SUMMARY: The cracks are growing more visible.
Anko is worried about the brats.
She would never admit to it.
But she has come to care for them.
Just a little.
They haven't seen each other for days.
Her mission took a long time.
It took longer than expected.
It is not unusual.
But she feels unsettled.
Like someone interfered on purpose.
She cannot think that way, must not.
Because it came from the very top and to admit it, to admit it would be deadly.
Treason.
The easiest way to lose your head, both physically and metaphorically.
She cannot admit to it.
But it stays, it festers.
Her brats are missing and there's no way he doesn't know.
Somewhat unexpectedly, it's not even Ru she's worried about.
Ru is a weapon for the village, he will know where he is.
But Ra?
The whipsmart, pink-haired mastermind?
And Ru?
The softhearted, purple-haired manipulator?
He will not think twice before allowing them to be endangered.
Those two are the cannon fodder, the unimportant ones.
Anko would never say it but she doesn't trust him.
She cannot trust the Hokage.
Ra doesn't know where she is.
Ra does not know where she is.
She wants Re and she wants Ru in equal measure.
She wants Kurenai, she wants Anko.
She wants Haku, Gaara, Tenten, Temari, Ino, Neji, Zabuza, Rock Lee, Kankuro, Shino, Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, Sasuke, Gai even.
She wants.
She wants, even as she automatically regulates her breathing.
Her captors will be easier to escape if she can fool them.
Ra tries to reach out - first with her senses and then with her chakra.
"Sakura!" a loud voice calls, startling her out of her fake sleep.
"Dear, are you up yet?"
Who are these people to address her so familiarly?
What kidnapper would address her as dear?
The realisation slowly sinking in, Ra curls into herself.
She cannot believe one of her clients put the dots together.
What if she has endangered them? Her...
Siblings is not enough, loves has bad connotations for all of them.
Her Ru and Re, Re and Ru.
She could not live with herself if it was her ego that led to this, her hubris.
Determinedly, she straightens up.
She messed up and she cannot run anymore - she has to face the consequences.
Ra makes her way out of the bed, noting the pink surrounding her, the same pink as her hair.
It's creepy.
What kind of people obsess over her so much that-
Oh.
Oh.
The two adults who face her have hair just as pink as hers and eyes the same shade of green.
It can't be.
(It is.)
"Sakura, dear, welcome home." the woman says.
The man nods affirmatively.
Ra tries desperately not to swallow.
She's sure her hands are shaking from nerves, anger or fear she isn't sure.
Her eyes alight upon the door and it takes everything she has not to make a break for it.
"Do sit down." the woman fusses.
Ra snaps her fingers, as if to dispel a Genjutsu but nothing changes.
She blinks, just once.
To no avail.
Ru does not know how he is coping.
Naruto is still confused, as ever.
Ru is seething.
Spending time with Jiraiya has done nothing to improve his opinion of the man.
He still thinks man is too kind.
And the way the pervert looks at him makes him uncomfortable.
(Everything about Jiraiya makes him uncomfortable.)
He seems to feel he owes Naruto something.
It doesn't stop him from trying to steal his money when he probably has his own fortune.
Naruto cannot stop him with his childish grumpiness.
Ru cannot stop him, even with eyes mimicking that of a hawk.
The pervert teaches him though, as best as he can.
Ru learns as best as he can, even as his rage boils and simmers.
It is not the toads' fault, after all, that their Summoner is... the way he is (for lack of kind words).
But still, at every bathhouse they pass, Jiraiya does nothing but encourage his reputation as a pervert.
Ru tries to stop him, just once, swallows his fear and hopes Jiraiya's misplaced affection will be enough.
It won't be, he knows, even before he tries.
But he has to.
He's not Naruto when he does, not Naruto when he tries to make him understand.
Jiraiya laughs at him, as if it is inconsequential, as though he didn't push Re over the edge and into a breakdown.
"Who put you up to this?" the pervert asks, as though he has to be put up to it, as though what he is doing is normal.
"No one." Ru all but grunts and turns away, unable to even look at the man.
Jiraiya studies him carefully.
"What happened?" he calls after Ru's retreating back.
Naruto stomps away, a brat having a temper tantrum, unappreciative of the opportunity he's been given.
The fire in Ru is still growing - is Jiraiya not meant to be a spymaster? Shouldn't he know? How dare he? How dare he!
"What happened to you, Naruto?"
Ru doesn't answer.
Jiraiya doesn't stop.
Kabuto has long since let go of guilt.
He cannot feel guilt anymore, he cannot.
That's what he tells himself anyway.
There is no purpose in feeling guilty.
It does not serve him and anything that does not serve him does not serve Orochimaru-sama.
He is a servant, nothing more.
But there is something that creeps up on him, even as his target makes their way to the tea shop.
It is unfamiliar.
He would almost say it hurts but he can barely remember what hurting means.
Something about this mission makes him feel.
Maybe it is all the similarities or maybe it is the way his target carries themselves but he's struggling to remember who they are.
Or rather are not.
They are not like him, cannot be like him.
They are a target, nothing more or less.
Nothing like him.
Just a target.
(But they're not and he knows it.
He will try to ignore this feeling.
But he cannot.
He's always been good at pretending.
He's never had a choice.
But he does.
He does.)