Amaryllis
Chapter 12
"Sister."
Kurenai held the fan up to hide her mouth. Her eyes darted nervously in the direction of the men on the other side of the room.
The corset around her waist felt too tight. The lovely gown mother had had made just for today was white lace and silk that trailed behind her looking like sea foam. She could smell the blood-red roses in her hair, twisted into the curls and pinned in place. All the pins and ties jabbed at her head and her body.
Huffing with frustration, Kurenai turned her head to look at her older sister. Tsunade's back was turned to her. Her long, wheat-colored hair spilled across her back, intertwined with strands of pearls.
She always looked so beautiful.
Kurenai placed her hand on Tsunade's shoulder, feeling the softness of the silk under her fingers. Tsunade was still engrossed in her conversation but she reached up to put her hand over her sister's and squeezed. A little comforted, Kurenai waited. And after a moment, Tsunade excused herself and took Kurenai's arm. Turning to her, she smiled, her golden eyes sparkling more than the jewels in her hair and ears.
"What is it, my dear?" asked Tsunade in a low voice. She reached out and rubbed her thumb on the bottom corner of Kurenai's mouth where her red lipstick had smeared.
"There's a man over there who's staring at you," Kurenai whispered. Tsunade frowned.
"There are many men staring at me, little sister," Tsunade responded with a hint of a smile. But Kurenai shook her head. She turned her older sister in the direction of the man with piercing grey eyes standing on the other side of the room.
He had the swagger and the build of a military man. Despite his youth, he had a proud mane of silver hair. Broad shoulders and perfect posture told Tsunade all she needed to know before she even saw the medals on his uniform.
"That is the Count Namikaze's eldest son, Lord Jiraiya. I hear that he's doing quite well in the army. Lieutenant General by 20 is no easy feat," murmured Tsunade.
Kurenai's eyes widened. How she wished she had her sister's perfect memory at times like these. Their mother always had them study the lists and portraits of their guests, but only Tsunade ever remembered all of them.
"Will you speak with him?" asked Kurenai, breathless with excitement.
This was her first royal ball where she was no longer being treated as a child. Now that she was 14, it was time for her to begin catching the eye of suitors. And though it was too early in the night for anyone to have asked her to dance, the very idea of her sister with such a handsome man was almost enough exhilaration for the night.
"Perhaps. Perhaps not. I'm 18 now. Mother says that it's time I sank my claws into one of these men. He doesn't seem like one that would be easy to control," said Tsunade with a shrug before she pulled her along to speak with the other guests.
Across the room, Jiraiya felt a tug on his elbow.
"Was that-?" Minato breathed.
"Yes, the two princesses. Lovely, are they not? It's rare to see the older one out of her research facility," replied Jiraiya.
"They were looking at us, brother!" Minato said with wonder in his voice. Minato looked down at his kid brother and laughed.
"No, Minato, they were both looking at me. I doubt they even noticed a short thing like you. Maybe next year," chortled Jiraiya as he rubbed a hand through Minato's golden hair. Minato pretended to scowl at the treatment before he beamed up at the brother who always towered over him.
"Your Grace?"
Minato blinked. Chin propped up by his hand, he looked over to find his advisors staring at him.
"Your Grace, we'd like to begin the meeting now," Danzo said with a pointed look.
"Ah. Yes," he answered. He looked down at the gold ring on his thumb. It had once fit perfectly on his brother's middle finger. The chunky sapphire glinted in the candlelight. Minato rubbed at his face. He hadn't dreamt of his brother in years. But as of late, he saw scenes from their youth every night.
Jiraiya, the King Consort, General of the Armies of the Great Forest Kingdom. All of those titles had been used for him. No one ever seemed to use the one that mattered most.
Brother.
Minato always felt like a child again as he looked down on that ring. It had only been one of many things that his brother had left to him. As a young man, he had once believed that as he grew older, somehow he would grow to fit those rings.
Minato looked over to his right where his son sat sulking.
Sakura had left the capital city several days ago and Naruto was still upset. He didn't dare tell the boy that he was grateful that she had refused to take him along. The wilderness was no place for a prince. And though Marquess Shimura had insisted, it was one of the rare times that Minato was opposed the old man's counsel.
"Our first order of business concerns taxes, Your Grace."
Naruto let out a huge sigh. Minato almost wanted to agree as he gestured for them to begin.
Weeks of travel were taking their toll on Itachi. Everyone seemed to acknowledge the fact with glances out of the corners of their eyes and sympathetic grimaces. And at each inn they stopped at along the road, the party urged Itachi to stay and recuperate.
"We would only be a few weeks at most, Prince. And it would ease Sakura's worries to know that you were resting safely," Sasori quietly said one night as he took Itachi aside in the corridor. When Itachi politely declined, looking paler than usual as he went, Sasuke peered out from around the corner. Arms crossed over his chest, he glanced over at Sakura. Her stony expression gave away nothing. In fact, she calmly picked at a healing scab on the back of her hand without comment.
"Why don't you force him? You made Prince Naruto stay in Whiteriver for his own safety," Sasuke asked.
"A man's resolve is nothing to sneer at. Whatever decision he makes, I will respect it," replied Sakura before she pushed off the wall and headed downstairs. The stiffness of her gait stood out to him. And he knew after months with her that she was lying. But about what he wasn't sure.
"Sakura," Sasuke called after her as he began to take a step. A light tug on the back of his vest stopped him. The prince turned to see Haku peering up at him with nervous brown eyes.
"Please… I think some time alone would be good for the General, Your Highness," said the boy. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He had long ago realized that this was one of the servants from his home. Why he (or she) had come to join them was a mystery that he had never quite been able to solve. But now he began to think again.
"What do you know?" questioned Sasuke. But Haku quickly shook his head.
"There are things that this lowly servant knows that are not even for your ears, Your Highness," Haku replied. Sasuke stared at him for another long moment before his mouth curled up into a smirk.
"You're quite clever," Sasuke said as he walked off too.
Because not even Sasori knew the reason why the older prince was allowed to remain in their traveling party. Only Haku, who brushed Sakura's hair and tidied Sakura's room, could piece together the past that Sakura seemed so determined to leave behind her. And as the past became clear, Haku began to understand what moved this fierce woman.
And Haku hadn't survived for years in an unfamiliar palace by blundering about asking the wrong questions. His queries always came in bits and pieces, harmless fragments that created a whole picture.
One night, he asked, "Your- My Lady?"
