Sakura led them by instinct through the blustery night, springing across rooftops with more speed than caution. Sasuke kept pace. Despite how the rain had eased and how the cloak he insisted she wear (with only one cloak between them, he gave her his) kept the persistent wind at bay, Sakura still shivered from the cloak's strangeness.
"Hold up a minute—" he said.
Sakura pulled up short, crouching beside him on the wet edge of a scaffolding tower: "What?" she whispered. He didn't answer but was clearly looking for something in the distance. She scanned the industrial patchwork of the Village Hidden in the Rain; nothing stood out. They weren't too far from where her mission rendezvous point was supposed to be; where she was supposed to have been ages ago. Sakura scowled, violently shoving the corrosive thoughts away; she refused to feel guilty for her detours. A glance at his paused beauty cleansed her mind and she gazed out again. His company was enough. To have him by her she would gamble her mission's success -- dream and destruction, here by her side.
A squall swept around them, sticking more of her hair across her face -- no longer a tolerable situation if they had a moment. Untying her headband, Sakura carefully balanced it beside her on the scaffolding, running her fingers through her hair to make it passably less dishevelled. One hand holding a swath of hair back, in reaching to retrieve the headband her hand misjudged its location and she cursed as it skittered across the scaffolding, sliding off the edge. Alerted, Sasuke snagged it briefly yet not securely since it slipped from his grasp too. Even the red was lost in the mist as it fell stories down out of reach.
Sasuke gave a little mock sigh: "We'll both need new ones now". Sasuke swiftly bit his tongue for his rash remark. They looked at each other; each weighing the significance of his words. Sasuke broke the moment by straightening up but Sakura remained reached over the scaffolding edge, gravity pulling the hood of the Akatsuki cloak over her head and focusing her vision on where it had disappeared. Damn, she thought. I'd had that since I became a chuunin.
Sasuke heard a soft zu-zu-zu. At least some of his senses were still keen, he thought, turning in time to see Zetsu half-emerging from the building against which the scaffolding was attached. So that's what felt off about this place. He waited pointedly for Zetsu to do whatever he had come to do. Unperturbed, Zetsu met Sasuke's gaze: "Madara sent me to lead you to your position." He glanced at back of the crouched kunoichi. "Is she coming too?"
Sakura froze; her thoughts raced: He must think I'm Karin. If I transform just my face then the transformation cloud won't be that large; the hood and mist will hide it...Before Sasuke had a chance to respond, "Karin" rose to face Zetsu. "Yes," she stated firmly and crossed her arms. Quick on the uptake, Sasuke nodded in confirmation.
Zetsu reached out his white hand, "It'll be simplest if we're touching". Sasuke pulled Sakura to his side with perhaps more force than he intended and grabbed Zetsu's wrist. It was a calculated risk – had Madara let Zetsu know about their encounter earlier? If he had, it likely would have been Zetsu's black hand reaching out.
In a shift, they arrived in a long, desolate corridor within a building. Sasuke abruptly removed his hand from Zetsu; however, Sasuke was subtly reluctant to let go of Sakura – his hand slipping down the cloak sleeve and almost touching the back of her hand. Zetsu wasted no time presenting orders: "This is a critical artery of this building. Keeping it secure is how you'll protect Pein". And with the strange, shifting zu-zu-zu sound, he left them alone there.
Sakura let out an audible sigh of relief and undid the transformation; Zetsu must be weak in genjutsu to not have uncovered her masquerade. Sasuke relaxed too; evidently Madara thought he had made his point back at the tower so they probably wouldn't have to concern themselves with him popping in anytime soon.
Both ninja assessed the new surroundings which were not unlike a metal version of one of Orochimaru's hideouts; the kind of place where there was perpetual twilight. The hallway snaked away both to their left and right, each direction crisscrossed with other passages. With no immediate dangers, Sakura asked aloud what Sasuke had been thinking: "How did Zetsu know where you were?"
Sasuke frowned; it was disconcerting. Zetsu did have that mayfly jutsu which allowed him to spy unnoticed but that didn't explain how he happened to be where they stopped. If he didn't have an answer in hand, maybe one could be found in these ominous passageways: "I'll think on it," Sasuke admitted shortly. "In the meantime, let's find out what's so precious that it must be protected." He said it in such a way that Sakura began to smile but it was lost on Sasuke as he had already turned to stalk down the hallway.
They took the first right available because another short hallway led to a heavy locked door. Both understood that it would be too risky to blow open the door; picking the lock could open a Pandora's box; and knocking was, of course, out of the question.
"Here," Sakura pointed up at a ventilation shaft grate. "Help me get up there and I'll scout out what's behind the door." He cupped his hands in front of him for Sakura, having to wait a moment while she shrugged out of the Akatsuki cloak and stuffed it in her mednin pouch. Thus unencumbered her grace reasserted itself as she balanced on his hands with ease, immediately beginning work unscrewing the grate. Sasuke looked up to see how she was doing, but, blushing, thought better of it and concentrated squarely on Sakura's knee.
Sakura had worked diligently the last few years to become deft with all manner of tools so it was with dextrous hands and surprising swiftness that she pried open the grate, sliding it quietly inside the shaft. Not even needing a hoist up, she lithely drew herself into the shaft and looked down at him with a just-watch-me grin.
