Chapter 20 – Our Love Starts from Death
Hey so sorry-
The note went up in flames and fell to the barren soil, its edges curled up into a sorry ball like the apology Sasuke could not bother to finish reading. He felt the rush of curse words rising from his throat but could only manage a dramatic sigh. What was he expecting – this was Sakura he was depending upon. Even by some stretch of miracle that she had found her calling in medical ninjutsu and her skills somehow scouted by the Akatsuki, she was still Sakura, that burden of a teammate, that Sakura who was always at his back…
The sickening, familiar cry of the crow cut through his inconsequential train of thoughts and his eyes narrowed into the dark foliage. It was all black, the edges of the overhead canopy barely visible from the occasional peek of the moonlight. Unlike its owner, the crow had no problem navigating through the pitch-dark forest, and quickly located its master's correspondent. Sasuke raised his arm, slid out the tiny scroll secured on the crow's feet, and sent it flying.
The second time the note went up in flames, there was a smile on his lips. His days of hell was finally entering the last act.
"You didn't kill her, did you Kisame?" Hidan drawled while lifting some barbells he surely had stolen from God knew where.
"I expected more from you," Kakuzu remarked as he slammed a pile of cash into the coffee table, before picking up an adjacent pile and resumed counting.
He removed his cloak and bowed apologetically to Pein, who was seated opposite Kakuzu. He vowed to get Itachi drunk silly for putting him through their verbal abuse. Pein and Konan exchanged a look.
"We knew it wouldn't be so easy, not when Itachi's involved. It's a pity she's from Konoha," She said while touching her recently healed arm.
"Yea, Itachi-san was…not very happy." Truth be told, even Kisame was not very pleased with this arrangement.
"Who gives a fuck what he thinks? He went against Leader's order, that's what matters." Hidan set the barbell onto the kitchen floor and hopped onto the backrest behind Kakuzu. "Pein, can I have your permission to kill him? We have some unsettled business anyway…" He finished with a handful of loud knuckle cracks.
"If you can…"
"The fuck you just said, Blondie?"
"Before that, isn't making sure Sakura-chan won't rat on us a higher priority?" Deidara continued. "What if she went and divulge our abilities to the Hokage–"
"No, she won't," Pein spoke as he took a calm sip of Konan's latest raspberry tea brew, "She's not that imprudent to realise she's in a double-bind. Ah, this tastes great."
"That fucking Uchiha might be strong, but he's still a man. One word and I'll capture that woman and threaten him–"
"If she told Konoha our secrets, it's as good as saying she has been hanging out with us," Sasori added as a matter-of-factly.
"While hooking up with one of us," Hidan supplied with an obscene gesture with his hands.
"Typically, a ninja is not allowed to take on missions without a Kage's approval, not without some grave consequences," Sasori explained to Deidara, who was nodding away, finally understanding everything for the first time, before frowning and folding his arms in a fit.
"Why are you telling me things I already know, hmm!" He rubbed embarrassedly at his nose. "You know I have never bothered with these silly, rigid rules…" Damn, he needed to brush up on his Great Five Nation's history soon.
"Regardless, this place is no longer safe, and hereby there will no longer be a formal base," Pein announced. "Everyone will move in your assigned pairs, and continue to gather information. Future meetings will be conducted via projection." Konan nodded and the two of them stood.
"Wait, what about the forfeit–"
"Kisame, I'll leave Itachi to you. In the short term, it's unlikely he'll be a threat to us. Besides, we still require his abilities." There were some demurs, followed by reluctant nodding of heads, but otherwise there were no objections. Not that anyone ever outright objected Pein. "Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Haruno Sakura has escaped from the base, her whereabouts unknown. Should you see her, you are free to do as you deemed free. Otherwise, meeting adjourned."
"So, what is it you wanna talk about?"
"I need your help to fake my death." She extracted the sword from the thick trunk and flung it towards him. He threw her a look of disbelief and caught it without looking, jamming it into the guts of his adversary creeping up from behind.
"You like him that much huh? You must be out of your mind."