"Hm?" responded Sakura in a light hum. Her eyes were heavy with sleep and the droop of her shoulders told the story of a long day. He always rubbed the calluses on her hands with special ointments before bed. She laughed that a soldier needn't have soft hands. He gently countered that a princess did. Her smile faded a bit but she didn't protest afterwards.
"Why did you really tell Prince Naruto not to come with us?" he questioned as he finished massaging the white cream into her palms.
There was a pause.
Then Sakura lifted her right hand. She pointed until Haku squinted and saw a thin line slanting diagonally from her pinky to the base of her thumb.
"When we were nine, Naruto climbed up a tree trying to catch a squirrel. I was nearly impaled by a branch while I was trying to save him," recounted Sakura. She then pointed to another scar on her forearm.
"Later that same year, he tried to play with one of the hunting hounds. This wound festered. I nearly lost this arm," she said. Haku's eyes widened with horror as he began to notice the tiny scars flecked over parts of her body. Her skin was rather fair and the scars were so light that they were invisible until she pointed them out.
"When I was 12, I came home for the holidays during my first year at the military academy. Someone tried to assassinate him at the winter festival. I grabbed the knife with my bare hand," Sakura said as she opened her palm to show Haku the thin line that almost could have been part of the natural lines on her hand.
That was the year she had stopped calling Whiteriver Keep her home.
"We'll be your parents from now on."
Those had been Kushina's first words to her. And yet each time her stupid son fell out of a tree or tumbled down a hill, Sakura was the one to break his fall. She had been the one to grab hold of him, shielding him tightly in her arms so that her back would be covered in scrapes and deep bruises that would turn the color of sour wine while Naruto would be a little shaken up but unharmed all the same.
She found him when he wandered into the forests and lost his way just before nightfall. Sniffling pitifully, Naruto held onto the back of her shirt as Sakura navigated them back through the darkened woods.
She was good to him.
And yet each time she saved her cousin, the good Count and Countess Namikaze only ever ran to Naruto first. It didn't matter that they then turned to her thanking her for being so brave. It didn't matter that they gasped over her wounds so lovingly that the servants marveled at such tenderness for weeks afterwards.
They ran to their son first. Even if she bled and gritted her teeth against the pain, they never saw her first.
Sakura quickly learned that people were liars. Those who pretended to care were the worst. As she watched the nobles sink their claws into these oblivious people, Sakura closed her heart to them.
Because their hearts had never been open to her in the first place.
"I didn't bring him because there is no room for mistakes out here, Haku," Sakura declared as she stared at the boy's reflection in the mirror.
Another time, Haku asked about what the King Regent and the Queen Regent were like. The bitterness in Sakura's smile began to piece together a story. It didn't take long for Haku to come to understand.
It wasn't hatred that made Sakura so cold to these people.
It was pain.
Sakura felt the change in Haku's hands as he brushed her hair during the weeks of travel as he learned more and more about her. She couldn't stand pity. And sympathy she liked even less.
But their gazes met in the mirror. There was pain in his expression too.
She supposed that it made sense. They were both orphans, though he had certainly suffered in a much different way from her. Their fear was different. Their hurts were different as well. And yet they had both lost the people who would run to them first.
"I've noticed that you call me 'My Lady' now. Any particular reason for the change?" questioned Sakura one night as she rubbed her calloused hands together after she pulled off her leather gloves. Haku took the gloves from her and folded them to put them away. His dark eyes flitted to her briefly before he went to retrieve her nightgown. He set the white garment on the bed and then he folded his hands together across his stomach.
"Well," he began with one nervous look in her direction, "You once told me that being called 'General' is like armor for you. But for me, My Lady, you're the strongest person I know. So I feel that there's no need for you to wear armor around me."
Haku then bowed.
"I beg your pardon if I've caused offense," he quickly added.
He jolted with surprise when Sakura threw her head back and laughed.
"You just might be smarter than half the nobles running the kingdoms," she chuckled. Giving her a small smile, Haku glowed with pride as he suddenly moved to organize her luggage and vigorously fluff the pillows.
In the tavern downstairs, Sasuke glared at his brother over his drink. Itachi looked into his mead with a look of curiosity before he took a sip. The rich, yeasty flavor was apparently to his liking because he lifted the tankard to his mouth again. Only when he had quenched some of his thirst did Itachi meet his young brother's accusing stare.
"Your health won't improve if you push yourself like this," Sasuke said as soon as he saw that he had Itachi's attention. Itachi seemed rather at ease as he looked around the dim room. There was a group of men playing some sort of card game in the corner. A pair of burly men with scars and with animal pelts stacked on the empty stools beside them sat at the bar, trading stories with frequent laughter. The bartender was balding and stern-faced with a bristly beard, glowering out at anyone. As if daring anyone to cause a ruckus.
Itachi had never seen such people before the start of this long journey. Sasuke had seen similar characters on his visits into Ispolin and also when he followed their father on his visits to different parts of the kingdom. Itachi, confined to his bed, had rarely even seen the castle grounds outside before Sakura's arrival.
"Sasuke. Look at me. Do I look any worse than when we were home?" challenged Itachi.
Sasuke frowned.
"I suppose not. But you looked much livelier in Plumeria," Sasuke relented after a long moment.
Itachi smiled knowingly as he glanced down at his hands. He had even tanned a little in the warm island sun.
"I thought I was going to die in that castle, stuck in that awful room. I've read thousands of books, Sasuke. I've 'seen' hundreds of places and hundreds of people. But when will I ever have another chance to truly see the world?" he uttered softly.
"Is it so worth seeing if it lands you in an early grave?" growled Sasuke in response. Itachi chuckled.
"I won't die from being a little tired. I've been told that moderate exercise will actually improve my condition," Itachi assured him.
Before Sakura's arrival, he had seldom spoken to his younger brother. Now it amused Itachi to no end to see how determined Sasuke was to protect him. It seemed like just yesterday that Sasuke was a baby with stubby arms and legs that cried to be carried everywhere. Before his illness, he had frequently escaped form his tutors to take his little brother around the castle, showing him the secrets that came with his place as firstborn.
Sasuke was grown up now. He was taller and stronger and living in ways that Itachi never could.
"That's called envy," Sakura pointed out the next day as she leaned over to feed Kaze a lump of sugar during a short break. Sasuke was up ahead with Sasori letting their horses drink from the nearby stream. Itachi sat on a boulder, his hands clasped together as he looked up at her with exasperation. She was always too good at coming up with simple answers to his tangled web of concerns. He analyzed and reanalyzed without end, in circles that tangled together. She barged in with a rope to connect the two points without fuss.
