Lurking Within
(Part 1 of the trilogy)
Chapter 11: Blind Fool
"There is a god!" Naruto whooped with glee as soon as their sights set upon the gates of a small town.
After about a week of traveling in the rugged woods, any hints of civilization was a welcomed sight. It was a torturous week for the group as they all had clashed in personalities and own personal problems. Naruto had continued on to be his obnoxious, boisterous self, during the whole week. Neji, Kakashi, and Gaara had been in the dumps and snapped at anything that rippled in the wind. Hinata had fainted a couple of times throughout the week, usually related to Naruto; and Sakura was beginning to think she was the only sane one of the group. Itzal gave a wry chuckle at the thought.
"I think it would be a nice change of scenery if we settle in one of the inns than on the forest floor." Kakashi proposed.
With no opposition, the group quickly settled into a close-by inn and divided into rooms. The rooms were simple but efficient. They had their own private bathroom in each room with two sets of towels. There was a small wooden table in the middle of the room with a set of porcelain teaware. The dark rosewood floors gave a tiny squeak as Sakura made her way towards the bed closest to the windows. "I'm going to take a walk outside." Sakura gave a backward wave to Hinata who was preparing for a bath. Once outside, Sakura took a deep breath of the crisp air. The fresh morning air was beginning to cool down as the night slowly crept over the sky. The beginnings of stars were starting to peek through and the sky was colored in beautiful shades of pastel.
Her heels made a soft clicking noise on the cobble path as she walked further into the town square. Small shops dotted the area and even as the morning light dimmed, the street lights grew brighter in response. Soon, it illuminated the town square and Sakura couldn't help but compare the tiny white lights to fairy lights; hovering over the people as they chattered cheerfully. Eying each stand and shop with mild curiosity, Sakura took in the different trinkets offered. It wasn't until she reached the center of the town that she stopped, her eyes glued to a particular stand. It wasn't flashy or big, but that wasn't the reason it caught her attention. The sweet smell of dango floated towards her and brought back memories she thought she had long suppressed.
Flashback
"Sasuke-kun!"
The young Uchiha gave no hint of stopping in his tracks or recognition. "Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called once more. She increased her pace and shrugged off the thought of Sasuke possibly ignoring her. Finally caught up to her crush, Sakura gave a big smile especially reserved for her Sasuke-kun. "Would you like to grab some dango?" Sakura asked as she struggled to keep in pace with the Uchiha's quickened steps. It wasn't until she crashed into his back that she realized he had stopped; she hadn't expect that.
"I hate dango. You're annoying."
Those simple words paralyzed her and she watched with glassy eyes as Sasuke continued on his way. It wasn't until much later that she had found out, from Ino of all people, that Itachi had loved dango; whatever Itachi loved, Sasuke hated.
End of Flashback
Ino's teasing voice, "I can't believe you didn't know that forehead girl!", still rang in her mind whenever that memory surfaced. Without giving another look back, Sakura walked past the small stand. It was the past, her ugly past, and she shouldn't have thoughts of him still. "-intimidating. I was almost scared to look into his eyes. Red, like those of a demon's. Those are the kind of business I can live without."
Red eyes?
She came to a slow stop in front of a trinkets shop and pretended to be engrossed in the small plush doll in front of her as she eavesdropped on the conversation behind her. "Did they stay in one of the inns? Is it Momoko's? She always attracted the wrong crowd." The other shop owner commented. "Fortunately, he walked toward the town exit. I think they headed west." Her feet moved on its own accord towards the direction the shop owner said. While her face showed no emotions, her inside said otherwise. Her palms were sweaty and her heart beat a mile a minute at the thought of who it might be, who it was, just outside the town border; Sasuke. Just thinking of his name made her heart clench and it made her run just a little faster.
'While I do usually support your lone efforts, I do not agree this time. I've heard of those cursed eyes and I will be no help to you if he were to turn them to me.' Itzal warned desperately, his form pacing about in her mind. 'You must gather the rest of your pack.'
