Chapter 17: Without a Trace
Sakura darted into the forest at her first chance; she did not want to leave the townspeople as witnesses. Every breathing person might be an informant as far as she was concerned.
As she ran, she knew that her task was a hefty one. Sakura played a high-stakes game of hide-and-seek: she ran from Itachi while trying to find Sasuke. It would be difficult to find Sasuke while fleeing her captor, though. Running did not leave much time to pause for inquiry on the location of another.
The night was black, but the moon was bright enough through the treetops for her to see her path. Sakura would continue running until the sun rose and the night fell a second time—by then she would have passed a town or two, put significant ground between herself and Itachi, and found a place to rest. She would have to be careful of where she stayed, though, because any stranger held candidacy for being an informant.
Her world blurred as her feet pounded the ground with rhythmic repetition. For now, it felt serene, but she suspected that the tranquility of it all would gradually evaporate with each hour that passed. Sakura would be pushing herself to her physical limits.
She needed to find Sasuke as soon as possible, but she knew that tracking him down could take days. If she left a trail for him to find her, that trail would also be detectable to Itachi. Leaving behind tracks would give Itachi more help than he needed—she had no doubt that he followed close behind her with agitation cracking through his stony expression.
It would be foolish to think that his kindness and patience would withstand her escape. Itachi may have erred on the side of gentleness—and they may have formed an amiable relationship—but no human was immune to anger.
Sakura held precious knowledge with the mission of sharing it—it was the only way for justice to prevail. Sasuke needed to know the truth so that he could love his brother again. He needed to know so that he and those affected by his actions could heal. Naruto might be comatose, but Sakura had no doubt that this is what he would have wanted.
While her determination was strong, one concern remained: Sakura expected Sasuke to take revenge on Konoha's elders. His quest for revenge possessed him and he would likely just re-position his target in order to achieve a sense of justice. If only she had Itachi on her side, he could convince Sasuke to forgive the village elders and terminate his retribution.
But, Itachi was the last person who would endorse her plan. In fact, she would be better off returning to Konoha and requesting the support of Tsunade than trying to reason with Itachi on this subject.
Now that she considered it, returning to Konoha to convene with her mentor offered a solid alternative to this Pandoran discord. Sakura would have to explain her absence, as Tsunade likely labelled her a missing nin by now, but Konoha would offer protection from Itachi and support in quelling Sasuke's backlash. She would just have to keep the pesky elders from intervening, which might pose a hefty task in itself.
After two hours of running, Sakura noticed the trees thinning—the streets of a town would be under her feet soon. She would permit herself twenty minutes to find an information dealer and then another ten to demand useful details. With Itachi's speed, resting for even thirty minutes would be risky. But she needed information and had been careful not to leave a trail throughout her getaway. Hopefully, Itachi had as little to run on as she did.
In the near distance, Sakura could see a rock wall peeking through the trees. It appeared that the town was surrounded by a stone barrier. Surely, it was meant to ward off trespassers, but Sakura would launch herself over the barricade with ease and grace. As a benefit, it would serve as one more thing standing between herself and Itachi—one more thing for Itachi to crumble on his warpath.
As she came close to the wall, Sakura maximized her speed to decrease visibility and jumped over. A stroke of good fortune landed her in a desolate alleyway. It even smelled foul, which meant that she probably fell into the worst part of town. If Fate felt especially merciful, perhaps she would find a bar nearby. A shot or three of liquid courage would not hurt in times when she needed all the bravery she could muster. Sure, she also needed her coordination, but it would take at least six drinks to put a dent into that.
Slowly, Sakura strolled out of the alleyway. A wide grin crinkled the corners of her eyes upon seeing the neon sign glowing across the street: "Tinsel Teeth's Tavern." With a name like that, she did not need to look any farther. If this town had any information to offer, it would be festering like a sore in Tinsel Teeth's respectable establishment.
When she reached the bar's double-doors, she opened the one on the right and made an unremarkable entry. Sakura had no idea what types of bounties might be on her head, so she wanted to keep a low profile, get the information she needed, swallow a few drinks, and leave the premises. She wanted to play the part of the utterly forgettable patron.
The bar was not crowded and held an air of winding down for the night. There were two men sitting at the bar and some people scattered at tables throughout the room. One of the men at the bar stood to leave, so Sakura moved forward to take his place.
To her pleasant surprise, the bartender was a woman. She stood tall and lithe with long blonde hair, cadaverous skin, and grey irises. Her pale skin made the tiredness in her eyes much more prominent—she looked jaded and Sakura suspected that she had a "take no shit" policy.
Opting not to disguise her voice, Sakura asked the bartender, "Could I have two shots of bottom shelf vodka, please?" She was on a budget and it all tasted the same, anyway.