At every stop, he dismounted and walked around to stretch his legs before nearly collapsing to sit wherever he could. No one had ever told him that riding a horse for such long periods of time could be so painful. After a few weeks, it was much easier to endure. And yet it amazed him that Sakura could travel, eat, and sleep on her stallion's back with no trouble.
Seeing Itachi grimace as he stretched his legs, Sakura smiled.
"I've been riding Kaze since he was big enough to support my weight. And I've been riding horses since before I could walk. That is also a form of envy, Itachi. And a foolish one at that," she added.
"How so? I thought you, of all people, would admire ambition," he challenged. He grimaced as he rotated his right ankle once before he turned his head away to cough into his fist.
"If we could do anything in this world, we would be gods. Our limitations only serve to highlight our strengths," Sakura responded so simply. It was a question she had asked herself many times before. Maybe it wasn't the right answer. But it was the answer that helped her sleep at night.
Her forehead wrinkled as Itachi coughed again. He did it far less than he used to. But the sound bordered somewhat on a wheeze. It was a painful sound. But she composed her expression again as Itachi turned back to look at her.
"More grains of wisdom from your father?" Itachi guessed. Smiling, Sakura extended her hand to him.
"My mother," she corrected him.
"Sakura, shall we go?" Sasori called out to them. They both glanced at him and saw him waving from further down the path.
Itachi grasped her hand, letting her pull him up into the saddle. She slid up to make room for him. And though his weary body felt heavy and all he wanted to do was to make it to the next inn to be able to sleep, Sakura tilted her head back to look at him. He stared into her bright eyes, mesmerized for a brief moment by the intensity of the blue-green color. Then he leaned forward to kiss her and she laughed even as her lips parted against his.
Then their moment ended.
Sakura took up the reins in her hands. She barely clicked her tongue before Kaze moved forward to catch up to their companions further down the road.
"This will be the last meal we won't have to make for ourselves for a while," Sasori announced over dinner that night. They were gathered around one table in the corner in the tavern. Exhausted from the long day of travel, they slouched a little as they waited for their food to arrive.
"Why is that?" asked Sasuke.
"Because we will be approaching the southern border soon. And it is to our advantage that characters from Wave Country remain uninformed of our arrival for as long as possible," replied Sakura.
Sasuke glanced over at his brother before he locked gazes with Sasori.
"No inns. No shelter?" Sasuke questioned.
"If possible," Sasori declared. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"If I am not mistaken…and I rarely am about such matters," there was an edge to his voice, "your country currently has neither an alliance nor a quarrel with Wave Country."
"It's difficult to have a quarrel with a country that has no government, yes," retorted Sasori. "We do, in fact, have a quarrel. Which is only made worse by the idiots who have been making all the decisions up until now."
Haku touched Sakura's arm. She barely looked down as Haku pushed a drink into her hand. Sakura raised the drink to her lips. Paused.
"Governed or ungoverned, people are all the same…. awful," she sighed. And then she downed her drink. Which happened to be a refreshing mead.
"It's a dreary day."
Bored out of her mind, Ino peered up from her latest novel with a vaguely sympathetic grimace. But then she noticed that it was Naruto approaching her and she grudgingly folded her page over before closing the book. Her lady's maid scrambled out of her seat to curtsey to the prince. Ino took her time also rising and curtseying. But her head did not dip nearly as low and her eyes did not fall demurely to the floor. Instead, she stared brazenly into Naruto's face.
Not that he would know enough to be insulted.
"To what do I owe this high honor?" Ino drawled as she snapped her fan open. The gentle waving motion made her hair flutter around. The light perspiration that gathered around her hairline and on the back of her neck made the normally smooth strands frizz and curl.
Ladies did not sweat, Ino heard her mother scold in her head.
So Ino fanned herself harder.
It was another lazy summer day in the capital. Trees spread their lush branches proudly up toward the blazing sun. Bright clusters of flowers and berries dotted the forests. Any travelers descending into the valley where Leaves sat could see a vast carpet of dark green blanketing the earth before the stone walls of the city came into view. Despite all this beauty with the birds singing and the wind whistling through branches, summer, in Ino's opinion, was by far the worst season to be in the city. The air was sticky and heavy. Humid would be a gross understatement of the weather.
Ino sucked in grudging breaths between the pinches of her corset and wished merry hells upon her mother for making her even wear the monstrosity. Her skin felt sticky under the layers of her dress. Her arm stuck to the cover of her book and to the arms of her chair. She also wished hell upon the demon who had invented the corset. While she was at it, she wished hell on her father too for dragging her to the capital in the first place.
There wasn't much to do in the capital. Spring Port wasn't much better. In fact, Ino rarely even visited the city. She mostly stayed with her mother at the manor located further inland.
Admittedly, the capital had all the nice garden parties and social events. And yet Ino found herself longing for her secret adventures out on town in disguise with her lady's maid. It was impossible to get into any sort of mischief at Whiteriver Keep. Well, impossible without Sakura there, rolling her eyes as she dismissed the guards who had discovered her trying to climb a wall.
Naruto blinked. He clasped his hands behind him. Ino always smiled with too much tooth in front of him. She coated her venomous words in extra honey. It made the other nobles gasp and whisper. But whether he was really that foolishly kind or he honestly believed that she bore him no ill will, the young man was never less than polite to her.
Ino had to give him that. He was always polite.
"I'm not really that much higher than you. Our families were both once stewards to the king. I'm only a prince because my uncle married a queen," he pointed out with a light shrug.
There was dead silence.
It was Ino's turn to be at a loss for words. She only remembered to shut her gaping mouth when her lady's maid cleared her throat.
Ino fixed a scowl on her face.
"Then why allow yourself to be called a prince knowing that?" she demanded, not caring that she would be scolded later for sounding pushy.
The way Naruto shrugged made her upper lip twinge in an expression between a sneer and a grimace before she could compose herself again.
"Well, that's what they say I am…so I suppose I've never really questioned the real reason behind it," he flippantly responded.
Ino forced herself to take a deep breath. She stole a glance at her lady's maid out of the corner of her eye. And rather than look concerned with propriety as usual, the young woman's normally neutral expression also seemed somewhat brittle, as if she were struggling to hide the irritation. When she met Ino's eye for the briefest moment, she quickly pretended to be checking her needlework.
"Anyway, titles and all that- it doesn't matter so much between old acquaintances. Isn't that right, Lady Ino?" Naruto went on with an easy laugh.