Was Sasuke surprised a little? His eyes flickered with fascination. Some sort of breeze was still pulling at his shirt; perhaps it was the draft from the now open ventilation. Even from this angle she couldn't see his curse mark; she wondered how it had helped or hindered him since they last spoke of it years ago. She had to ask.
He merely looked at her for a minute. "It exhausted itself when I killed Itachi," he said flatly, carefully. "A greater power has replaced it". He paused, gauging her reaction. She looked serious but didn't immediately start fretting over this development. He liked that. She held his gaze for another moment and then, rallying her smile, said that she'd be back and slunk out of sight.
Sasuke stayed for a moment looking up at the cavity which had swallowed Sakura before allowing himself to lean up against one of the walls. Even not standing directly under the grate he definitely felt a draught now, and not from the ventilation. It was getting stronger by the minute. He hadn't felt a breeze in any of the corridors – why should one be blowing now? Pieces of something began flapping into the adjoining hall.
Meanwhile, Sakura had reached to grate overlooking the room in question. Despite the dim, flickering fluorescent light it appeared as if the room was empty. She quietly slid the grate open and soundlessly dropped down. Caution made her press into the shadows as she confirmed the vacancy of the room. If luck is a part of skill, she had it in spades tonight – a medical storage room. She had used more neutralizing serums on the Villagers than expected – even the non-ninjas were restive and suspicious – and could certainly use some restocking. She trailed her fingers along the steel shelving cramped with preserved supplies…sea celery to make the tongue swell…rhubarb leaves for cardiac arrest…the bufo marinus toad which held poison behind its eyes good for dipping edged weapons…she knew all of these and her stocks were soon replenished.
The farther she went into the room, the stranger the collection became – insects she didn't think had poisonous or healing value; jars full of fowl parts seemingly added to yet never subtracted from; and farther yet, human body parts suspended in formaldehyde. Her experienced eye noted that each of the parts was in good condition. As part of her training with Tsunade she had regularly performed transplants (she was continually surprised at the different ways in which an experienced ninja could get something lopped off), building on countless hours assisting Shizune in the autopsy room. Speaking of which…she continued to the very back of the room -- there was a freezer. Making sure that the door wouldn't shut behind her, Sakura investigated. Pallet after pallet of dead ninjas. And a deep drawer in the wall. Pulling it open she saw a matrix of jars. Picking jars at random revealed that each contained eyes. Fascinating to see how each set still retained their individuality. Just a few more and then she'd make her way back to Sasuke. She picked a jar from the back row and froze but not because of the cold. It held Rinnengan eyes. Spurred by the discovery, she began to check each of the jars in the back row. Rinnengan… rinnengan… rinnengan. Was this how the Pein bodies each had rinnengan? Could normal eyes be turned? rinnengan..rinnengan…mangekyo sharingan? Why was that here?
Sakura knew that only a handful of people in history had developed mangekyo sharingan. Kakashi…Itachi…(Had Sasuke developed it? He must have to have defeated Itachi…)…Madara. Even Madara's name infuriated her. Beyond how he had practically killed her, she hated how he reached Sasuke and Itachi first after their final battle. They had all been so close. Wait. Were these Itachi's eyes? She checked a few more of the jars in the back row. More sharingan but regular ones.
Sakura improvised a wrap around five of the jars – two rinnengan, two sharingan and the mangekyo sharingan. They wouldn't keep in perfect condition for more than a few hours but this information was too valuable to leave behind. Time to find out what Sasuke thinks of this.
Silently she reversed her path; perhaps if she was quiet enough she could watch Sasuke unobserved for a moment. Sakura grinned mischievously; after watching her fill it would be twice the pleasure to slip down and surprise him with her stealth. She slunk through the shaft. The opening lay just metres ahead but the light rising from it was flickering. Hrm. It hadn't been like that before. Sakura edged closer to peek down to the hallway. A hurricane of papers, thicker by the second, was enveloping Sasuke. Sakura tried to keep looking at where he was standing but his movement became lost in the vortex. Maybe she could pull him out. She plunged her hand down only to grasp at papers as they nicked her and stuck to her arm as they whizzed by..and burst into flames! She snatched her arm back in and pitched her body away from the opening as fire shot up too. Sakura's chest felt tight – they were explosive notes?! They looked blank!
The blast ceased, leaving the metal surrounding the opening too hot to touch. With a quick calculation she dove through, somersaulting along the floor to spring up kunai at the ready – no one down the hallway. Behind her? Sasuke, bloodied yet standing. Overcome with relief, Sakura threw herself against his chest, clutching his shirt fiercely.
Ashes fell slowly around them. Sasuke, dazed and catching his breath, was grateful for the hard dose of alive and kicking Sakura brought, even if he didn't put his arms around her. He glanced down; ashes in her hair reminded him what it felt like to have kept a bond. Luck had kept it for him -- he had never tried surrounding himself with fire before as he had with lightning; in the heat of the moment he neglected to consider that it might not be just plain paper. Sasuke set his jaw -- he wouldn't be that sloppy again.
Sakura could feel his muscles tense; she stirred from her embrace to look up at him. Sasuke was all grim intensity. Passion overwhelmed caution: She would risk an apocalypse if it meant he would be the last thing she saw.
A/N: Thanks for reading! This chapter is based around "SasuSaku-Nami+ilaB" (a nami86 drawing coloured) on deviantArt.
