Chapter Thirteen
It's just business...
Life was a complicated thing. No two people ever experienced it the same way. There may be similarities - shared happiness and sorrow - but no person ever would ever see, touch, hear, taste, or feel it the same as another. It was unique to that person and that person alone.
Sakura considered this as she sipped from her mug, her eyes roving over the small coffeehouse. The thick scent of coffee filled the shop as beans were ground and pressed. The hiss from the espresso machine echoed behind the counter as workers filled the orders of their customers. All smiles and friendly conversation.
By the door was a group of teenagers, all six crammed into a booth that was far too small for their party. They were all laughing as they enjoyed their coffees and pastries. Sakura wondered under all those smiles how many were actually happy. How many were stressed for college. Who was concerned for their drug-abusing sibling. Whose mother had passed in the last year.
The businessman at the counter checked his watch for the third time as he waited for his drink. There were stress lines under his eyes. Had he caught his wife in bed with another man only just last night? Or perhaps he had stayed late at the office to cheat himself?
Those were the kind of things one would never know simply by looking at another person.
Sakura thought about this a lot. Wondered what secrets lay behind the face of the person next to her. Only because she had so many herself. With her pretty face and easy smile, one would never take her to be an international weapons dealer. An arms trafficker. A murderer. Maybe that's why she was so good at it.
She wondered if the barista behind the counter would smile at her like that if he knew the first thing about her. Probably not. He'd likely run screaming all the way to the police station.
Sakura couldn't resist smiling at him now. Just the barest curve in the corner of her mouth before she sipped from her mug. His smile widened in response, dimples and all, before his attention returned to the drink he was making.
It was then that a shadow fell over her. She looked up to find Tobirama. Dressed in a three-piece suit and tie, he stuck out like a sore thumb.
He eyed the barista pointedly. "He's too innocent for you."
Perhaps that was true, but Sakura shot him an unimpressed look regardless. "Don't tell me you're intimidated by a nineteen-year-old."
The glare Tobirama sent her was dark enough to make anyone cower. If only she hadn't seen him naked.
Smirking, she sipped her coffee before lowering the mug once more. "What're you doing here?"
"I need an update on your shipment," he told her, his scowl lessening but not completely fading.
"And you couldn't have just called?"
"I did," he said with a tone of forced patience. "Four times."
Alright, it was possible she had been fielding Tobirama's calls. But only because she had been in a bad mood the last few days and she had just wanted some time to herself without him touching her for sex. She wanted to be more annoyed than she was about him dropping in on her unexpectedly, but she supposed she couldn't blame him. They had business to discuss.
"Fine," Sakura sighed.
She drained the rest of her coffee before she stood and left the little shop with Tobirama in tow. On the sidewalk, they waited for the cars to back up at the red light before they weaved through the vehicles and crossed the street.
Sakura slipped into the passenger seat of Tobirama's car, her spine melting into the soft leather. He started the engine but made no move to merge into traffic. Simply turned the heat to low to keep out the winter cold.
"Hashirama wants to move on Newark in four days," Tobirama told him needlessly. "I'm gathering men, but I need to know your status on supplies. You said you were having a new shipment arrive this week?"
Humming her confirmation, Sakura scrolled through her phone, pausing on the update from Naruto. She read the short email, a faint smile crossing her face. "Tonight, actually," she said at last. "All I need to know is where you want it."
If Tobirama was surprised by her swiftness, he didn't show it. "The warehouse off of 42nd," he told her.
It was the one he usually used. The abandoned building tucked away in an old manufacturing district. Forgotten and isolated.
"I'll have Naruto get it delivered to you tonight," Sakura said.
"No, I want you to do it."
Stilling, she paused and looked up to peer at Tobirama. "You don't trust me to have my men handle things."
He stared back unapologetically. "This is a massive raid. I need things done correctly. If we lose this, Akatsuki will expand further into Jersey and start moving into our territory. So I need you there to ensure everything goes perfect. Can you do that or not?"
Sakura just stared back, utterly unconcerned by his sudden attitude. She was more interested into how she had gotten under his skin so quickly. Perhaps he was annoyed she had been ignoring him. Or maybe he was anxious about what was to come with Akatsuki. Or it was possible he had always been like this and she had just never noticed before. Whichever it was, she let the matter go with a shrug.
"I will personally deliver you the weapons tonight, Your Majesty," she eventually said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.
Tobirama's scowl deepened minutely. Then he sighed when he saw her failed attempt to bite back her smirk. The curve of her lips only widened when he looked forward, a muttered 'smartass' passing his lips.