"…Of course, My Lord," she ground out past clenched back teeth. She fanned herself harder, only staring until Naruto awkwardly cleared his throat and excused himself. Her icy scowl followed him until he disappeared down the garden path and back toward the castle. Ino continued fanning herself furiously until her lady's maid put her hand on her arm to stop her. Ino blinked a few times as she set the accessory down.
Blood still boiling, Ino waited for Naruto's steps to fade completely before she turned to her lady's maid. The other woman's eyes were big as she waited.
"Moegi, my stationary, please. I need to tell someone about this," Ino ground out.
She scribbled too quickly. Her letters slanting one way. Her mother would have a fit if she could see such slovenly handwriting. She sealed it with extra care before handing it over. As the other woman accepted it, Ino clasped both her hands between hers. Staring her directly in the eyes, Ino spoke in soft, measured words.
"I may lose my head if this falls into the wrong hands."
Moegi looked insulted as she pulled away.
"If your head rolls, so does mine. Worry not, My Lady."
On their fourth day of travel along the Forest Kingdom's southern border, there was a distant noise that made Sasori yank his reins in a sharp motion. His horse snorted in protest as it jolted to a halt. Sakura and Itachi's heads turned back toward the noise while Sasuke and Haku also pulled their reins. The party stopped on the packed dirt road. The only other sounds to greet them were the dry rustles of grass on the plains.
They hadn't received any reports of strange activity of the scouting party up ahead,
Sasuke cocked his eyebrows. Sakura pressed her pointer finger to her parted lips as she strained to listen over the silence. She locked gazes with Sasori who frowned as he concentrated. After a long minute, he pulled his sword from the scabbard with the grating noise of metal on metal.
Itachi's hands tightened on Sakura's waist as he felt her shift. Her hand moved to rest on the hilt of her falchion.
"Who?" she whispered.
"Unshoed horses," was all Sasori could make out. He adjusted his grip on his sword.
He tapped his ear. Slowly, the faint rumble of hooves pounding against the ground began to thrum through the ground. Over the distant horizon, a faint cloud of dust rose.
Several riders.
Sasuke stole a glance at him before turning his attention back to the men riding up toward them.
"What are we dealing with?" Sasuke demanded. He squinted toward the dust. The closer they came, the clearer their bared teeth and painted faces became.
Wave Country had collapsed a little under 10 years ago. The people had risen up against the corrupt king and beheaded him. Most of the king's former vassals had broken up the land into territories. Any attempts at an alliance had shattered as negotiations had dissolved into violence. Now, warlords were the ones who ruled over the territories. And the most powerful warlords were the ones who had the money to employ the strongest warriors.
Itachi's shaking fingers grazed her stomach. When she grabbed his hand, she turned her head toward him. The color had drained completely from his face. And yet his dark eyes were clear as he stared at her, waiting.
"The warlords and their mercenaries aren't very reasonable. You should close your eyes," she warned him in a soft voice. She held his gaze until Itachi nodded a little. Turning her head back to the approaching threat, Sakura slipped out of Kaze's saddle.
The first warrior who arrived gripped a head in his hand. Sakura recognized it as the captain of the forward group that she had sent ahead to scout. Blood still dripped from the stump of his severed neck.
Sasori swore under his breath.
The man grinned. He was clearly the leader. He tossed the head toward Sakura's feet.
The rest of his men rode up to join them. Horses painted in swirls of white mud to look like skeletons thundering across the plains. The men themselves were wrapped in furs, necklaces of teeth and bones glittering across their collarbones and up their wrists. Itachi eyed one of the men's axes, an ugly thing crusted black with unspeakable remnants of past battles.
"Look at this. A little tea party from up north," he leered at her. White mud caked his face in war stripes. His yellowing teeth were too sharp.
"I don't suppose you'd be open to negotiation?" Sakura offered. Just to be polite.
She could already see their bloodshot eyes roving over their healthy horses and to the bags strapped to the backs of their saddles. They were looking at the shining buttons on their uniforms and at wide-eyed Haku clinging to his reins.
"How's about you give us your gold, lady, and then you show me your tits?" he leered.
As the man began to guffaw, Sasori lunged. He leapt from his saddle, drawing a dagger from somewhere up his sleeve. But before he could attack, Sakura had already raised her weapon. The point of her falchion dug into the leader's throat. As she pulled her blade free, blood dribbled from the incision. He gurgled, hands clutching at his neck. Blood began to leak from his mouth too, spilling into his beard.
Sasori looked down at his dagger. And then he spotted one of the warriors lurching forward. He flung his knife with a snap of his wrist. The triangular blade soared, burying itself into the man's eye socket. An agonized scream gurgled through the air.
As the rest of the foes attacked, Sakura shifted her weight. Her shoulders relaxed, her grip just loose enough on her falchion. Sparks flew as a sword connected with hers. She pushed back, sending the attacker stumbling.
"Oh, this won't be fun at all," she complained. At her back was Sasori, whose hooded gold eyes sparkled. His lips parted in a smile as he glanced all around.
A little ways away from them, Itachi sat on Kaze's back, dumbfounded as he watched Sakura's feet glide across the rough terrain. The toes of her black boots were dusted over and speckled with mud but they never stopped moving all the same. Her back straight and her mouth set in a line, Sakura blocked a spear jabbing toward her head before she twisted her wrist and gouged her opponent through the throat. Blood spurted from his mouth and spattered a few flecks on the side of her face.
There was clean elegance in the way she dispensed of each of her enemies. The tip of her sword made perfect cuts- geometric shapes and jabs that left tidy sprays of red across the packed mud and shriveled grass.
He could see now, what had inspired an entire army to move for her.
Sasuke moved in front of Itachi and Haku. He had received training, as any prince did, but he had never actually shed blood before. There had never been a reason to. While Sakura and Sasori had done an otherwise perfect job of keeping enemies at bay, one rogue had managed to come close to them. Sasuke raised his weapon, trying to keep his hands from shaking.
"Sasori!" Sakura yelled.
Sasuke blinked. And then the man who had been charging at him was falling. Twin daggers buried into his back. Sasori didn't even have the time to look at Sasuke again as he threw himself back into the battle.
"How dreadful," Itachi heard Haku whisper in a hoarse voice. He watched Sakura plunge her sword into a man, gouging upward between his ribs. Her leather gloves strained as she twisted. Planting her foot against his leg, she wrenched the blade free and he collapsed in a writhing pile on the ground. Sakura flicked her wrist and blood spattered the grass in an arc.
It didn't take long for the group traveling behind them to catch up. The addition of the soldiers shortened the battle considerably. They made quick work of the remaining attackers.