"I don't want to hear that from you. Haaaar!" She turned around and slammed her chakra imbued fist into the tree, causing a domino effect and effectively trapping most of the Chuunin level ninjas within the fallen jumble. Sasuke hopped onto the top of the pile and placed his palm onto the log.
"Chidori nagashi!" Sakura dumped a smoke screen and they fled the rogue ninjas for good.
"W…Who are those people anyway?" She asked when they crossed the border of Cloud and entered a neutral ground between two nations, where fighting was prohibited.
"Just some weak thugs after Karin's power," Sasuke grumbled. "Enough about that. Why do I have to help you?"
Itachi found his partner seated by a fallen log in the center of the clearing, right where their base was just a day ago. Other than Kisame's usual overwhemling presence, there was no chakra presence lingering in their immediate vicinity.
"What are you doing? Is everything alright?" Itachi noticed some charred marks by the edges of the clearing that was mingled with Kisame's chakra, mentally putting two and two together.
"Nothing much, just sitting around waiting to be caught," He answered while storing his pocket book away, before standing up and dusting his cloak.
"Kisame."
"Sorry… But thanks to you, we no longer have a base." Kisame left the word 'home' dangling on his tongue, certain that acting sentimental would not lead his indiffent partner anywhere to tears of remorse. Seeing there was nothing left to reminisce over, the duo began moving in the general direction of the nearest village, The Hidden Village of Waterfall.
"So...We have to find our own lodgings." He had the nerve to behave like it was none of his business.
"I know you don't like staying there, but do you have to be sound so happy?" Itachi's brow raised, but commented no further.
"You know, I was certain you'll be in trouble for going against Leader. I didn't realise until now how much he likes you-"
"You're whining." Itachi stopped and threw an amused look over his shoulder. "Don't tell me you actually fancied staying with those guys..."
"You're kidding me, Itachi-san." He was not admitting anything. "I'm just displeased that I'll have less money for entertainment now…"
"Not like that's gonna stop you from getting more sake."
"You know me too well, I can't outtalk you." An hour later they arrived at Waterfall, quickly stored their cloaks and forehead protectors in a Ninja Tool Scroll, and easily blended with the carefree crowd. Itachi quietly led the way, not realising he was instinctively headed for a particular hotel that he had resided in all those months ago.
"We'll be staying here for a few nights. This is the best in town," He explained and entered beyond the green noren hanging from the entrance. Kisame stretched his arms in front and went after him, only to bump right into a petite lady coming from his side. They muttered a simultaneous apology and paused by the entrance, waiting for the other to make the first move, and took the same step, knocking lightly into one another again.
"Forgive my impatience, ladies first."
"No, please, customers first! I have no idea what am I rushing for…" The lady shook her head and grinned at Kisame's surprised expression.
"Alright, if you insist…" He sheepishly nodded and found Itachi standing by the empty reception counter scanning the catelogue. "So what's the best room…"
Kisame was all smiles until he snuck a quick peek over Itachi's shoulder and sucked in a deep breath.
"Welcome, and so sorry for the wait! May I take your room order?"
"Y-Yes, just one second…" Kisame forced a grin, willing himself to not lose his shit in front of the beautiful receptionist. He then lowered his voice and discreetly whispered into his partner's ear without moving his lips, an useful skill he picked up from years of going rogue.
"Itachi-san, I knew that Uchiha was an established clan and one of the biggest…but given our unstable lifestyle, shouldn't we scrimp and save while we can…"
"Uchiha-san, is that you?" The men looked up and saw Misao's dazed face hidden behind her palms, getting all the confirmation she needed. Those crimson orbs framed by impossibly long lashes, she could never forget that pair of eyes. "So glad to see you again!"
"It's been a while." He nodded and gestured to the catalogue. "Two single room please."
"Certainly. Let me just confirm the room availabilities…" While doing so, Misao furtively glanced around her surroundings.
"It's just me and my colleague." Misao blinked at his sudden explanation.
