Chapter 12 ---- Challenge
"Yo," said Itachi with a sinister smile on his face.
"Itachi," Sasuke said.
"How was your date?"
"What are you doing here?" Sasuke asked alertly.
"I wanted to see how my brother was doing. That's all," Itachi chuckled.
Sasuke glared at Itachi.
"I just think that you're wasting your time. You're my brother. That pink-haired girl. Do you realize what you are doing? She is not meant to be part of your life."
"It's my concern, not yours—"
Itachi kicked Sasuke down and pinned him down on the ground with his foot.
Sasuke grunted and struggled to remove Itachi's foot off his chest.
"Stop dreaming. Do you really think that you can make her happy?"
Sasuke shoved Itachi's foot away and started to run back to Sakura's house.
Sasuke arrived at Sakura's house. He rang the doorbell. The door opened and Sakura's mom came out.
"Oh! Hi, Sasuke-kun! Are you looking for Sakura?"
"Yes. I…forgot to tell her something."
"Hmm…Did you not see her outside? She came home and went right back outside."
Sasuke had a bad feeling.
"I'll go find her. Thank you!" Sasuke ran down the road. He headed for Itachi. He turned the corner but there was no one. He looked around and saw only the rows of telephone poles along side the road.
Ring-Ring-Ring…
Sasuke heard a cell phone ring tone. He looked around and found a white cell phone at the bottom of a telephone pole.
"Hello," Sasuke answered.
"Sasuke-kun! Itachi's ---Ow!"
Sasuke heard Sakura's voice cut off.
"I've got your girl," ItacShi said.
"Where are you?" Sasuke asked.
"Where are we? If you want to know, we are at the Konoha Bay storages." Itachi hung up.
"Konoba Bay storages…"
Sasuke closed the cell phone and gripped it tightly. He noticed that there was a strap with a small kunoichi figure attached to it.
He ran for the main road to catch a taxi. Sasuke arrived at the Konoha Bay storages. The huge storages were lined up along the port. The shutters were shut. As soon as he got off the taxi, he spotted a van outside one of the storages. He ran for it but found no one in it. He looked around and found a door that led to the interior of the storage.
Sasuke opened the door. Inside was dim. He heard water dripping and the air was eerie. There were large metal containers stacked up everywhere.
"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted.
He heard no answer.
"Sakura!" He tried calling her once more.
He listened intently and scanned the area.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura came out from an aisle between the stacked containers.
Soon, two guys came chasing her and caught her.
"Let me go!" She shouted.
"Let go of her!" Sasuke shouted.
When he saw Sakura's face, her eyes opened widely as if she was stunned.
"Sasuke-kun! Watch out! Behind you!"
Sasuke turned around and was whacked by one of Itachi's underlings.
----
Sasuke opened his eyes.
"Good morning, Sasuke," Itachi said.
Sasuke came back to his senses and got up immediately. He found himself in a small room and his hands were tied on his back.
"Here is the game," Itachi said. "I'm going to give you an opportunity to realize what you really want."
Sasuke listened.
"All you have to do is," Itachi smirked, "survive."
At that moment, Sasuke heard a loud mechanic noise as the floor suddenly shook like an earthquake. The room was moving away from Itachi. Sasuke was confused. Soon, light came into Sasuke's sight. He finally realized that he was in a cargo crate.
"Remember, you can always give up and ask me for help. I'm your brother," Itachi shouted and showed a triumphant smirk on his face. Sasuke saw the two metal doors closing up.
"No! Stop that!" Sakura came to Itachi and started pulling his arms. Itachi shot a cold glance at her and pushed her down.
The cargo container fell into the water.
"Take her away," Itachi ordered his underlings. He stared at the floating container for a moment and turned around.
Sasuke walked around the unstable room looking for a way out. The door was locked from outside.
Sakura was taken up a tower crane above the water. She could see the container still floating on the water. She could see her box moving further from the ground. Sakura was afraid of height. She squatted down in fear.
"Someone help! Help!" Sakura tried shouting but her voice did not come out. She peeked out and saw the container almost sinking. Her body was shaking uncontrollably. However, she had a burning determination in her heart to save Sasuke.
Itachi was watching Sakura from a distance away. He could not help smiling. He looked at the cargo crate sinking into the water. He looked up at Sakura's crate and doubted his eyes. He saw Sakura jumping out of the crate. She fell into the water with a huge splash.
