Ink's Notes:
Y'know you'd think I'd be better at this whole 'not dying' thing. Writer's block combined with being busy with other things isn't fun! But this came to me one day and I figured, something is better than nothing, yeah? Ahahahahaha... I'm so sorry you guys
Chapter Forty-Four
Sakura woke up with a start, jolting as if emerging from a bad dream. Blearily, she rubbed her eyes, looking around and taking in her surroundings. She was in her room, and the window was open- and next to it, Marco sat on his perch in bird form, sleeping quietly without a care in the world. With a smile, she got out of bed, moving to go take a shower. She'd hopefully finish it before he woke up, and if so then she could surprise him with some breakfast.
Her plans didn't last- by the time she emerged from her bathroom, Marco was awake and in human form, preparing some food for them both.
Marco smiled as he greeted her, and informed her that they had a mission today so they needed to go and see Tsunade.
Sakura nodded as she began eating. Marco and the others had decided to settle into the Leaf Village for the time being, while Tsunade worked on getting them back home. He hadn't pledged loyalty to the Hokage, but he was good enough at bending the rules that he could get away with helping her on her missions without getting in trouble for it. Sakura figured it was because Tsunade liked her, and was making an exception. Besides, Marco's presence in the village meant that Sasuke hadn't decided to try anything and was instead working on fixing the Uchiha Compound, to give new life to his clan.
Sakura paused as she ate, mulling over the details. Something didn't quite seem right about that concept-
Morning chores were a blur, and before long she and Marco were outside of Tsunade's office. Tashigi let them in, saluting as she did so. Sakura paused to stare, but Marco quickly pulled her into the office and sat her down on a chair, leaning on the back while the Hokage addressed them. She outlined their mission- transporting some goods to Suna- and told Sakura to take her time in the area, so she could spend time with Vivi. She'd settled into life there rather well, and was now working full time as Gaara's assistant.
Sakura frowned and stared at the edge of Tsunade's desk. That seemed unlike her; she had her people to worry about and her family to return to. Shouldn't she stay close by to be able to use the return-home jutsu right away-
Sakura waved goodbye to her former teammates at the gates. She warned Naruto that if he caused trouble, Perona would hit him with a hollow and toy with him while he was helpless. She got bored when Jugo was out on missions, so-
Why would Jugo be out on missions? The village wouldn't trust a missing-nin representative- not unless it had been a few years. And if it had been a few years, then why was Naruto not studying to learn more to become the Hokage-
Sakura woke up with a start, jolting as if emerging from a bad dream. Blearily, she rubbed her eyes, looking around and taking in her surroundings. She was on board the Phoenix, and Marco was perched on a table by the window. She stepped out of her cabin, taking in the ocean air. Naruto had several shadow clones manning the sails, while the real thing held the steering wheel. Paulie was barking directions up at the assorted Narutos, making sure they weren't going to break something. When he saw Sakura, he waved, a gesture she returned as Marco emerged from the cabin, shifting into human form as he did.
Sakura asked what their heading was, so Marco checked their equipment. With any luck they'd arrive at Water 7 soon, and they'd be able to visit Suigetsu and drop off Paulie-
Why was Paulie on the ship and not there already? And why was Naruto here? He should be back in Konoha, trying to be the Hokage, not sailing a ship on the Grand Line. No matter how useful his clones were for that task, it wasn't what he wanted in life, and she knew that about him-
Sakura woke up with a start, jolting as if emerging from a bad dream. Blearily, she rubbed her eyes, looking around and taking in her surroundings. She was camping in a forest, Aisa asleep next to her and Karin softly sharing stories with Sasuke by a low-burning fire. Marco was in human form, cooking some food for himself, and he greeted Sakura with a yawn. When Sakura questioned him about his half-asleep half-awake state, he explained that they'd been attacked last night and he was still a bit tired from fending off their attackers. Still, it was nothing he couldn't handle, and Kakashi, Naruto, Bepo, and the Kung-fu Dugong were escorting the assailants back to Konoha.