As the dust settled, one of the soldiers knelt before Sakura. Her eyes flickered around, searching until she saw Itachi and Haku still sitting atop their horses. Haku was a faint shade of green, but both seemed uninjured.
"We should have moved more quickly, General. Then you wouldn't have suffered any injuries," the soldier apologized.
"Don't be ridiculous. You followed orders and guarded the rear," she sighed. Pressing her fingers to her temple, she glanced over at Sasori, who shrugged.
"On your feet, soldier. Scout the area for any stragglers," she ordered. She could read the look on his face. See how the guilt had settled into his eyes. But the pull of his instincts was stronger. What soldier didn't move when his general commanded him?
"Yes, General. Right away," he uttered. He rose to his feet and bowed deeply before he hurried off. Yelling orders to his subordinates as he moved.
Sakura wiped the sweat from her brow. Peeling her gloves off, she made her way over to the horses. But as she moved, Sasori took her by the wrist. He kept his voice low, moved his lips as little as possible.
"I say we search the bodies. They might have orders on them. This might not be a random encounter," he warned her.
"Fine, fine," she snapped, pulling away from him. Sasori gave her a dumbfounded look as he watched her stalk off. And when he realized where she was headed, he let out a sigh.
"You're alright?" she asked Haku. Haku nodded. Sakura nodded in return.
And then Sakura reached up to take Itachi's hand. It was trembling. But he smiled for her as he squeezed her hand back. She studied his expression for a moment, tried to peek beneath that brave front.
"Sasori," Sakura called without tearing her eyes from Itachi.
"Yes?"
"I'll leave this to you. Let me take our friends somewhere a little less… unsettling," Sakura ordered.
There was a pause. Another sigh. And then: "Of course. I'll join you shortly." And then she could hear him directing some of the soldiers to accompany them to set up camp.
They found a rocky cliff that rose above the moist soil. The horses had little trouble navigating the terrain. Under the shelter of the cliff, they started a fire. Soldiers began digging up stones and smoothing over the dirt before they set up tents. Others went to secure firewood. Sakura almost went to help find kindling. But the look on Itachi's face told her it was a better idea to stay. Although Sasuke looked less shaken, he was also a little too pale for her liking. Sakura sat with the brothers, chatting with them to keep their minds occupied.
Soon, the soldiers returned. They started a fire in no time, stoking it to life. The flames grew brighter and brighter as they fed it with bits of brittle bark and then broken branches.
By the time they had put together a stew for dinner, Sasori and the rest of the party joined them. They sat with them around the fire. Sakura's gaze met Sasori's through the flickering flames. He shook his head. Sakura let out a little sigh before she turned back to the conversation around her.
As the sun set, yawns began to pass back and forth between people. Haku sagged against Sakura's shoulder. He jolted upright, murmuring an apology.
"You silly child. A growing boy needs rest," she replied. And she applied gentle pressure to his arm until he leaned over to rest his head in her lap. Her hand stroked through his hair just a few times before he was asleep. Some of the soldiers eyed the interaction. Exchanged wary glances. Before they pretended not to have seen anything at all.
Soon, it was time for the first shift of guards to switch. Some of the men lingering by the fire excused themselves, bowing. Sakura nodded in return.
"You should get some rest," Sakura then suggested, looking toward Itachi first, and then Sasuke.
"…You're right, I suppose. Early to bed, early to rise, as they say," Sasuke agreed. He paused. And then he gave his brother an awkward pat on the shoulder before he got to his feet. They watched his silhouette head in the direction of his tent. Silent. Sakura stroked Haku's hair a few more times. Drawn by the movement, Itachi watched her hand.
"I… somehow imagined it would be worse," he suddenly commented.
"What would be?"
"You. In combat."
Itachi's eyes held hers. For a long time. She liked how he didn't look away.
"Not so heartless?" she teased. Itachi's mouth curved up for the first time that night.
"Not at all," he replied. "After all, you have to be scared of losing something to fight that hard. Right?"
Her free hand found his in the dark. She pressed her lips to his forehead, listening to his trembling sigh. When her lips found his, they were both smiling.
After Itachi had gone to bed, Sakura woke Haku. He slurred an apology. But Sakura simply sent him along to sleep, too. She watched to make sure that he made it inside the flap of his tent before she surveyed the rest of their makeshift campsite.
Sasori conversed with a few soldiers. She watched him angling his hands, miming a slicing motion. He was probably giving feedback on their sword techniques. There were occasional flickers of movement in the darkness as others patrolled in the darkness. She stood up.
Sasori stopped mid-sentence. He held her stare. And then he smiled, giving her a single nod before he resumed his conversation.
Silence had two different faces.
There was a silence that settled over the night like a well-worn cloak. Familiar and comforting.
There was a silence that stifled. Too sharp in its stillness.
Sakura's eyes flew open when the wrong kind of silence entered her ears.
She sat just in front of Itachi's tent. Only her eyelids moved. The rest of her body frozen in the same light slouch she had fallen asleep in. As she searched the darkness, she met a pair of unfamiliar eyes.
"They said not to underestimate you," a deep, gravelly voice crawled through the darkness. His massive, hulking body was faintly visible in the glow of the dying fire.
"Are my soldiers dead?" she demanded.
"A few. The rest are unconscious, I'd say," he replied.
"How disappointing. We've been tracking these idiots for close to a week. Snatched the prey from right under our noses," another man commented from far too close to her.
Sakura whirled on the voice, the tip of her bloodied sword unwavering. The pointed edge came to rest just on the throat of an unknown man. His hair obscured one of his eyes but the other sparkled with mirth. He held his hands up but somehow conveyed the sense that he was by no means surrendering.
"Easy there, lass. Wouldn't want to make any big mistakes," he sneered.
They waited, muscles tensed and weapons raised, for the other riders to reach them. Sakura stared the stranger in his pale eyes. He didn't seem to be an actual threat. But he had the air of a trained killer. And with Itachi fast asleep just behind her, there was no way she was relaxing.
"Now, we're here to talk. No need for such hostility," the first man said.
"You sneak up on me. Kill my men. And then instruct me to be less hostile?" spat Sakura.
Everyone started when they heard the whisk of blades leaving a sheath.
"How right you are, cousin. With these lack of manners, they'll only ever be ill-bred mercenaries," Sasori spoke up. She couldn't see him, but he seemed to be standing closer to the first man.
There was a pause.
And then the first man chuckled. It was a booming sound, like it was moving through the earth and not the air. "Well. How stealthy," he commented. And then he seemed to think before he suggested: "How about we stoke this fire and have a conversation? Like civilized folk."
