I AM SO SORRY THAT IS HAS BEEN AGES SINCE I'VE POSTED! Also, I hate the way this came out. My style has changed but I don't want to go in and just rewrite the whole dern thing.
Chapter 21
Tsunade gave Sakura a curious look as the kunoichi sat down slowly in her chair. Sakura, however, did not notice since she was intensely focused on Shikamaru who was seated at the head of the table with his father. They were in a large, circular chamber with two windows facing Konoha and Sakura internally named off all the people who were in the room.
Obviously Shikamaru and Shikaku are leading the meeting. Kakashi is here, Team 1, Gaara and his entourage, Shishou and Shizune, Ibiki-sensei, Inoichi and Ino, Jiraiya, and the two council members… This is not good.
"As you all know, the Akatsuki have paid us a recent visit and made threats," as Shikaku spoke, all eyes quickly cut to Sakura and then back to him.
Great, now most of them are going to take this personally. I don't know if I should be happy or nervous.
Ino gave Sakura a wink and then turned back to Shikaku while Sakura pulled out a notebook and started writing things down. Next to her she had 3 scrolls from the previous meeting with Jiraiya already filled with information on the Akatsuki, how the village should respond and evacuate, and what the medic-nin were supposed to do.
I wonder if the traitor is in this room right now. The information that has been given out hasn't been shared with many people. That probably means that all of us are going to be given some sort of information as a test.
Sakura straightened up when Kakashi came up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She had missed a good bit of the conversation while she was lost in thought. She cut her eyes to Shisui and was disappointed to see that he didn't even look her way. She refocused on Tsunade when she saw her expression change.
Tsunade stood up and looked around the room with unforgiving eyes. "Danzo has escaped! We are not sure exactly how, but we do know that it all happened about an hour ago. Surveillance does not show anyone coming or going from his cell."
Murmurs broke out across that table as everyone speculated what could have happened. Sakura took a surreptitious look at the various attendants around the room. She honed in on a short, plain woman who seemed to fidget more than the rest.
I don't think I've seen her around before. I can't be the only one to question her being here.
Before her mind could catch up with her action, Sakura made a hand motion that only Tsunade would comprehend. The Sanin focused on the signal and tensed slightly. Seeing as the room was filled with high level ninja, everyone immediately noticed and glanced between the Hokage and her apprentice.
Sakura stood slowly and strolled towards her. "Shishou, are we any closer to handling the lack of field medics?"
"I have not thought of any advancements nor have any of the others working on it," Tsunade visibly relaxed while Itachi and Sasuke tensed. "Have you had any success with this?"
Sakura hummed and shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure. I have a hunch about a new regiment we could try." The closer she got to the attendant the more the woman tensed.
Sakura paused next to Shisui who was standing three feet from Tsunade, she glanced up at him and communicated her suspicions with her eyes. His Sharingan activated, eyes darting to the suspected target and all hell broke loose in the room when a smoke bomb was detonated.
Sakura closed her eyes and held her breath as she listened to grunts and clanging of metal. Shisui pressed something into her hand and then disappeared. Her eyes snapped open when the windows in the room imploded. She didn't flinch as tiny cuts emerged on her arms and face.
It seems like our target is trying to flee. Time to follow.
She tapped Kakashi on his elbow three times and jumped out the window into the night. He was close on her heels and gave her a questioning look. They quickly disappeared out of the village as they followed the fleeing chakra signature.
"Sakura, I don't like this," Kakashi's hushed tones and narrowed eyes made Sakura tense. They were in front of a gaping hole in the side of a mountain.
"We should wait for backup." She glanced at Kakashi, contemplating what to do. She fiddled with the object in her pocket, thinkingly quickly.
"Kakashi-sensei, are you being more careful because you don't see me as a good partner?" The glint in her eye had him quickly shaking his head.
"You know that's not what I mean," he summoned his pack, speaking in hushed tones.
"This just feels like a trap. It was too easy to follow the culprit and we both know that our adversaries are clever. They would never do something without calculating the risks."