"It might be too late by the time I find the rest of my team." Sakura clenched her fists tightly, "I can't let him walk away Itzal. Not this time, not anymore."
The wolf demon could sense a double meaning behind her words and chose to fall silent instead. His steady stream of chakra to her, however, showed his support. 'I do not approve of this, Mistress, but I am under your command.'
Muttering silent thanks, Sakura continued to race against the clock and towards the town exit. What was she to say to him when they meet? How did she plan on retrieving the Konoha traitor? Would he be the same? Questions beyond questions bombarded her mind and she could feel herself suffocating.'Breathe, young one. We will find a way.' Following the demon's instructions, Sakura felt the calm and cool facade she became accustomed to, over the months, come over her. It took another couple of minutes before she reached the town exit and an even longer time before she felt any hint of chakra nearby. It was suppressed and if it hadn't been for Itzal's keen senses, she was sure that she would've missed it.
'I smell fish and the ocean.'
Thanking the gods for her skills at chakra control, she tried her best to suppress her own as well. She made sure to continue the rest of the way on foot, going as slowly and as quietly as possible. Not a bush rustled too loudly or a twig crunched too soundly under her foot as Sakura inched her way towards what she deemed as camp. Her efforts were not disappointed as sight of a small campfire drew near. Two hunched over forms by the campfire greeted her eyes as she got as close as she dared. There was something about these two that had Sakura back away slowly. Squinting her eyes to make out the designs on the black cloaks, Sakura barely kept in her gasp.
Red clouds.
One of the men got up and walked closer to the fire to examine the fish roasting gently. "What a great catch today." The blue tint and the huge sword strapped on his back was unmistakable; Hoshigaki Kisame. If there was anything she realized of Akatsuki, it was that their partners rarely changed. If that was Kisame, then the other must be-
"Is there something wrong, Itachi?" Kisame spoke in between swallows of the fish he held in between his gigantic hands.
Uchiha Itachi.
Suddenly realizing that her search hadn't produced Sasuke but his hated older brother, Sakura turned to make a quiet exit. "Someone is here." Sakura froze mid-step. Her fingers reached for her pouch where she knew her kunai would be without fail. Strategies began to formulate in her mind and she couldn't see any viable way she would be able to make it out of this fight alive. Going against one Akatsuki member had been a stretch but against two? That was suicide.
But Haruno Sakura was not one to go down without a fight. She would fight tooth and nail for survival.
That would've been the case if she hadn't felt someone grab her wrist. Swinging around, she was met with dark beady eyes belonging to the infamous Hoshigaki Kisame. "Well hello pinky." From behind him, Sakura could make out Itachi making his way towards her slowly. His sharingan bore down on her and before her mind can make out anything else, Sakura screamed.
"Itzal!"
In the blink of an eye, her trusty companion appeared from among the shadows and into sight. With one hand gripped to the shadow wolf's fur, and once she felt Kisame's grip slacken a little, she urged Itzal to make their great escape. Her hand was ripped forcibly and quickly from the iron grip and as she held on with her other hand, she breathed a sigh of relief. The trees flashed around her and she found herself break free from the forest in a record speed. Peering back into the direction they had left, Sakura felt her heart jump into her throat. A pair of red eyes gazed back at her, determined, and they were closing in.
"Itzal!"
'I can feel him. I need to find a patch of darkness.' She could feel his desperation and it would be their luck to have made it to an open field. 'Close your eyes!' Itzal commanded and even as he raced towards the town, his eyes continued to swivel around to find an area of shadows. Even with her eyes closed, she could still tell that Itachi's suffocating presence was closing in on them.
A hand enclosed around her wrist and before she could think, her eyes snapped wide open; emerald met crimson. She tried and tried but she was mesmerized. She felt her entire being sink into the darkness and the hand around her wrist slowly disappear. In a mere blink, Sakura realized that Itzal had found darkness and had used one of his shadow portals to bring them back into town. 'Are you okay, Mistress?' She could feel him slink back into her mind and she gave an out of breath nod, "I'm fine Itzal." But even as she spoke reassuringly, she couldn't get those red – oh so red – eyes out of her head.
