So here we are. The last chapter – minus the epilogue, so save your tears and cheers ;). I have to say, I was utterly blocked for this chapter and I honestly wanted to cut it out, write the epilogue, and leave you guys in the dark forever. But then you might've eaten me. So here we are :D If it's rough, you know why.
Serendipity
Chapter Seven
Sakura smoothed out her lip gloss with one finger absently, staring out the window at the tall, dull gray buildings blurring past. This was it. After she met with Danzo, she could go back to being normal. She concentrated on that, rather than what she might have to do when she got out of the taxi. It helped.
Sakura tapped her knuckles lightly against the cool glass of her window and thought about Sasuke. She wondered what he was thinking as he watched the taxi peel her away. Was he grateful that she had finally agreed, once and for all, to do what they said, no complaints? Had he been surprised when she came back from Kiba's childhood home, ready and willing?
It wasn't hard to tell when Kiba was angry or happy with her. Ever since he had told her about the genjutsu, he'd been very open with her, even if he wasn't exactly nice about it. Sasuke, on the other hand, had been nothing but patient.
She wanted to help him.
The taxi stopped before a tall gray building, and Sakura thanked the driver as she slid out. Before she could think too hard about what she was going to do, she stalked up the sidewalk, through the glass doors, and to the elevator. Danzo's office was on the seventh floor, and Sakura fidgeted impatiently as the elevator rose, much too slowly for her liking.
Sakura reached Danzo's office door – finally – and paused, staring at the polished dark wood. She took a breath, let it out, and opened the door to the waiting room. It was large and spacious, decorated with only a desk in one corner. It was nearly bare, but for a desktop computer on the desk, and a dark-haired, dark-eyed man a few years older than Sakura sitting behind it.
Sasuke, Sakura thought, even though the man didn't look like him. They shared their similarities, however, and Sakura appraised him for a moment – before realizing, with a jolt, that he was doing the same.
She stepped forward, holding out a hand. "Haruno Sakura, hi," she said. The man didn't move to take her hand, and she let it drop. "I'm, um, here to meet Danzo?"
The man stared at her. His expression didn't change in the slightest, and Sakura shifted her weight uncomfortably.
"Um…"
"That bracelet," he said suddenly, and Sakura jumped, startled. "Where did you get it?"
"Huh?" Sakura stared down at the bracelet, bewildered. "Um, I got it from a friend—" She broke off, realization dawning. "From Uchiha Sasuke. You know him?"
The man – Itachi, Sakura presumed – nodded almost imperceptibly, still staring at the band. He lifted his eyes to her.
"Did Sasuke send you?"
Sakura didn't hesitate. "Yes. He wants to find you." Then, just to be sure, "You're his brother, right?"
He nodded again.
"Where have you been? He's been looking for you, why are you with D—"
Itachi held up a hand to cut her off. Sakura blinked as he moved to stand before her.
"I will take you to see Danzo," he said.
Sakura pursed her lips. Why did no one ever answer her questions?
"Why are you working for Danzo?" she demanded in a low hiss.
"To keep Sasuke safe," he said, but when he continued, Sakura wasn't sure if she was answering her question or making his own statement, "I will help you."
"Wha—"
Itachi strode to the door, knocked once, and turned the knob.
"Come," he said, not turning to look at her.
It was time, Sakura realized suddenly, feeling herself pale.
How was she going to pull this off alone?
Sakura followed Itachi into Danzo's office, trying to calm her racing heart. She couldn't think, could barely move.
Itachi must have been Danzo's security system – if Sasuke could see through genjutsu, surely his older brother could, too. Itachi could have called her on her genjutsu from the beginning, and she would have never even met Danzo. It was lucky that she had worn the bracelet.
Sakura glanced at the bracelet as she sat down, the engraving catching her eye. She couldn't make out what it was, but clearly, it had some significance to Itachi and Sasuke.
She swallowed. Sasuke had given her the bracelet on purpose. Was there nothing she could do alone? She seemed to need help every step of the way. This couldn't go on.
Sakura steered at Danzo. He was old and wrinkled, with a patch covering one eye, but at the same time he was tall and imposing, even sitting down.
"Thank you for meeting with me," she said, inclining her head slightly.
"Of course," he rumbled in reply, and silence fell.
Sakura thought about Kiba's last words to her before she left. "Don't let him touch you." But, Sakura wondered, wasn't that the point of the genjutsu? To make her beautiful – to make her desirable? She had done it with Shimon and Kiba hadn't cared.
Danzo was watching her closely, and she cut her eyes at Itachi, standing stoically behind him. She thought of Sasuke, and then of Kiba and Akamaru. So many lives, torn apart by one man.
Kiba had told her not to let him touch her, and normally, Sakura would be all too happy to comply, but not now. Even if she had to degrade herself, she would do it.
Danzo deserved nothing less.
Emboldened by the thought, Sakura straightened further in her seat, throwing her shoulders back and looking Danzo straight in the eye. He stared back, oblivious to her epiphany.
Sakura smiled.
"I was wondering if I could interview you? It's for the school paper," she said, lilting her voice a little higher.
Danzo nodded. "I can only afford you twenty minutes, however. I have a meeting to attend to."
If everything worked out, Danzo wouldn't be going anywhere, but Sakura nodded all the same, then turned her smile to Itachi. He didn't look impressed, and Sakura could only hope he wouldn't out her.
"Who's this? Your secretary?"
Danzo frowned. "You may leave, Itachi."
Sakura saw the way Itachi's eyes flashed at the curt dismissal, but Danzo didn't even turn as he slipped, silently, out of the room. Apparently, she didn't pose enough of a threat to Danzo for him to keep his security hanging around.