"Hmmm, I can't argue with that," she leaned down and scratched behind Pakkun's ear. "But if we wait too long we could lose her... or we could be in the perfect position to be ambushed. We need to decide what to do quickly."
"I'm not sure of the whole situation but I can tell you this, whoever you are chasing smells sick. They have a strange scent that we only associate with Orochimaru's experiments." Pakkun and the pack slowly positioned themselves in front of the ninja as he spoke.
Sakura's demeanor changed when she heard this. "I'm sorry, Kakashi. I can't wait for backup. This is part of my mission and I have to gather intel on her. Are you with me?"
Before she could even finish her sentence Kakashi was taking point and heading into the dark space.
Sakura coughed and cursed underneath her breath. This is not how I thought this battle would go. How the hell did we end up tricked like this?!
She picked herself up out of a pile of rubble and started to heal her wounds. Kakashi was holding the enemy off with fluid, experienced movements. Orochimaru blocked the only exit with a ferocious smile on his face, enjoying the carnage even if it was his experiments being shredded.
She flash-stepped behind Kakashi and synched her movements with his. She began healing his wounds as he bobbed and weaved. She grabbed his hip and Kakashi got the hint. He grabbed her wrist and used the momentum to slingshot her directly at the woman.
Instead of punching her straight into Orochimaru, Sakura grabbed her head and twisted violently. Before either Kakashi or Orochimaru could move, she sealed the woman in a scroll and hid it away.
"Bravo, Sakura. I must say that I am impressed with how much you have grown. I cannot wait to become better acquainted with you." Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and laughed loudly.
His face grew serious as his mood shifted. "However, I am very displeased that I no longer have Kabuto at my side. He was an invaluable assistant and doctor. You'll have very large shoes to fill when you take his role."
Sakura visibly gagged at the thought of working with the snake Sannin. "I would kill myself before I allowed you to use me as a puppet!" She jumped back to flank Kakashi's right side and hissed as more henchmen arrived.
"As much as I love your fiery spirit, Sakura-chan, I absolutely cannot wait to break you," his cackling was all the warning the duo had before they were attacked again. Four enemies rushed headlong into battle while two stayed back, stalking just outside of their range.
Sakura ducked as an average sized man tried to punch her in the face. She then narrowly escaped being kicked as she lunged to the side and popped up with her back against Kakashi's. They revolved as their enemies circled them and attacked again. Sakura blocked a kick while Kakashi threw kunai. They were forced to separate from each other as a roundhouse kick was aimed for both Sakura's head and Kakashi's legs.
Sakura backflipped to the other side of the cave and started gathering chakra into her hands. Chakra scalpels appeared and her enemies grew wary.
It seems that they are filled in on our techniques. That means I'll have to shake it up a bit. She glanced at her teammate and continued only when she was satisfied that he was handling his own just fine.
Sakura created three shadow clones and rushed the shinobi. One of her clones was immediately taken down with a kunai in the throat and Sakura stumbled a little as the memories flashed before her eyes. A taller man took the opportunity to grab her by the face.
Sakura pushed both her hands into the man's stomach and it exploded out his back, covering the right side of the cave in a red splatter. As she turned to face the next man she let out a nervous grunt and narrowed her eyes. Orochimaru had directed the remaining experiments to fight Kakashi and was now only a few feet away from her.
Sakura grabbed the object in her pocket and threw it on the ground. Orochimaru's minions could be heard gagging and falling to the floor. Sakura rushed to Kakashi and teleported them directly out of the cave. As she gave him the antidote the hair on the back of her neck raised. She whirled around in just enough time to dodge a monstrous snake trying to swallow her.
Nervously, she took a step back as its master walked up to stare at her. My reserves are pitifully low. I haven't gotten any sleep in a while, and I haven't eaten anything recently. I am going to run out of stamina before I can make an escape. She glanced back at Kakashi, slowly getting to his feet. He gave her a once over and she knew he was thinking along the same lines.