She shook her head back and forth to clear the thoughts and moved away from the town entrance, towards the inn the team was located. "You shouldn't be walking around alone, let alone leave town." Hatake Kakashi was a man who followed things on his own time. He appears and disappears as he pleases so it was no surprise to Sakura that he was here. What did surprise her was that he hadn't shown up sooner.
"I've never thought of you as a stalker, Hatake-san." Sakura brushed past him, making sure their shoulders crashed along the way. "Or are you my new shadow?" Sakura scoffed. "I'm a big girl now. I can take care of myself."
A hand shot out and grabbed her arm, halting her in her tracks. Emerald eyes glared at the hand touching her before it changed course and glared into the lone eye of her ex-sensei. "You can take care of yourself but if you ran into Sasuke, you need backup. You're also under scrutiny of the Elders, you can't afford to make any mistake. I'm only trying to-" Before Kakashi could finish, Sakura whipped her arm out of his grip. "Stop telling me what to do, Kakashi. You had the chance to 'show me the right path' when I was your student, but not anymore. I'm not that little girl anymore." If Kakashi didn't understand what she was saying, her eyes certainly got the message across. And he stood, stunned, as his favorite female student - ex-student - walked away from him. Their relationship had been shaky ever since she acquired that cursed demon, but it seemed as if it was deteriorating at a faster rate every day. Running his fingers through his hair and gazing up at the moon, Kakashi began to wonder if he had done his job at all.
Had he truly fulfilled his job as their sensei and tried his hardest to set them on the right path? Had he failed them instead? He knew that he had gone into the job, as their sensei, with one objective in mind: to tune the lone Uchiha's skill. He owe that much to his deceased comrade, Obito. He admit that he overlooked his other two students, whom had actually been the ones with their head screwed on right, but it had worked out in the end. Naruto had Jiraya and was under his tutelage while Tsunade took Sakura under her wings as well. Sakura had found her calling as a medic-nin and had blossomed. She could hold her own in a fight and was no longer relying on others. But even so, there had always been a small part of him that felt that he had failed them. If Jiraya never came along or if Tsunade never trained Sakura, where would they be now?
By the time he got back to the inn, everyone was already gathered in the room he shared with Neji. All eyes swiveled to him, some with glares and others exasperated, before they switched back to the pink head standing in front of Neji. "I'm trying to tell you, Captain, that the Akatsuki are camped outside the town. It is Itachi and Kisame, meaning that Sasuke should be either on his way or nearby." Sakura explained, "We can always assume that either Itachi will lure Sasuke out or Itachi is keeping an eye on Sasuke. Instead of walking along the edge of the border, hoping to pick up something, I think we should head in the direction Itachi and Kisame are headed."
"You weren't suppose to be on your own." Neji narrowed his eyes at the revelation and he snarled at the thought of her wandering about. "You are still under suspicion and should not wandered around unguarded." His eyes locked with Hinata's, who squeaked and moved to apologize for having left Sakura on her own. "I don't need adult supervision," Sakura hissed. "What I need is for my captain to listen to what I have to say."
"Your captain can choose to listen or not to listen to what you have to say, Haruno." Neji growled back. "And right now I'm trying to decide if I should listen to the words of a demon." A standoff between Neji, the ANBU captain, and Sakura the demon wolf holder began. It was uncomfortable, inside the small room with such heated stares and words; even a small breeze through the window brought little to no comfort.
What felt like decades later, when it was in fact minutes, Neji spoke, "We leave at first light."
A/N: Thank you Cindy Medeiros for your review! And also thank you to anyone who has this story on Alert! The next couple of chapters will much more dramatic and hopefully tearjerkers. Enjoy!