Sakura quietly laughed at him a moment longer before she finally reached for the door handle. "I'll be there at midnight," she told him.
Tobirama said nothing before she slipped out of the car.
xx
That night, Sakura drove to the meeting place. With Naruto in the passenger seat, they bumped along in the moving truck down the deserted streets. In the cupholder, Sakura's phone chimed. The only sound to break the still silence. She read Ino's message at the next red light and sent off a reply before shoving the device into her pocket.
Only once they were a few blocks out, did Sakura speak, "Watch your back when we get there."
Naruto turned his head to peer at her. "I thought you and Tobirama got along?"
"We do," she said, her eyes briefly flickering to the side mirror. "But that doesn't mean he won't put a bullet in my back later. This is business, after all."
"Do you plan on cheating him?"
"Of course not," Sakura snapped, glancing in the blond's direction. "But even the best of business partners find themselves at each other's throats now and again. And unfortunately our dealings involved many, many guns."
Naruto said nothing to that. Merely glanced out the window to stare at the passing streetlights.
Some minutes later, they arrived at the warehouse. The surrounding streets were empty, not even an abandoned car left to rust on the side of the road. The windows that hadn't been boarded up were dark and dusty. Some even cracked.
Sakura backed the truck up to one of the loading garages and killed the engine. The sudden silence echoed in her ears. Though not as loudly as her door as she stepped down out of the truck and shut it behind her. The sound seemed to echo twice as far as it should've.
"You're late," a shadow in the doorway said.
The dark figure straightened as she approached the back of the truck. Tobirama had changed out of his silk suit and into street clothes. Somehow the jeans and black, hooded jacket made him look bigger. Fiercer.
She shot him a look. "I'm here, aren't I?"
He scowled at her until Naruto stepped up beside her. He didn't even offer the blond a glance before he turned away to knock on the bay door. On cue, someone on the inside hauled it open, allowing them to slip inside and out of the wind.
With Naruto at her side, they stood some yards back as one of Tobirama's men approached the back of the truck. He unfastened the locks and hauled the heavy door up before he stepped aside for Tobirama's viewing.
Tobirama said nothing as he eyed the store. All eyes were on him as he popped open the first container and inspected the shipment. All except Sakura. Who was examining her nails. She listened to Tobirama rummage through the inventory.
After a few minutes, he slipped back out. "These are all loaded and ready to go?"
Sakura nodded. "All yours as soon as I get my payment."
Tobirama nodded at his men. They jumped into motion immediately to begin securing the load. "I'll have Hashirama wire you the money."
"Hashirama knows I expect payment upon delivery," she told him.
When he turned to look at her, her face was relaxed but there was a steeliness behind her eyes. If he thought she would be lenient on him because they shared a bed, he was in for a rude awakening.
To her relief, Tobirama just smirked. A faint curve in the corners of his mouth only wide enough for her to see. Without a word, he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. His fingers swiped across the screen before he waited.
A few seconds later, Sakura's phone pinged, alerting her of the transfer. She tossed him the truck keys with a smile. "Thanks, darling."
With Naruto behind her, she exited the warehouse. With the exchange over, her mood was lighter than it had in days. The familiar relief and zing of adrenaline flooding her system like a hit of nicotine. Addicting and euphoric.
Only once the building was no longer in sight did Naruto speak, "How can you be so relaxed? Doesn't he give you the creeps?"
Blinking herself to the present, Sakura glanced at him. "Who?"
"Tobirama," he said like it was obvious. "That dude just gives off a vibe of murder."
"Does he? I hadn't noticed," she said. And she meant it. Perhaps it was because she had been surrounded by murder all her life. Those types of men just didn't have the same effect on her anymore.
The pair stopped when they reached the next intersection. Down the street, the headlights of Kakashi's car appeared. Her phone pinged in her back pocket. A small smile crossed her face when she read the text from Tobirama:
Your place. Two hours.
Maybe Tobirama did give off a vibe. But it certainly wasn't murder.
xx
Sakura inhaled slowly. And then exhaled. She laid on her back, the strong, sturdy floor a welcomed anchor from the constant spin the world seemed to be in. Above her, the ceiling seemed so far away. Stretching impossibly high. Her eyes traced the lights that swept across the room like false shooting stars. Passing, passing, passing by as the cars outside drove up the street and then away.
Four shots was fun. Five was a horrible, horrible mistake.