"Sakura…" the look on his face made her angry. "I am NOT leaving you, sensei. I may not have a lot left in me, but I can at least offer you assistance."
He sighed at how determined she was and did something that surprised them all. He grabbed Sakura and flickered out of the clearing.
Sakura landed on her feet and the two started running back towards Konoha. "Are we seriously running right now?! I know he's strong but we could have-," she was cut off at the angry look he shot at her.
"What else was I supposed to do? YOU ARE HIS TARGET. If I failed in subduing him then you would be lost to us. I will not be responsible for losing you. You have too many people who love you." His hands were balled into angry fists.
"I understand and I'm sorry. I didn't think of how you would feel in that situation," she gave him a watery smile and he sighed. They were going as fast as they could but both of them were low on chakra and Orochimaru was gaining on them.
Sakura stumbled into a clearing and Kakashi gently steadied her. "Get ready, Sakura. It's dark, and we're still almost an hour from Konoha. He'll attack soon." Sakura nodded, trying to catch her breath.
They both tensed when a river of snakes came slithering towards them. Kakashi quickly lit up the area with a Katon Jutsu that incinerated the field. Sakura punched the ground with her inhuman strength as Orochimaru made his appearance. He stumbled and almost lost his footing when Kakashi followed the earthquake up with a water dragon jutsu.
"Hatake, you are standing in my way. I'll finish you off quickly so I can have a little more fun with your student."
Sakura didn't hesitate in her hand signs as she shot water bullets at the vile man. Kakashi quickly followed up with Chidori. Orochimaru saw the combo attack before it was even finished and disappeared under the ground.
"SHARANOOOO!" The ground burst all around them and Sakura smirked, watching the irritated man lurch at them with murder in his eyes. She plopped on the ground without a care in the world while Kakashi jumped in and intercepted him.
It shouldn't be long now.
She slumped over, completely exhausted, flinching when Kakashi was thrown down next to her. About ten feet away, Orochimaru licked his lips and hummed in victory.
"Ahh, I cannot wait to see what type of children you will bear for me, Sakura." Kakashi let out a feral growl at the insinuation but Sakura quickly grabbed his arm to keep him in place. He took another step and his face changed from victorious to incredulous.
Team one stepped out of the shadows and assessed the damage with cold, calculating eyes. Nothing could be seen outwardly, but Sakura still let out a snicker and fell flat on her back, having complete faith in her teammates.
They are totally pissed. Some of it may be at me for being so reckless but… they'll at least take it out on his royal creepiness first.
Before Sakura could settle down too comfortably a huge chakra signature appeared on the field. She bolted upright just in time to see two Akatsuki members land on either side of the snake Sannin. She jumped to her feet and stared warily at them.
The one with the monstrous chakra wore an orange mask and was taller than the other man. The other member was a woman with purple hair and she was the one to speak.
"I thought we told you to stay out of our way," she glanced at Sakura curiously before raising an eyebrow.
"We were just protecting ourselves. We did not attack Orochimaru first." Kakashi spoke calmly, ever the voice of reason. The masked man turned slowly to look at the glaring man between him and his partner.
His deep voice was menacing and caused Sakura to visibly shiver. "We warned you as well, Orochimaru. We don't care about your disgusting experiments as long as you don't interfere with our plans."
Orochimaru took a calculated step back and raised his hands in a placating manner. "I had no intention of messing with the Akatsuki's plans. I was just chasing after what I want. Give me the pink haired girl and you won't see me until you need me."
The two Akatsuki members stared at Sakura for a minute and she could see the look of confusion on Konan's face. She was scratched, bruised, and covered in blood. She was frozen at the idea of them stealing her for Orochimaru. Before she could move to defend herself, the four men grabbed her and shoved her behind them.
"Like hell we would ever let any of you have Sakura. This wouldn't be a problem if you just left her the hell alone!" Sasuke's outburst seemed to amuse the masked man. His deep chuckle made Sakura shiver once again.
I have a bad feeling that everyone just made this worse for me.