Sakura didn't move. Her glare still trained on the man closest to her.
There was movement in the dark. Rustling and footsteps. She tried to separate the different noises. To count how many there were. She could hear someone's puffing breaths as they blew on the embers to stoke them back to life.
Several minutes later, when tongues of flame began rising from the flame, Sakura began to count the heads.
Six altogether. The man who had spoken first sat on a stone by the fire. He was a massive creature with blue skin and pointed teeth that almost reminded her of the barracudas that swam the shallows near the island.
The other men were scattered around. Some were shirtless, others wore little more than an open jacket lined with fur over bare torsos. One had on some sort of mask that covered his mouth. He carried a bloodied knife in one hand. But all wielded swords, fierce blades glinting in the firelight.
Sasori took slow, measured steps to join Sakura. His eyes never leaving the men. His sword gripped tightly in his hand.
The man who stood closest to Sakura had silver hair. He grinned, hands still held up in a taunting way. He took a few steps away from her as Sasori approached. Sakura didn't move her weapon.
The blue-skinned man, clearly at the head of the group, got to his feet. He towered over her, muscles bulging as he crossed his arms over his chest. Sakura could hear Sasori's feet shift against the ground. She held her hand out, freezing him in place. Instead she turned to this massive man and fixed him with her coldest look.
To her surprise, the man in front of her smiled.
"We are the Swordsmen of the Mist," the man announced with a bow. Sasori's lip curled.
"Mercenaries," he confirmed with a scoff. Sakura wasn't surprised by his reaction. For a man like Sasori, his blood moved for blood. It moved for beauty and sacrifice and love. Hired men's blood stirred only for coin. There could be no greater dishonor than that.
But they had not announced that they were mercenaries. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she stored away that information for later.
"General Haruno of the Forest Kingdom. What business do you have with me?" she demanded.
"We've got a deal for you, Princess Sakura," the silver-haired man chimed in.
Sakura clicked her tongue. Her hair had always been a dead giveaway.
"You want money," she translated.
"Well, we don't hate money. That's sort of a given," the blue man agreed. But then he took a seat again, leaning back with a sort of ease that irritated her. Like he was in charge of the situation. And he was.
"How much do you know about the situation here, General?" he queried.
"In this camp or in this territory?" she bit back.
He chuckled. His hand landed on his knee. "Apologies. Us uneducated brutes might not speak as clearly as you. The territory." His smile wasn't particularly threatening. Neither was it so friendly that she let her guard down.
Sakura cast a look Sasori's way. He opened his mouth and cracked his jaw. Adjusting his grip on his weapon.
"No king. No unified government. And warlords are crossing over to ambush our caravans. It's not some grand mystery," retorted Sakura.
"They wouldn't be crossing over if they were properly paid their tribute. It's been months."
At this, Sasori narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?" he demanded.
"Our employer waited several months for the tribute to arrive. Pleasant relations will resume once he is paid his tribute," the blue man informed them with a polite smile.
Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Employer. Not lord. Interesting."
"Of course. The only loyalty these sort have is to money," spat Sasori.
There was a tense pause before one of the nearest men slowly raised his sword.
"You'd better watch your tone there," he slowly growled out. Sasori's eyes narrowed. Before he could draw blood, the leader sent a sharp look at the man who had spoken. The blade wavered before it slowly fell back.
The smile returned to the leader's face. "Who, on this planet, has the luxury of disliking money?"
"Impossible," Sasori retorted. "I was there at the meeting. Duke Hyuuga had it in his ledger. Tribute was paid. In fact, they agreed to increase the amount that was sent."
The mercenary just went on smiling. He tapped his fingers against his knee. Looking from Sasori, then to Sakura.
"This warlord could be lying," Sakura mused.
"Yes. I would advise against putting faith in such… people," Sasori trailed off, his gaze flitting to the mercenaries. His upper lip curled.
"And even if they are telling the truth, this employer could be lying to them," Sakura agreed.
"Oh. King Yagura may be bloody, but he does not lie," the mercenary interrupted with a cheerful shake of his head.
"Yagura? That child? And what is he king of? Ashes?" answered Sasori with a dismissive wave of his hand. The corner of the mercenary's mouth twitched. His stare bore into Sasori.
"Of course, plenty of men crowning themselves king these days. But just because there's no nation doesn't mean that the people don't exist," he corrected.
"Until I see evidence of Whiteriver Keep sending a carriage down this way, there is no proof that tribute was actually sent," Sakura cut through the tense moment. She shot Sasori a look. He glared, like he might snap at her too. But then he closed his mouth, returning his gaze to the mercenaries, who were glaring back just as fiercely.
"And if this is true, then King Yagura has essentially hired you to throw a tantrum in his stead," Sakura summarized. The mercenary gaped at her for a moment. And then he threw his head back and roared with laughter, his gut heaving. He put his fists on his hips as he chortled for a good moment. When he quieted, the way he studied Sakura changed, somehow. Unintimidated, she threw his calculating look right back at him.
"What is this King Yagura like?" she inquired.
"Bloody. But he has rules and he follows them," he answered.
Sakura touched her chin with her free hand. She sheathed her sword. The sound startled Sasori.
"Hm. Not the worst neighbor to have," she then said, mostly to herself. She looked down at herself now. Squinted down at her cloak. It had been a gift from her Aunt Kurenai. Handcrafted by the most skilled weavers. The clasps and the buckles accented by pearls and tourmaline. Sakura unbuckled it, letting it whisper off her shoulders. She then reached for the dagger strapped to the inside of her thigh. Shoulders tensed as she drew the weapon. But rather than draw it on any else, she brought it up to her throat.
"If I'm not mistaken, oaths are often sealed with part of the body in this land. Unfortunately, I happen to require all my fingers and toes. So this will have to do," she explained.
Sakura grasped the end of her ponytail. She sliced through her hair, just above where a find band of gold and silk held it in place. She placed it in the center of the cloak and folded it into a small bundle.
"Inform King Yagura that the Haruno family will see that he is compensated for his troubles. In the meantime, a peace offering," she instructed.
The mercenary stared at the bundle. He turned over some thought in his head, nodding to himself. Then he glanced at one of his men. The one wearing the mask. He jerked his chin. As he stepped closer, Sasori raised his sword a little higher. Sakura rolled her eyes, but chose to ignore him as she handed off her gift.
"And now," Sakura went on. All eyes flew to her again. "I have an offer for you."
And like he had been expecting that, the mercenary shook his head.
"We don't break contracts, General. It's no fun having an angry warlord's hoard chasing you down," the man countered. Sakura felt her expression relax slightly.