"O-Oh, how did you know I was looking for Sakura-san? This is so embarrassing…" She smiled bashfully. "Is she doing alright?"
"Still the same."
"Still madly in love with you?" Misao stifled her laughter when she saw him kept quiet and evaded his eyes.
Kisame gawked at the pair exchanging pleasantries like fellow BFFs, completely ignoring his presence. Just how far back did their acquaintance go? He was an idiot to think he even stood a chance against this Uchiha irresistible Itachi.
"…Sir? Is it all right if you share a room with Uchiha-san? There's only one available single room, and-"
"Anything's fine really, I'm not a picky person," He quickly answered and flashed a weak grin.
"I'm glad to hear that! Well, seeing we know each other, please accept the free upgrade to the suite room on the topmost floor, as an apology." Kisame was more than pleased to receive his share of VIP treatment, though he doubted Itachi cared much… To Kisame's horror, Itachi actually grinned. Well, it was more of a faint smile than full on lips pulling, but at this point of time Kisame was convinced his partner was cheating behind Sakura's back.
"It seems business is as good as ever," Itachi remarked as Misao led them towards their lounge up the recently polished wooden stairs.
"Thanks to you loyal regulars, we're able to survive till now in this small village." Kisame smoothly masked his gasp into a dry cough – Itachi was a regular? Misao did a deep bow and snaked away, sneaking a concerned look at Kisame's blued face. He did not appreciate how at ease he was at maneuvering around the – gulped – lover's suite (in actuality there was no such suite).
"You must be tired. You can take the Jacuzzi first." Itachi nodded towards the elevated platform on the other end of the room, partially hidden by a traditional translucent screen. Kisame wanted to shout that now was hardly the time for idling in a hot tub – he just wanted to know what was his relationship with the landlord's daughter! He pictured pinning him to the smooth planked floor and punching him senseless, but was reluctant to cause Misao any trouble. He cracked his knuckles and made up his mind. His next best course of action would be…
"Care to join me in the hot tub?" Itachi paused and directed an indiscernible look over his shoulder. Kisame shrugged. "Come on, it's not like we haven't seen each other naked before…"
"That's not the issue," He cut in with a slightly exasperated face. Kisame loved teasing him like this.
"Right… Then I'll take that as a yes?" Instead of answering, he began peeling off his cloak and flung it to the closest armchair, landing perfectly over its backrest. Kisame followed suit and switched on the Jacuzzi heater. He found his eyes trained on Itachi's movement, from the way he arched his back to get the cotton tee and the skin-fitting mesh top off, to the skilled and practiced way of securing his ponytail in a loose bun by the nape of his neck. His abdominal was rock solid and well defined, as expected of a seasoned ninja. He glanced down at his equally impressive and hard-earned abs, and wondered why things were so difficult for him. Itachi released a defeated sigh.
"Do we not have the same body? What is there to stare at?" In a blink Itachi was down to a white towel hanging loosely around his waist, doing an akimbo at the bottom of the Jacuzzi steps.
"Isn't it a hassle to tie your hair every single day? Why don't you cut it off?" He ran his fingers through the warm water and smoothed it through his own rooster haircut. Itachi shut his eyes and leaned his head against the round edge.
"I like it this way."
"You sure it's not your lucky charm or something? Or did some girl comment on how great it looked on you-"
"She's Kakuzu's daughter."
"Who?" Itachi causally cocked his head towards the door, where Misao had showed the room moments ago.
"S-She's who?!" He did not bother trying to act causal. Without even explicitly mentioning anything, Itachi knew what he was doing, wringing out information. He wanted to cry.
Without warning, Sasuke violently shoved Sakura aside and she was flung into the lake, hard. By the time she surfaced, the towering rows of pine trees surrounding the waterbody had collapsed and the last of the mercenaries were charred and unidentifiable.
"You saved me…" If it were not for that push, Sakura would be caught dead from the pointblank spear aimed at her heart. She watched as he tore off his right sleeve to bandage his bleeding arm, unfazed even as the white cloth was soaked crimson in seconds.