Sakura paused. Why would the Dugong be on a mission with them? Especially one so far away from the water. Given its status as a primarily aquatic creature, she figured it'd be in the water somewhere, not in the middle of a forest in who knows where. And come to think of it, where the heck were they? Why were they out here? Sakura couldn't place the details about what they were doing-
Sakura woke up with a start, jolting as if emerging from a bad dream. Blearily, she rubbed her eyes, looking around and taking in her surroundings. She wondered what about this seemed so familiar, why it felt like she'd done this before, as the world around her struggled to take shape-
Sakura woke up with a start, jolting as if emerging from a bad dream. Blearily, she rubbed her eyes, looking around and taking in her surroundings. She was in her room- on a ship- in a forest- where was she, and why was everything spinning? Her legs buckled under her own weight, and- hadn't she been sitting? When had she stood up? Where was Marco? Where were all of her friends? Weren't they figh-
Sakura woke up with a start, jolting as if emerging from-
Instantly, she clapped her hands against her cheeks. She needed to focus. Her friends were counting on her! If she focused her Haki, maybe she could-
A brief ripple of confusion sharpened her senses. This was a genjutsu, she realized. The Akatsuki had shown up, demanding answers about the people from the Grand Line, and when they were uncooperative a fight had broken out. She'd moved to back up Marco as the man singled out Sasuke, then Itachi had intercepted her, and now she was stuck in this swirl that messed with her senses.
But Itachi didn't know about Haki, and that brief falter in his focus was all she needed.
Sakura gathered her Chakra, and wove her Haki into it. Haki was willpower weaponized, and at that moment there was nothing more she wanted to do than to help her friends. She focused her Chakra and her Haki, then directed it with all the force she could muster, targeting that one point where the confusion had flickered for that briefest of moments-
Sakura woke with a start, though it was more like she jolted into alertness. She was facing off against Itachi, whose eyes were closed as he held his head, gripping it in pain. A quick pulse of Chakra and scan with Haki verified she was back in reality- her companions had scattered and split up to draw the Akatsuki away from the city and each other- and she gripped her hands into a fist. Sakura dashed forwards, raising her fist as she imbued it with her willpower, closing the distance between herself and Itachi-
Itachi pulled himself together just too slowly to block the punch that felt like steel, and he felt himself being thrown backwards by the force of the blow. Briefly, he registered someone move out of the way to avoid him, and then felt himself collide with someone else. Based on the groan underneath him, he'd just collided with Sasuke, and Sakura had just stepped forwards to stand at Marco's side.
"Two Uchihas versus two pirates," Sakura noted, stretching her fingers. "Seems a little bit unfair."
"For them, yeah," Marco said as blue fire danced along his arms.
Itachi pushed himself to his feet and offered a hand to help Sasuke up. Sasuke knocked it aside, standing up on his own. "You broke out of the Genjutsu," Itachi said, phrasing it like a statement but saying it like a question.
"With the power of friendship," Sakura smirked. "Wanna try it for a change?"
Itachi stared blankly at her, then frowned as he adjusted his stance, readying himself to attack once more. Sasuke followed suit, and Sakura and Marco exchanged glances. The two pirates charged forwards, but before Sasuke and Itachi could attack Marco and Sakura respectively, the two traded off - Sakura slammed her fist into Sasuke's nose, and Marco slashed Itachi's face with his talons. They let out a cry of pain, moving back to get some distance, and Sakura and Marco followed in. This time, Sasuke and Itachi were expecting them to swap opponents again, and prepared accordingly- only to be caught off guard when the two stayed their course and attacked straight on. Their respective Sharingan allowed them to read the attacks and avoid- but then Sakura grabbed Sasuke by the hair and Marco grabbed Itachi by the coat, and the two brothers found themselves being thrown at each other by the two pirates. They managed to stop themselves from colliding, only to be hit in the back and forced into each other anyway- and the two stumbled back, gripping themselves in an attempt to ease the pain.
"Sorry, boys, but we're pirates," Marco teased. "We don't play fair."
"If this is all that the Akatsuki has to offer, I don't know why we were so worried about dealing with them," Sakura added, stretching her arms out in front of her.
The brothers straightened out with renewed vigor, and both parties charged at each other. The battle had begun once again.
Hopefully now that I've started this massive brawl, I'll be able to write more for it. The idea of Sakura getting trapped in a Genjutsu basically came to me when my brain went, 'What if I did an April Fools' Joke where the whole fight was just over in the next chapter' and then started seriously considering that as an avenue for how to continue this story. Fortunately, I decided not to wait until April to post it. Because if I have the concept down, then I can write stuff for it, and then we have an update out there for the world to see!
-Until next time, Ink