"Is that the weight of obligation I hear?" she commented with a hint of a smile. The man countered with a sharp-toothed grin. They stared at each other before the tall man extended his hand to her.
"Kisame Hoshigaki, handsome marauder and outlaw," he introduced himself. She grasped his cool palm in hers, giving it a firm shake.
"I'm not asking you to break it. I'm asking you to tell King Yagura that I will take you and your merry band. As a gesture of good will between the two of us," Sakura suggested instead.
Kisame made a face. "Between your two countries?"
"Between him and I," Sakura corrected.
She could tell when it clicked because Kisame snickered. "And what makes you think we'd be willing to transfer employment to you, General? Rumor is that you don't even have guarantee of a throne behind all that bragging."
Sakura didn't flinch. Although her smile cooled somewhat.
"So what? Are your words nonsense simply because you're not a king?" she challenged. She saw several pairs of eyes hone in on her, greed shining bright. But Kisame remained pleasantly unreadable as he shrugged.
"Gold?" the silver-haired man suggested.
"Only gold? What a simple request," mocked Sakura. Rather than bristle at the jab, Kisame leveled her with a searching gaze.
"What are you offering here, General?"
"You'll end your contract here, cut ties with these warlords. Enter a more permanent contract with me and you will never need to take another job again. It will largely be security and intelligence work but with all the gold and the lands you could ever want," she said. She could hear the question in Sasori's stare on her back.
What the hell are you doing?
"And if we refuse?" Kisame questioned.
Sakura's smile grew even colder. "Will you refuse?" she wondered in response. Eyes narrowed, she added, "Who, on this planet, has the luxury of disliking money?" She borrowed his words from earlier.
Kisame exhaled a huge breath through his nostrils.
"The little king won't be easy to convince," he grumbled.
"Then it's a good thing that I only use the best. I'm sure that's something you can handle," Sakura replied. She got to her feet. And then she smirked at him.
"Be back by sundown tomorrow. If not, I'll assume that you're satisfied with living as a child's messenger for the rest of your lives," she added.
Her eyes locked with Kisame's as he rose to his full height as well. He held her stare for a long time before he simply turned and stalked off. The rest of his band disappeared into the darkness after him.
Sasori spat into the dirt as they melded into the night.
Sakura nudged the flap of Haku's tent. He lay curled up on his side, his back to the entrance.
"Haku," she called.
He jolted. And then jerked up right. Face white and eyes too bright in the darkness as he turned to look at her.
"Are they gone?" he whispered.
"Yes, little one," replied Sakura. She crouched in the entrance of the tent, forearms resting on her thighs. She offered him a reassuring smile.
"Go back to sleep. We'll keep watch until morning," she assured him. And then Haku's eyes grew as huge as plates.
"Oh. My Lady. Your hair," he gasped.
"In the morning, Haku. Rest," Sakura said. She let the flap fall back into place. When she got to her feet, Sasuke stood speaking to Sasori.
"Are you alright? I woke up in the middle, but I didn't want to cause alarm by barging in," the prince apologized as he approached. Sakura shook her head.
"A wise decision," she said. But it was a little distracted. Because while she was glad that her friend was unharmed, there was one last person she needed to check on.
Itachi sat up in his bedroll when she slipped into his tent.
She didn't bother asking him if he was alright. Such a stupid question. Though he certainly looked pale and a bit worn out, he hardly looked to be on the edge of collapse. He tried to smile at her. She pretended not to see the worry etched into his expression as she took a seat beside him. The layers of blankets and furs still clung to the heat from his body.
As she looked straight ahead, she realized that she could see the shadows of Sasori and Sasuke's legs as they stood by the fire. Realized that Itachi would have seen her silhouette, too. Blocking the entrance to his tent.
"That could have gone very poorly. I'm glad it didn't come to blows," she mused as she put her hand over Itachi's. Even though it was shaking, he laced their fingers together. He did that often, she noticed. When she turned her head toward him, he regarded her with equal curiosity.
"Why do you always do that? With my hands, I mean," inquired Sakura. His thumb stroked the back of her hand. He tilted his head to one side, bringing their joined hands up.
"I suppose that I just…enjoy holding your hands? I like the way they feel," he wondered out loud. She scoffed.
Her hands were scarred and rough from years of training and labor. There were calluses on her palm that fit the handle of her sword. There were marks from blades and injuries that made knotted scars on her pale skin. Even the tips of her fingers weren't soft like a lady's hands. And she had never really paid much attention to that sort of thing. Not until Itachi started to hold her hand all the time.
He watched her expression. Thoughtful.
"Do you…not like your hands?" Itachi questioned.
She didn't say anything. And to her surprise, he didn't push the subject. He asked another question, instead. One that she disliked even more.
"Weren't you scared?" Itachi murmured.
Sakura leaned against his side. He was warm.
"Of course not," she lied. She squeezed his hand. Just for another moment, before she pulled away.
"No need to cause a scandal, I suppose. Try to get some rest," she whispered as she got to her feet. She was careful not to meet his gaze as she left the tent.
The mercenaries were back precisely at sundown. Sakura sat on a log, one leg crossed over the other as Kisame knelt and set down a boar at her feet. The flesh was still warm as black blood bubbled from the arrow wound in its throat
"A meager offering for you. Long live General Haruno, true heir to the Forest Kingdom," he declared. And with some visible grumbling, his underlings lowered to their knees and bent their heads.
Haku grabbed Sakura's arm. And when one of the mercenaries' eyes fell on him, he flinched, burying his face in the back of Sakura's shirt.
Kisame's head jerked up when Sakura let out an audible snort.
"They won't hurt you, Haku. There's no need to be afraid," she told the boy. And then Sakura looked at the warriors.
"I am not taking you in as knights. I do not expect chivalry and manners. I know precisely what I've hired," she said as she leaned forward and lifted Kisame's chin.
"Mercenaries. Rogue, coarse, money-seeking, whore-loving mercenaries," Sakura added. She thought for a moment before she smiled.
"I'll expect you to be bawdy and to ruffle some feathers. But when I require your swords, when I ask you to wag your tails and beg…" she trailed off for a moment as she saw the outrage burning in some of their eyes.
But then one of the men, younger with his rounder face and his grin raised his chin to stare defiantly at her. It was the one with the silver hair who could never seem to keep his mouth shut for long.
"Woof," he simply declared.
Everyone froze. Sasuke held his breath as he looked over at Sakura, who folded her arms across her chest. She regarded for a moment before her eyebrows rose.