"Forget faking your death. Given your lack of awareness you'll end up dead sooner or later anyway," Sasuke scowled at her while picking up his katana, flinging off the sticky red residual onto the grasses.
"I-I know what you're looking for, and I can help you-"
"If you're talking about Uchiha Itachi, I already know where he is, so there's nothing left for you to negotiate-"
"I know you've been looking for ways to kill Orochimaru." At the mention of his pseudo mentor, Sasuke's body went still. Sakura swallowed and pressed on, knowing this was the only chance she could have his undivided attention. "So have I. Tsunade-shisho and I have finally found the key to stop his regenerative process."
It started with the infrequent reports of wrongly tabulated inventories, followed by medicines and scrolls going unaccounted for. When Sakura was summoned to investigate, she perceived a pattern amongst the missing items – they were aimed at causing coagulative necrosis, or the inadequate supply of blood flow to body cells. The further discovery of several plashes with lingering chakra signature similar to the one she felt at the soba store led to an easy conclusion.
"Your comrade dropped by a while back, didn't he?" She added when he remained quiet. "They are working under you, and you are working with Orochimaru. It's unlikely a resourceful man like him would require stock replenishments from the village he deserted."
Sasuke's Sharingan remained trained on Sakura as she maneuvered to his side and channeled healing chakra to his arm's wound. He revealed no intention to drop his Sharingan.
"We… I have the formula, but-"
"If this is a farce to lure me back to Konoha, you better drop the idea."
"No it is not," Sakura began calmly. "You do what you have to do, and let me do mine." This was as much understanding as she could afford for him.
"Hmph. I don't give a damn to your motivation to leave that village and fake your death," Sasuke began after a minute pause, "Get yourself a two men mission in the coming week."
"Got it… And the method?"
"Death by chemical explosive, the kind that will leave your corpse unidentifiable." Sakura gulped at his impassive tone.
"N-No matter how intense the explosion is, surely there will be remains…"
"You're the medical ninja, surely you'll know what needs to be done."
"…And my partner is there as a witness." So as to leave no questions to her death and risked the chance of being labelled a Missing Person. How thorough of him, she thought with sarcasm, but that would be for the better.
"After you accepted the mission, Suigetsu will drop by the hospital the day after. Leave the formula and the mission details in the bottom drawer of the inner most cabinet against the left wall facing the room."
As Tsunade's disciple, Sakura had easy access to the daily mission's request records, and no one questioned her when she volunteered for the C-ranked search-and-report mission submitted by a 'Goju' individual. It was not uncommon for civilians from neighbouring villages to request for ninjas from the Great Five Nations, a feature taken advantaged by Sasuke's subordinate to ''officially" get her out.
For the days leading up to the mission, she carried on with her hospital shift work as usual, and maximised her after hours for friends' barbeque gathering and private chit-chat sessions at their homes. She was barely able to contain the tearing spilling down her cheeks as she closed Naruto's door behind her, biting her lower lips and darting towards the nearest rooftop, the wind the concealer of her sobs.
He considered sending her a letter, penning some sort of closure to this unexpected encounter for her sake.
Sakura
Like spring, a fleeting sight to behold;
Like dreams, a bittersweet aftertaste;
You, my love, have kept darkness on hold,
And now, death I embraced.
The letter went up in flames. He saw no good in leaving something tangible behind.
"Can't believe we're going on a mission together so soon, eh?" Shikamaru chuckled as they swooped through the woods shrouded in the safety of moonlight.
"I think we work well together, and I can trust you." Sakura winked and triple checked that her entire life savings was securely kept in her emptied weapons pouch. For the offensive, she only brought what was needed – her chakra-packed fist.
"We've been getting quite a number of non-confrontational missions – which I'm more than thankful for."
"Signs of peaceful times?" She replied noncommittally. "Here, could you help me pass this to Ino when you see her?" Shikamaru nodded uncertainly and took the brown envelope.
"Should I ask what's inside? Why not give it to her yourself?"
