A pair of eyes darted back and forth; the pupils were unable to focus. White light glared on the pale, china like skin. The pupils dilated and contracted, though the irises always remained the same- frightened and desperate. The eyes were very defiantly, her own- sea foam green and luminous like the moon on dark waters. The eyes moved faster and faster, panic was beginning to take hold. Tears of fear spilled from her shining orbs- they caught in her eyelashes momentarily but cascaded downwards when she blinked. In the background she could hear screams, tortured screams.
"Don't look up!" bellowed a deep voice.
As it possessed the eyes looked up the pupils became large and then contracted fast. Everything went white. The last thing she was conscious of was a soft thud.
Sakura slowly blinked. She let her eyes adjust to the light in the room groggily. Another bloody dream, she really hated waking up like that. Sakura tried to roll over and bury her head further into her soft pillow but instead found herself toppling over- taking a chair with her. She lay groaning on the floor, trying to adjust to her surroundings. This as sure as hell didn't look like her room. Fuck! Bums, shit face! She inwardly cursed- she was in her damn office.
This was the eighth time this month, it was getting worrying. Sakura sat up and put her head in her hands as a rush of memories clouded her thoughts. Suddenly she was filled with a wild fury at the thought of the recent news from Ino. She stood up and screamed in frustration. With a deft kick she shunted the chair into desk and was satisfied to hear the crack of breaking wood.
With a swish of her hair she stormed from the office, pulling her coat from the stand- and toppling the stand over in the process. Sakura was in no mood to pick things up. She stalked from the office leaving a very frightened Kimi behind.
She stamped down the street; pleased with the angry thump of her shoes on the hard ground. She shot vicious glares at the other people on the street. A black streak of a man ran past her- making her jump into the road to avoid being pushed over.
"Bastard!!" she screamed, her eyes scrunched shut with fury. Sakura slowly stepped onto the pavement and opened her eyes, to see a black haired man staring at her from the floor. She was about to snap at him but she noticed something oh-so familiar in his dark eyes.
"Sai?" she asked quietly. The artist nodded politely from his seat on the pavement. Sakura bounced excitedly; she hadn't seen Sai in years. Her bad mood was momentarily dispelled by the pleasure of seeing him. They had worked together in a forensics team. He had been the forensic artist but had disappeared from the scene three years ago. She could tell from the canvases that littered the ground around him; that he was as talented as ever.
She rushed forward and embraced him warmly. He raised a hand to her shoulder, patting it gently and smiled slightly.
"Stay there, Hag" he commanded. She watched him as he pulled out a fresh canvas and a light sketching pencil. Without even looking at her he began to sketch rapidly, long light pencil strokes became the scaffolding for his art. From his pocket he tugged out a paint brush. He paused momentarily then began to mix some water-colour-paints together and gave his picture a light wash of green. He stared at it then turned it to her for her to inspect.
It was a tear filled eye, looking up- the pupil a pinprick. The iris was a pale green; it was just like her dream. Sakura laughed nervously.
"That's creepy Sai" she laughed again, trying to cover up how disturbed she really was. Sometimes, Sai would draw such odd things. Sakura straightened up and looked around her. She spotted a café nearby and gestured towards it.
"Would you like a coffee? Catch up, maybe?" she asked. He smiled strangely.
"Yes, that would be pleasant" She pulled him up by the elbow and they walked into the café. It was exotically decorated, with orange seats, blue tables and black floors. Behind the main counter was a grinning blonde man.
"How can I help you?" he asked politely. Sakura looked at him closely. He was very tanned- unusual for this country- and his accent was off slightly. From the short question, she had learned that he nearly dropped his h's and drew out the o's longer than the other vowels in his sentence. Therefore, Sakura deduced he was foreign.
"Two coffees please" she requested. Sakura racked her brains for questions to ask but in the end, Sai was the one who started the conversation.
"So what have you been up to?"
"Not much, since these disappearances started" she answered. Sai nodded sympathetically.
"Put me out of a job" he sighed. She looked at him quizzically.
"I would have thought you would have had a lot of work with these disappearances? I mean a lot of missing person art to do and junk?" Sai shook his head sadly.
"They all have photographs, what I need is a description of those doing the abducting."
