed his slightly raised eyebrows and explained, "You weren't around long enough after Tsunade became Hokage to know that she has a horrible gambling addiction and the worst luck in all shinobi nations. Before she became Hokage, she was known as the Legendary Sucker because of her reputation for losing. But when she wins at anything, it goes against her usual streak, and she often grows worried. And more often than not, she has a right to be anxious."
Sasuke thought it somewhat ridiculous that winning the lottery was an indication of trouble, but he gave a nod and Anko resumed her tale.
"Almost immediately after she realized she won the lottery, Tsunade-sama summoned Kakashi, Haruno Kisho, and myself to her office and sent us to check up on him, telling us to assume the worst."
Haruno Kisho. Not a hard name for Sasuke to remember. Only too well did he remember Sakura's father's criticizing voice, his disapproving demeanor and his irritating presence. He remembered that the Hokage said that he had been on a mission with Kakashi, and that was why Kakashi was unable to join Team Seven on their own mission, but he did not sense the presence of the Haruno near them in the hospital. Knowing what little he did about Sakura's father, he had probably gone home already and was soundly asleep while the rest were awake waiting to see how the Hermit Sannin would do.
"We arrived in the area within a couple weeks and found evidence that there had been a search conducted in the area where Jiraiya was monitoring, but they must have assumed that he was alone, because the evidence was old, and we didn't run into anyone while we stayed there. Of course the entrance to Akatsuki's hideout must be well hidden in order to prevent any unwanted guests from paying a visit. And after a few days we managed to find it. I can't tell you how long we thought up a way to find Jiraiya-sama, and then get him out, but we finally agreed to make our way inside and try and find him before we ourselves were found," here Anko paused and turned towards her right, where their old sensei was lounging, "Kakashi, you wanna take over now, I want more coffee."
"Oh, you mustn't stop there, Anko. You get many more details than I ever would," Kakashi said lightly, "I should get you to write my mission reports for me."
"No way," Anko retorted with a playful frown, and Sasuke could tell that the two of them were very good friends. Much like he and Sakura had become over the past few months. Just the way that Kakashi and Anko were acting towards one another now reminded him of how Sakura would treat him at times. Before the bickering could continue, Sasuke cleared his throat slightly.
"How did you find Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked, seeming to have perked up slightly now that his mind was somewhat kept off the current situation and focused more on what had happened before.
"Well, Jiraiya-sama is one of the legendary sannin, and many know who he is," Anko said, seeming to resign to the fact that Kakashi would not be taking up the tale in her stead, "So where you do lock up a potentially dangerous person who you don't want to escape and you don't want to be found?"
Naruto thought about it for a minute and then thoughtfully he said: "In the most secure place, out of reach."
"Yep, so we figured that he'd be in the deepest part of the dungeon, which meant we'd have to be stealthy enough not to be found when we were going down there," Anko replied leaning back against the couch again, "Getting down was not that difficult even though Kakashi's book fell out of his pocket when we were clinging to the ceiling with our chakra."
"I managed to catch it though," Kakashi replied in a wounded tone.
"And if you hadn't, it would have hit that passing person on the head," Anko said reproachfully, "But other than that, we ran into few people. And getting Jiraiya-sama out of the cell wasn't that hard, because while there was a seal on it, you don't want to make it too complicated to open otherwise it becomes a pain to feed and interrogate your prisoners. It was as we were making our way back that we ran into problems. I don't know what happened, I don't think any of us managed to find out what it was, but somehow or another, it came to their attention when Jiraiya-sama was loose."
"We had to make it out of there fast, and it was a little difficult considering Jiraiya's state," Kakashi cut in, sounding grave again, "It was obvious he had been tortured, and poisoned somehow or another, and it was slow going. We managed to make it out of the complex alive but we had the whole hideout on our tails."
"Oh, feel like story telling now?" Anko commented, but Kakashi ignored her.
"We all ended up separated and I think it was you Anko, who had Jiraiya for a time while we tried to throw them off," Kakashi turned to her at this.
"Yeah, Pakkun did a lot in the way of helping us though," Anko replied, and then looked over at Sasuke and Naruto again, "It was the most chaotic night you can imagine. It was getting dusky and there was snow on the ground everywhere, and I think that if a blizzard hadn't picked up we would have been caught for sure."
"At one point I thought you had been caught, there was a lot of noise and shouting. And hundreds of paper bees flying about and trying to sting us," Kakashi said with a reflective tone, "I don't think that every member of Akatsuki was there, because we did manage to get away."
"So what'd you do after you got away?" Naruto pressed, "Did you know what was wrong with Ero-sennin?"