"It's money that I owed her, and we just had a huge fight so not on talking terms for now… Besides aren't you meeting her and Chouji for your monthly barbeque-"
"I got it, I got! You even knew about the BBQ huh…"
"Got to give her the due she deserves." Sakura motioned for them to stop. "I think that's the place."
"You know I've passed by this area a number of times but have never seen this village before…"
They have arrived at the outer province of Konoha, where the rural and idyllic lifestyle was evident in the fruits and vegetable fields next to the straw huts clustered ahead.
"I would not have known such an isolated community existed so close to us!"
"If it were not for that ANBU patroller earlier, we might have completely missed it…" To ensure that there was no danger of coup d'état conspiring between the neighbouring Nations and the outer provincial's informal leaders, Konoha's village council would conduct infrequent dispatch of spies to keep tabs on their activities.
They quickly located the leader's village hall that was loosely guarded by two guards, who were easily knocked out from behind.
Once inside, Shikamaru stumbled across a loose wooden cladding by the back wall's bookshelf, and kicking it aside led to a flight of stairs dimly lit by warm orange gas flames.
It led to a storage cum meeting room, with a large long table in the middle. The room was lined with bags of what looked like chemical fertilizers, presumably for the fields.
"Lots of half-filled water cups on the table, probably a meeting just ended," Shikamaru remarked. They split up and began the Search portion of the mission, starting with the cabinets.
"Should we be wary none of these are sealed?"
"I'm sure it's fine…" Sakura assured and pulled on the handle.
At once, all the pole supporting the gas flames detached and landed on the pile of fertilizers, instantly igniting them.
"Opening that drawer must have triggered a trap…" The previously dim orange had burgeoned into balls of incandescent infernos that had engulfed the windowless room in thick grey smoke.
"C-Can't see a thing…" Sakura barely managed to wrap a cloth around her lower face when she heard him dropping to the ground.
"Shikamaru…!" She crouched next to him and glanced desperately around, finally settling her sight above them. "You're… Not suppose…to die here!" Sakura channeled her chakra punch towards the falling ceiling joist and it blasted through the ceiling towards the darkened sky.
"L-looks like H-Heaven's on our side, it's starting t-to rain!" Shikamaru cheered, although he was already on his fours from his coughing fit.
"No, no, no!" Sakura shouted in a frenzy. "These fertilisers are calcium cyanamide, and they react explosively with water!" Mustering the last of her strength, she grabbed Shikamaru by the arms.
"S-Sakura? What- SAKURA NOOOOOO!" Sakura had flung her partner through the gaping hole before the ceiling collapsed into itself.
"Don't worry partner, I'll be fine." The last thing Shikamaru saw was a very bright light before everything went blank.
Itachi turned towards the sky, sensing a wave of nostalgic chakra.
"Looks like the weather has cleared up huh? Guess there's no need for this," Kisame chuckled and chucked the straw umbrella into the bin by the inn.
"Let's go, Kisame."
"If I didn't know better, I would have thought you were looking forward to see him…"
"I am." In fact, he could hardly wait to see his little brother – those letter correspondences only made him anticipate their meeting even more…
"It's been eight years huh? I wonder if he's able to break your Mangekyo Sharingan now."
"Hmph, I wonder." He had no doubt about that, about his little brother's ability that was surely at its peak now.
Sakura jerked awake from the memory of her shadow clone, still unaccustomed to dividing half her chakra and feeling fatigue from the shared experience. She hoped that Shikamaru would not wait around for the explosion to subside and rescue her body.
She felt a sudden tremble and pulled the blanket closer. She was helpless and could only wished for time to escalate over the inevitable. Waiting had always been the hardest part; as a doctor she knew that more than anyone. She could not pray for mercy on Itachi's account, she knew he needed to be served his rightful judgement by his kin. All that was left was for him not to give up on himself. Sure she could revive a dead fish, but a man without a will to live?
Pathetic me took months to pull off a feasible suicide mission... Had fun researching on past explosion cases and chemicals involved, please let me know what you think of this chapter, we're almost at the end!