Sakura's body did not move to her wishes. It felt like it had become paralyzed from the fear and the shock of a sudden environment change. The greenish water and the temperature of it were not welcoming.
"Move!" Sakura shouted in her mind as she was sinking. Her body started to move. She swam to the surface. She looked around she saw no cargo crate. She saw Itachi and his underlings up on the concrete.
"Should I go get her?" one of the underling asked Itachi.
Itachi kept silent and watched Sakura.
She went underwater and spotted the cargo slowly sinking to the bottom. The bottom was not far below surface since it was right next to the land. Sakura pulled the bar on the door to the side to open the door. Her breath was coming close to its limit. She opened the door and found Sasuke. He was floating in the water. Sakura swam to get him and headed for the surface. The surface suddenly looked so far above. The sky was orange and the water was dim.
"Almost there…" Things started to look blur. Just as she exhaled her last breath left, in bubbles, someone grabbed her hand.
----
Sasuke opened his eyes. He was lying on a lukewarm concrete. As he coughed, he got up and looked around. Sakura was lying next to him. Things came back to his mind in a flashback. He was drowning in the crate.
"Sakura! Sakura!" Sasuke shouted. He hit Sakura's cheek lightly several times. Sakura started coughing.
"Sakura! Are you all right?" he asked.
Sakura got up and looked at Sasuke with her beady eyes. "Sasuke-kun…You're ok," she muttered and closed her eyes.
"Hey!" Sasuke caughter her in his arms. "Sakura!" He shook her.
----
Sasuke was carrying Sakura in his arms.
"Sasuke-kun, you can put me down now," Sakura said. "Thanks. I'm feeling better."
Sakura strood up in front of Sasuke. Sasuke looked at her face and blushed.
"I had something to give you," Sakura said. She reached into her pocket and took out a small, clear plastic bag. "I still have it," Sakura smiled. She took out a strap with a small ninja figure from the bag. He recognized it as the same strap as the one that was on Sakura's cell phone but with a different figure.
"I bought this after the movie. It was sold at the counter," Sakura held the strap in front of Sasuke.
Sasuke remembered when Sasuke panicked after the movie because Sakura was missing. He received the strap and then reached into his pocket. He took out Sakura's cell phone. Water was dripping from it.
"I still had it..," Sasuke said. Sakura laughed.
"It's a pair strap," Sakura said.
Sasuke was surprised that she bought the straps for him and herself.
"Sakura. Did you rescue me from the crate?" Sasuke questioned.
"I…I tried to. When I was up in the crate hanging from the construction crane, I was so scared. But when I thought about you sinking into the water, I thought of how you saved me in the water at the camp…" Sakura looke
"So you…Jumped off the crate?"
"Yeah. But it really wasn't bad, Sasuke-kun. You were the one that wasn't ok!" Sakura laughed a little since Sasuke's intense expression was scaring her a little.
Sasuke hugged Sakura tightly. Sakura was surprised.
"Sakura. I've always liked you," he said and put his head down.
"Sasuke-kun..," Sakura slowly put her arms around Sasuke's waist. "I'm sorry I didn't notice your feelings for a long time. The thing is…I didn't notice my own feelings for you until they came out of me." Sakura said.
Sasuke's feelings for her were stronger than his shock to find out about Sakura's having feelings for him. He kept hugging her tightly.
"You're brother. I think he is not a bad person," Sakura said.
"Itachi?"
"When I was swimming for the surface, I couldn't hold my breath anymore. Then someone grabbed my wrist and pulled me up. It was your brother."
Sasuke could not believe what she said.
"He didn't say anything but put us down and left."
"Itachi did that?" Sasuke was almost in a shock to know such side of Itachi.
They stopped hugging.
"Let's go home, Sakura," Sasuke said.
Sakura was looking down at the ground.
"Saku---"
Sakura turned to Sasuke and kissed him briefly. She looked at Sasuke's surprised face, which was orange with the setting sun. "Thanks." She smiled.
For the first time, Sasuke felt like screaming from the bottom of his lungs, but he smiled and said, "Sure."
Sasuke and Sakura went home together holding hands.
Author Note: I think this is the end. I might add something for fun, though. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading my story. Please let me know what you think!