"Other than he was poisoned, we knew very little," Anko replied picking up her coffee mug and heading towards the coffee machine, "We laid low for a couple of days, just to make sure that we weren't being followed, but after that we hurried back as quickly as possible, cutting our travel time down to a third of what it took to get up there."
"That's a record, I think," Kakashi replied, pulling out his book and turning to a dog-eared page, "Anyways, that's how it went. And here we are, home a few hours and waiting to see what the turnout will be. I certainly hope that Sakura manages to save him, because not only is his information of great value, but he left his last book with a slight cliffhanger."
Naruto only sighed and went back to sitting tensely on the corner of the couch. The time ticked away slowly and nobody spoke much. Mitarashi Anko offered Kakashi some coffee, a couple times, and was fairly insistent, but Kakashi had none. Sasuke personally thought that she was trying, as many had been for years, to try and find out what was under Kakashi's mask. But after that there was little talk, and Sasuke became immersed in his own thoughts. He certainly hoped that the Sannin would pull through as well, for he was greatly interested in what he could learn, even if it was not for his ears to hear.
Maybe he could tell how he was doing, Sasuke thought suddenly. It wouldn't come as a surprise to him as he knew that while in semi-conscious, unconscious or injured states, there was a difference in the chakra signatures. He couldn't have helped but notice it more in the hospital, as there were strange signatures everywhere. There was a whole range of activity in the signatures, some flickering from barely alive to those that were flaring actively while assisting the body to heal.
As he navigated his awareness through the scattered signatures of the hospital, he finally located Sakura's in the general direction of where they had last been with her. He paid attention to her signature for a while, and he could tell that she was using her own chakra at the moment, as it was being expended upon a faint signature nearby. He could gain no information from this scenario though, other than the fact that the patient was still alive. He soon directed his attention elsewhere, for a watched pot never seems to boil.
About an hour had passed when finally Sakura's signature drew near to them, and a few minutes later, the door opened to reveal a very tired looking Sakura standing in the doorway. Naruto was immediately on his feet.
"How is Ero-sennin?" the fox-faced boy demanded with an air of worry in his voice.
Sakura tried to smile, but other than her lip twitching slightly, her tired expression seemed unchanged, "He's had all the poison removed from his system, but he's an old man, Naruto. It'll take him a few days longer to recover than it took Kankuro-san."
"But he'll live, right?" Naruto asked, seeming too apprehensive to apply what Sakura was saying.
"Yes, he'll live."
"Well done, Sakura," Kakashi praised, his face breaking into what Sasuke assumed was a smile, by the way crow's feet appeared at the corner of his eye, "If anyone could have done it, it would have been you."
"You give me too much credit, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura replied with a more successful attempt at a smile, "Tsunade-sama managed to find time to come and assist me for a time. I couldn't have done it without her help."
"The Hokage was in?" Anko asked, sounding surprised at this news.
"Yes, she was," Sakura confirmed with a tired air in her voice, "She would have come and said hello to everyone if she had time. But she told me to tell you two to have your mission reports in no later than two days from now. And as for you—" she turned to Sasuke at this point "—she wants you to go to ANBU Headquarters for questioning on what you've remembered during our mission."
Sasuke gave a nod to show that he had understood her. He wasn't surprised that he had been asked to do something of the sort, but that did not mean that he was pleased about the notion. He hadn't really liked the rough tone that had been used in his first three questionings months ago, and he wasn't looking forward to another session. He doubted that the fact that he had behaved himself and not run off during the mission would gain him any better treatment or respect.
"Is it alright if we see Jiraiya-sama now?" Anko asked, getting to her feet and putting her empty coffee mug on the table.
"He's in no condition to be giving out information, if you were hoping to get something from him before tomorrow. It'll be quite impossible as he is unconscious at the moment," Sakura replied with a shrug, "You're welcome to see him, but unless he wakes up, I don't think you'll get much out of the visit."
"I don't care," Naruto stated determinedly, "Just seeing him okay will be enough for me. Where is he?"
"Next door, actually… It used to be Sasuke's room when he was here at the hospital."
Naruto was out the door before she finished her sentence, and Anko was close behind.
"We won't try to disturb him, Sakura," Kakashi assured her as he had noticed the expression of concern on her face as the other two had left.
Then Kakashi, too, left the room. Only Sasuke and Sakura remained in the room now. Getting to his feet, Sasuke stood for a moment while Sakura seemed to pause; she had been a little hesitant around him after she had prevented him from attacking his brother. He knew that she wasn't sure if he was still mad at her—which he wasn't, exactly—and had been careful not to get too close to him or pay too much attention to him. The amount of physical contact between them had been cut back tremendously, and Sasuke was perfectly alright with this. He should have never allowed himself to get so close to her—it was too dangerous now. He couldn't undo how much Sakura knew about him, or how much he had come to know her, but he could distance himself a little, and make it appear that he didn't care. She would be a little safer that way.