"Well that makes sense but surely someone has seen something"
"You would think so. But nobody has. Either that or someone has and isn't saying." His piercing eyes stared into hers, his voice took on a serious quality
"Sakura this is serious, if you're involved get out and get out now" Sai instructed her with utter vehement. It's a bit late now; I am well and truly stuck in. Sakura thought.
"Unfortunately, my friend's husband has gone missing. Now I have to help." Sai put his hand on top of hers, he was trying to comfort her- Sai had always been awkward with emotions.
"It's just terrible. I wonder who's behind it" he whispered. The blonde behind the counter seemed to perk to attention.
"My good friend Mr Nara, went missing other day" he piped up. Sakura's head snapped around. Her eyes narrowed.
"What do you know about it?" she snapped.
"Not much" he said, sounding hurt. Sakura decided to soften her tone a little.
"How do you know him?"
"He comes here often, with err bossy blonde woman" he answered. Sakura almost smiled- that was Ino alright.
"When did they last come here, tell me about the woman?"
"He was here two days ago. She is with child, last time I saw her. He come for smoke and a talk about business, he always takes a smoke" said the man again. This man defiantly is foreign he has phrased his past three sentences oddly- Sakura's mind concluded. Well that was a good description of Ino and he mentioned Sachiko as well. After all, it was unlike Ino to leave without her beloved child.
Beside her Sai reached out for a napkin. He began to scribble on it with a pen. She glanced at the doodle and raised an eyebrow. Sai really is disturbing. He had drawn a screaming baby, chubby hand snatching at thin air. A fox had curled around the baby and its eyes stared directly at her.
Sai looked up at her and caught her looking; he snatched the napkin from the table and tucked it into his pocket. All the while he smiled, eyes crinkling slightly at the corner. Sakura stared at him for a minute but directed her gaze behind him- to the approaching waitress.
The woman had her chestnut brown hair coiled into buns on the side of her head and she walked with a bounce to her step. Under her right sleeve was stowed a pack of cigarettes- most likely to be shared with costumers. The new woman turned to smile at the man behind the counter but stumbled and tripped. Ever swift, Sakura lunged forward and caught her by the arm.
"Thank you" gasped the waitress, hand to chest and breathing hard. Sakura smiled and patted her on the shoulder- knocking the box from under her sleeve onto the floor.
"No problem" Sakura smiled slyly. The waitress thanked her again and continued on her rounds around the café. Sakura picked up the box and tapped it with her finger while smirking. Deftly she whipped a cigarette out and inspected it.
Shikamaru liked a good smoke. And the man behind the counter had said himself "he always takes a smoke" Sakura presumed this meant he always took one of the waitresses. She walked over to the corner table- Shikamaru liked the dark corners, away from the hustle and bustle of busy costumers- he was a watcher, an observer of life. Sure enough she found the same cigarettes in ash tray- their ends chewed; another habit of Shikamaru's. She triumphantly tapped her fingers on the table. She was pleased that the blonde was a reliable source of information.
However, her good mood was dispelled when she saw a cigarette with a lipstick mark on it. Ino did not indulge in the same habit as her husband. Especially when Sachiko was around. Sakura picked up the cigarette and pocketed it. Slowly she walked back over to the counter and caught the blonde man's attention.
"Are you sure the blonde woman sits with him?"
"As sure as your eyes are green" grinned the man.
"That's debatable. Does she smoke?" the man nodded.
"Smokes a lot with him, they like Tenten's cigarettes" he answered, trying to be useful. Sakura scowled and dug out her purse and slapped the correct amount of money on the counter.
"Thank you for your help" she said not so gratefully and then turned to Sai "Ja ne Sai-kun"
She left in a hurry, anxious to get back home and lay out what she had found. Both men watched leave.
"Watch her Naruto, she's sharper than she looks" warned Sai.
"Second one today, at least she's nicer" said the blonde dropping the accent.
"You mean, more so than him"
"Of course. When would you get him near the masses" scoffed Naruto. Sai slipped the napkin from his pocket and across to Naruto.
"Watch what you say"
"And you friend"
Sai pushed his stool back and left without another word and took his place among the paintings. All he had to do now was wait- it would play out soon enough.
Yay I updated! If you have any questions about this story I made you a webbysite!! http://pic5. go here to get all your answers please check it out