The woman turned to grab the shot glasses and replied, "My pleasure." Sakura took a look around and noticed that more people had filtered out in the minutes it had taken her to sit down and order her drinks. Hopefully the bartender also served as the information dealer in this joint. Otherwise, Sakura might be out of luck.
She put the shot glasses down in front of Sakura.
"If you don't mind me asking, what inspired the name of this place?" Sakura asked as she fiddled through her bag in search of her money.
The bartender let out a good-natured laugh and responded, "I don't mind at all."
Sakura looked up to hand her the drink money and met her answer. The woman grinned widely to reveal a set of silver teeth sharpened to fierce points—she was Tinsel Teeth.
"That is terrifyingly awesome," Sakura breathed with wonderment.
Tinsel Teeth shrugged. "It keeps my patrons in line and is damn handy out in the field."
Sakura nodded respectfully and announced, "Well, I'll drink to that." She was impressed enough that she would drink to that, but if she was honest, she would really drink to anything. She swallowed her first shot of liquor and it burned as if an Uchiha's fireball had rolled down her throat.
"I have a feeling that you're here for something more than booze and my shining smile, though. What can I help you with?"
She confirmed, "I'm in a rush and I need information."
"I thought so. Normally I'd say that nothing's free, but it's not often that I get to help a fellow kunoichi out. What type of information are you looking for?" Tinsel Teeth asked.
Sakura smiled a little, grateful for the woman's kindness. She lifted her second shot glass and drained it.
"I need to know the foremost rumors, especially anything exciting about bounties. And…and I need to know anything you have on the name 'Uchiha,'" Sakura elaborated.
Tinsel Teeth's brow furrowed before she responded, "You're in some serious shit, aren't you? Well, here's the scoop. There's a woman with two huge bounties for her capture, which is strange enough, but then there was a third bounty added only hours ago. There are other rumors, but I suspect these are the only ones relevant to you," she coughed and continued, "As for the name Uchiha… One of the bounties was set by some asshole with that last name. I met him once and he'd be hot as hell if only he'd keep his mouth taped shut."
It took every bit of Sakura's willpower to swallow her laughter at the bartender's words. They were succinct, powerful, and accurate.
"Any idea where the other two bounties came from? And have you heard about the Uchiha's most recent location?" Sakura pushed. She had too many questions and too little time.
Tinsel Teeth's expression darkened as she responded, "The first two bounties came from the Uchiha and Konoha, who sought her as a missing nin. I'm not sure who put out the third, but it makes the first two look like pittances.
"As for the Uchiha's location, I think his next stop was a town north of here. He heard a rumor about a locked down hotel that piqued his interest."
Sakura's stomach sunk low enough that it might have rested at her feet. Since she had been so careful to cover her trail, Sasuke had no chance of noticing her. They probably sped right past each other and had effectively switched places, assuming that Sasuke had not yet run into Itachi.
She stood from her barstool knowing that she could stay no longer—she did not want to put the place in danger with her presence.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go."
From Tinsel Teeth's expression, she clearly knew why. Before responding, she turned away and grabbed something from under the counter along with a bottle of vodka. She turned around with a shining flask in her hand and set it down in front of Sakura.
"Alright, but take this with you. Now, it's not a gift. You only get to take it on the condition that you'll return it someday."
Sakura smiled, her tired eyes watering at the woman's kindness. "Thank you. I'll be sure to return to Tinsel Teeth's Tavern under less extenuating circumstances."
As she walked toward the door, she looked back to wave goodbye to Tinsel Teeth, who was in the middle of pouring herself a shot of vodka. Upon entering the nighttime air, a chill drafted through her cloak and gave rise to goosebumps across her skin.
Konoha was not an option—they would not let her move freely once she returned. Now, it was only a matter of which Uchiha she ran into first.
Breaking into a sprint, Sakura darted into the alley from whence she came, hopped back over the wall, and dashed into the forest. She moved at a speed she had not known herself capable of achieving—all while keeping her trail covered.
Dread settled into her stomach and bones with the knowledge that she would face Itachi soon. She had a message to relay to Sasuke first, though.
Bouncing from one tree branch to the next, she climbed to the top of the tallest nearby tree. Sakura clamped her hands together with her pointers sticking out. Then, she stuck them into the night sky and let loose a red burst of light with her chakra. She counted off ten seconds before repeating the process a second time.
They looked like fireworks as they hung in the sky. Now, Sakura understood the wisdom of Tinsel Teeth's gift. She dragged the vodka filled flask to her mouth, twisted off the top, and took a hearty swig.
As her chakra bursts faded, the full moon lingered on with aureate serenity. Even though everything wavered precariously on the edge of collapse, Sakura felt serene, too. Whatever was in store, she was ready for it.
Authoress's Note:
So, we are about halfway through the story now. Woohoo! :) *throws confetti*
Thank you all so much for reading! A special thanks to those who take the time to review-it's nice to hear from the readers every now and then. You are all lovely.
Have a splendid weekend,
A