Somewhere off to her left, Ino groaned quietly in the back of her throat. The blonde was only visible by her legs where they dangled off the arm of Sakura's couch, swaying in a slow, lazy swing. She was likely in worse shape than Sakura.
On the other side of the apartment, the radio hummed low in the background. A familiar song filled the comfortable silence. Sakura sang along to a couple of lines, liking the way those lyrics rolled off her tongue. Putting words to the feelings she didn't quite know how to describe.
When that song faded, Sakura let the next fill the room. She listened absently as she rolled through what the next few days held for her. Her fingertips ghosted over the raised skin along her abdomen. The scar was still tender when she moved certain ways, but for the most part it had healed well.
"Why are you headed to Long Island again?" Ino asked, breaking the long, long silence that had settled between them.
Sakura pulled her hand out from under her shirt to run her fingers through her hair, spreading the pink locks across the floor like a flowing, pink river. "I'm meeting a new contact," she said simply.
Ino's legs stopped moving abruptly. "A new contact? What kinda contact?"
A CIA contact. A traitorous contact. A contact she was never supposed to have, was Sakura's immediate answer. She knew she couldn't voice any of these so she remained silent, staring at the ceiling, chasing the bursts of light that briefly drove the shadows away before the dark closed in again.
"Why are you asking?" Sakura asked instead. She was good at that - redirecting. And normally Ino was the first to pick up on it, but she was too drunk, too lost in her own jumbled thoughts to notice.
Ino didn't answer, her feet falling still. She was quiet for so long, Sakura thought she may have finally fallen asleep. But then her legs vanished and she appeared over the couch, her arms folded across the back, her chin resting on her forearm. Even then, Ino still hesitated. Her lips pursed together, searching for how to say what was on her mind.
Without lifting her head from the ground, Sakura turned her face towards her. Wondering, waiting to see what Ino would say.
"I've been thinking," Ino said slowly. "And just think about it before you say no," she quickly added.
Sakura's eyes narrowed, already not liking this conversation. Still, she remained quiet as she waited for Ino to continue.
"What if...what if I became one of your contacts?"
The curious look on Sakura's face faded to be replaced with genuine surprise. She blinked, a little lost for words. "What? Why?"
"Because I'm tired of just sitting on my hands," Ino told her vaguely. "And you're still short one supplier after Asuma was killed."
Even with her head still spinning, Sakura pushed herself up. The world tilted a little but she pressed her palm flat to the floor to anchor herself. The gravity of Ino's request sobered her some, gave her something to focus on other than her own, churning thoughts. Something the alcohol had failed to do.
"Asuma was targeted by Akatsuki, Ino. You don't want to do this," Sakura said solemnly.
Rather than become defensive, Ino deflated a little. She propped her elbow against the couch to rest her temple against her fist. With the other hand, she traced invisible patterns along the cotton.
Ever since her parents had been murdered, there was something a little off about Ino. Where she had once been easygoing and perky, she was more subdued. More calculating. More like Sakura. It was a little unnerving.
When Ino remained quiet, Sakura pressed softly, "If you start down this path, Ino, you will learn that there is no one in this world you hate more than yourself."
"I already do," she murmured so quietly Sakura nearly missed it.
There was a tone in Ino's voice Sakura didn't recognize. She wondered if Ino felt guilty for not being there for her parents. Wondered if Ino thought she should have helped them more with their assignment. Sakura knew that if Ino had, she would have just been another victim.
Like a light turning on, it suddenly occurred to Sakura as she sat there watching Ino trace that nonexistent shape on her couch, that perhaps that was what Ino wished had happened.
The playful, blonde girl Sakura had known since she was ten was gone. In her place was someone who looked like Ino, only darker and more cruel. The harsh realities of the world had stolen that sun-shiny innocence from her. Leaving behind a cold, broken heart. Sakura recognized that bitterness in Ino's eye. She saw it every morning when she looked in the mirror.
"I don't have anything left to lose," Ino said. Then her hand stilled as she raised her gaze to meet Sakura's. "And you need me."
Sakura remained quiet. Not because she was searching for the words to tell Ino no. But because Ino was right. Sakura was down a supplier and Ino's parents had been small time smugglers. Ino had grown up learning to hide and conceal. She would pick up Sakura's trade well.
A sigh from Sakura's very soul passed between her lips. "I'll put you in contact with Naruto," she eventually said. "He'll show you the ropes."
to be continued...
Sorry for the errors. Been a busy couple of days - haven't had much time to write/edit. Hope you enjoyed regardless!