"You didn't have to stay and wait for me," she said after a moment, "While I was working, I mean."
"I waited because Naruto did," he replied with an indifferent tone. That wasn't entirely true, and he knew it, but even if he knew it wasn't the whole truth it would help if he told himself it was. That was what he thought, because it was the only way that he knew of.
"Oh, I see," she replied, her face barely changing at the remark, but he knew he had hurt her by being so brusque, but he couldn't even let her think that he cared about their friendship as much as he did, she would never be able to comprehend how dangerous that would be.
She turned and walked to the door, holding it open for him, but her face was still the same. Inwardly he frowned, maybe she had been around him too long—she was beginning to act like he did. Perhaps he had been too cold in telling her that he wasn't waiting for her, he didn't want to push everyone away, but he couldn't let them stay close. He crossed them room, an apology on his tongue, while he silently debated whether he should utter it or not. He never got a chance to, because as he grabbed the door to relieve her from having to hold it, she went out into the hall ahead of him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and thought obscenities to himself as he followed Sakura. He should have apologized—he wanted to and didn't want to, and he wasn't sure what to do.
Naruto was standing with Anko and Kakashi at the elderly Sannin's bedside but his chakra signature had perked up and was back to normal, over all, even though outwardly he still displayed signs of apprehension. Sakura let them stand there for a moment, allowing the three of them to recover from their worry, but she paid no attention to Sasuke as he came and stood beside her. The unconscious man was not any concern of Sasuke's, and at the moment, he was not paying any attention to him, instead he was busy working out what he should do about Sakura. He wasn't used to being treated this way by her, and while he probably deserved it, he had not intended on upsetting her this much. He was faced with the dilemma of letting her know he was sorry without seeming to care. Maybe if he reached for her hand and gave it a quick squeeze… If he dropped it right away, then that should be okay, he decided.
Taking his hand out of his pocket, he moved to reach for her hand, but then she deliberately moved out of his reach, speaking with the other three, "Alright, you guys, we should go get some rest. He's fine now, Naruto, so don't worry. You can come visit in the morning."
"I think we'll stay for a few minutes longer," Kakashi said giving Team Seven a small wave before he sat down on one of the chairs in the room.
Naruto gave a nod and then slowly he turned towards them. Sakura gave a reassuring nod and then indicated that Sasuke should follow, but, much to the said Uchiha's irritation, she kept a distance between them that prevented him from coming close to touching her hand. Fine then, he thought sourly to himself as he shoved his hands in his pockets, if she wanted to be that way that was just fine. He and Naruto followed Sakura wordlessly out the door as she led the way from the room, all three of their minds heavily laden.
It was after that Team Seven had moved out earshot that Anko turned to Kakashi studying his masked face carefully. She had always liked Kakashi, and she had always trusted him to know what to do best in a situation, especially when he knew the situation better than she did. But despite this, she couldn't help but feel a little bewildered what he had done, or rather, what he hadn't done.
"You didn't tell her," Anko said carefully into the silence of the room.
Kakashi looked away from Jiraiya, and then met her gaze with his visible eye. He shook his head and looked briefly out the door that Team Seven had just exited from. Even though he was the same age as her, Anko couldn't help but think that he looked much older than his years at that moment.
"May I ask why?" she pressed, frowning slightly.
"Because, then she'll be able to get at least one last good night's sleep before she finds out."
A/N: I'm sure some of you are wondering what happened that Kakashi is not telling Sakura. I actually had a hard time deciding what it was myself, but all thanks to my editor, it was all solved. And now she blames herself for what happened, even though something bad was going to happen anyways XD
Editor's Note: IT'S ALL MY FAULT!!! (headwall)
Note to grumpy/anal readers (if you are neither, please disregard): You know, even though I don't like unwarranted criticism, I never delete anonymous reviews that have negative comments in them. Why? Because I feel that a strong author should take even the negatives in stride, and build the story stronger after that. It's like a bug hitting my windshield—a little disgusting and I'm more irritated than anything else. Also, to the anonymous person who called themselves 'Swan', don't bother to flame this story—you're just adding to my ever-growing review count, therefore causing people to perceive my story as 'popular', and then, as a result, you are helping to advertise my story even more. I'm really sorry that you seem to have a cactus up your ass—as it is probably giving you a rather sour outlook on life—and I'm even sorrier to say that you don't strike me as very bright, because surely you should realize flaming is pointless after the number of reviews people have left. If you hate Sakura, then don't bother reading any SasuSaku fics, oh, and another thing: grow up.