"What is your name?" she finally questioned.
"Suigetsu, M'Lady. An honor," he said with a mocking bow.
Finally Sakura smirked.
"You're cheeky. I've decided that you'll slaughter the pig," she said. Suigetsu blinked before his mouth spread into a grin. He pulled his sword out of the harness on his back.
"With pleasure," he responded.
Tensions died down somewhat after this exchange. The remaining soldiers regarded the mercenaries with disgust, but none would dare go against their commanding officer. Some moved in to start preparing the boar for cooking.
As Sakura took a seat near the fire, Sasori ran his hand over her back.
"Still sore?" he wondered.
"They ache a little," she admitted.
He sat beside her. Sakura patted his knee a couple times.
"What?" demanded Sasori. She offered him a little smile.
"I'm glad you're here," was all she said. Sasori didn't reply to that. He just reached over and kneaded her shoulder a couple times before he let his hand fall into his lap. His eyes moved to Sasuke, who exited his brother's tent with a grim expression.
"Sasuke," Sakura called out. But the prince was already walking toward her.
"How is he?"
"Tired," Sasuke declared as he plopped onto the rock too. Sakura scooted over to one side to make room for him.
"You or your brother?" queried Sasori.
"Both," Sasuke grunted. He put his elbows on his knees to eye the men across the fire.
"Are you sure this is wise? Even I've heard stories of these men like these and their atrocities," he then said in a low voice.
"For the time being, they'll do more good than harm. But I wouldn't keep my wine unguarded around them," she answered just as quietly before she fixed an easy smile back on her face and got to her feet.
Their oddly assorted party traveled back up the borderlands, toward the Forest Kingdom. Kisame's easy banter with Sakura made it impossible for either sides of the group to really keep their weapons held at each other's throats. But at the same time, Sasori seemed to largely be occupying himself giving dirty looks and everyone seemed happy to reciprocate.
The swordsmen led their caravan, taking the place of the soldiers they had slain. The remaining soldiers, along with Sasuke and Sakura's horses brought up the rear. At night they set up camp. Sasori insisted upon sleeping outside with his sword gripped tightly in his hand. Sakura couldn't help but shake her head at him planted by the entrance of her tent like an angry guard dog.
As time went on, Sakura slowly began to learn some of the names of her newly hired swords. There was, of course, Kisame, who bore the most peculiar scars on his wrists that Sakura couldn't help but look at whenever he walked past with his sleeves rolled up. Sasori's eyes narrowed whenever he saw them too but he never seemed willing to tell Sakura why. There was hot-headed Suigetsu with his cheeky tongue. But then there was his older brother, Mangetsu. One of the swordsmen kept his mask on at all times. The man with the obscenely large sword strapped to his back was Zabuza, and he was by far one of the most interesting characters in the group.
One night after dinner, Sakura glanced at Zabuza through the flickering flames. His black eyes were fixated on Haku, who in turn was trying his best to look busy sewing up the tear in Sakura's jacket. But she saw the way his white fingers fumbled and she chuckled. It seemed that Zabuza had taken somewhat of an interest in her companion.
"He's intimidating," she said in a low voice.
"Very," agreed Haku with a nervous glance in the muscled man's direction. Though the lower half of his face was covered in linen bandages, Sakura examined what little she could discern. A strong jaw and cropped black hair- he wouldn't be an ugly man. And his muscles weren't lacking. Strong. Healthy. Sakura saw Haku's eyes also lingering on Zabuza's flexed biceps.
"Handsome, perhaps," added Sakura, carefully monitoring Haku's expression. The boy's cheeks exploded bright red as he whipped his head around to stare at her.
"My Lady!" he squeaked.
"Such relations are not uncommon back on the isle. Yashamaru kept company with a wonderful soldier for many years," continued Sakura with an expression of feigned disinterest. As Haku continued to grow more and more flushed, Sasori wandered over and crouched down beside them to knock his forehead into hers.
"Can I help you?" Sakura asked, fixing her mussed hair. Sasori then wrapped his arm around her waist and hauled her to her feet.
"Take a walk with me, darling. Leave the poor child to his work," he said. There was a muffled sputter from across the fire.
"HIS? As in- a boy?" Suigetsu exclaimed, spilling out most of his drink. Beside him, his brother chortled behind his fist. Sasuke's face contorted with disgust at the ruckus before he glanced over at Haku to make sure that everything was alright. The boy's face was absolutely crimson as he bent over his work in furious concentration.
As the sounds of laughter muted, Sakura glanced over at her cousin. His glanced her way too before his eyes crinkled in a soft smile.
"I saw you tormenting Haku. Have you no shame?" Sasori pretended to scold her as he dropped his arm and instead let it swing freely at his side. Sakura put her hands in her back pockets. They headed into the trees, away from prying eyes.
The moon was bright that night. Silver light scattered in through the leaves, turning them odd shades of white and bleached blue. They were back in the Forest Kingdom's territories, back to the familiar cover of thick forests. It was a welcome relief from the endless, muddy plains.
"That isn't what you dragged me into the dark to talk about. What is it, Sasori?"
"Your hair looks lovely like that, you know."
As Sakura rolled her eyes, Sasori chuckled. They both ducked to avoid a sagging branch. The moss softened their footfalls, muffling it until the symphony of bugs and nocturnal creatures drowned out the sounds of their movement. They stopped in a clearing dotted with fireflies.
After a long time, Sasori finally spoke again.
"I meant what I said. Your face looks wonderful no matter what length your hair is," he said.
Sakura gave him a look.
"Alright. Fine. I wanted to say that I think we need to consider the possibility that this was a setup," he warned her.
"These mercenaries?"
"No, the earlier band of rogues. They found us rather soon after we entered the territory. Don't you find that a little suspicious? Almost as if…" Sasori trailed off, as if was beneath him to spell it out so obviously.
"As if they knew we'd be there," mused Sakura instead. And then she scrutinized his expression. "And they sent me down here to investigate. Not anyone else."
"I suspect that someone might have been hoping that we'd run into a band of mercenaries much like this one. Only I suppose they didn't anticipate you to have such a silver tongue," he went on.
"This isn't the first time sometimes tried to dispose of me. I can't say your theory is unlikely," she decided.
Sasori suddenly sounded exhausted as he whispered, "I'm so tired of this. I just want you to be happy. I wish all those awful people would just die."
Sakura stared at Sasori for a long time. In the wavering moonlight, his eyes glimmered, almost as if they were filled with tears. Letting out a sigh, she placed her hand over his heart.
"Oh, Sasori," was all she could think to say.