And then Sakura realized the real reason Kiba sent her instead of facing Danzo himself, why Kiba gave her an entirely new face: it wasn't so she could seduce him. It was because Danzo would have no reason to be suspicious of a pretty young girl.
Sakura's lips curled at the thought.
"Tell me, do you know what the term 'McCarthyism' refers to?"
Danzo narrowed his eyes and remained silent. Despite the warning bells going off in her head, Sakura plowed on.
"In very simple terms," Sakura went on, leaning forward, forearms flat on the surface of the desk, "McCarthyism is the tendency to make accusations without any evidence." Danzo was starting to frown. Sakura swallowed.
"I know what McCarthyism is," Danzo said. "Why do you bring it up?"
"Accusing people of treason, attacking them, killing them for crimes you have no reason to believe they committed? Doesn't that sound familiar?"
"No," Danzo growled.
"No?" Sakura echoed, feigning innocence. "Because I've done some research, see—" No harm in twisting the truth a bit—"And it appears that you have not only authorized, but carried out, the murder of entire bloodlines in the past." Sakura tilted her head, trying to hide the fact that her stomach was tying itself in knots. "Well, that doesn't look very good for a political leader."
"I don't know what you're talking about," he said evenly. "I believe you're committing McCarthyism yourself."
"No, I'm not," Sakura said. "Because I have evidence."
Danzo was silent.
Sakura continued. "Names. Dates. Numbers. I have all the stats. I have witnesses."
"The Uchiha and Inuzuka massacres happened, and I don't deny it," Danzo cut in. "it was tragic, but I had no involvement."
"Nice try," Sakura said, gripping the arms of chair so tightly her knuckles were turning white. It was difficult to speak around the heart in her throat. Please, let this work, she prayed. "But I'm not convinced."
"I'm sorry," Danzo said with a tight, formal smile. "But courts don't work that way. Leave now, and I won't take legal action myself for these unfounded accusations."
Sakura pressed her lips together. In the movies, the criminal always cracked. Danzo didn't look close to confessing, and her only trump card – her face – wouldn't work on him now.
Sakura stood. There were other crimes.
Danzo relaxed and made to stand as well. Evidently, he thought she was going to leave. Sakura scoffed inwardly. Surely he couldn't think she was so easy to get rid of.
"I know what you did," she said, rounding the desk and planting herself before him, hands on her hips. He stared up at her, startled. "And I'm not leaving until you pay for it. Whatever way works."
Danzo didn't look impressed. "Get out of my office."
"And if I don't?"
"Then I'll have you removed," Danzo said in a hard voice. "Itachi!"
They waited, Sakura with bated breath.
Nothing happened.
"Itachi!"
Still nothing. Itachi had kept his word.
Sakura turned to Danzo triumphantly. He went white – then entirely red with rage. Itachi had been Danzo's trump card for years. Without him, Danzo was vulnerable, and they both knew it.
But he wasn't as vulnerable as Sakura thought, because he suddenly surged to his feet, grabbing Sakura's arm in a vice-like grip before she could react, and slamming her against the desk.
"You bitch," he snarled.
"I get that a lot lately," Sakura said flippantly, over her pounding heart. "But don't blame me – it was your fault for thinking I was just a pretty face. You're too quick to judge, you know that?" she added, smile turning steely.
"Where is he?" Danzo commanded through clenched teeth. He was squeezing her arm tightly enough to bruise. Sakura stubbornly refused to react to the pain. She just had a little more to go…
"Itachi has no reason to be here anymore," Sakura said, struggling to get out of his grip. In response, Danzo gripped her by the front of her shirt. Sakura had to bite back her smile. "You're pretty much sunk by now."
Danzo narrowed his eyes. "What?"
"What do you think?" Sakura asked sarcastically, before twisting her arm in his grip and pulling back, so hard the front of her shirt, and the thin fabric of the sleeve tore.
Danzo stared at her sleeve, then at her face. Sakura smiled. The bruise on her arm was darkening, clearly visible through the rip in her shirt.
"I was provoked. They can't send me to jail for that," he said flatly. "Nice try, though."
"And if you go to court, so do I," Sakura pointed out. "You might get away with perjury, but I'm not going to lie for you. And then your whole sorry story will come out. What's the better charge, Danzo?" Sakura's voice was strong, but her hands were shaking, and she fisted them in her skirt. "Assault, or genocide?"
Danzo took a threatening step forward. Sakura froze, suddenly finding it very difficult to breathe. He was so close. He could do anything to her right now. What was stopping him? He was already going to jail.
"I wouldn't be in this office if I could be outsmarted by a little girl," he said, enunciating very carefully. "If I could wipe out two entire shinobi clans, I can deal with you."
He was back in control, back to looking calm and collected and insufferably smug. Sakura's pulse pounded in her ears as she stared up at him. She felt very vulnerable in her ripped shirt, so much smaller and less experienced than this xenophobic murderer. What could she do?
What could she do? Nothing. Not alone.
"You're forgetting something." Sakura's voice quavered, but at least she got Danzo's attention. She hid her hands behind her discreetly, and out of Danzo's sight, she slipped off the bracelet Sasuke had given her.
Danzo raised an eyebrow, hardly looking bothered. "What?"
Sakura licked her lips, readying herself, and ran her fingers over the cool metal, searching.
"That I happen to have friends in high places," she said, and snapped the clasp.
"She screamed, and we heard her. We found her like that," Kiba said.
Sakura pulled Sasuke's jacket tighter around her and stared up at the officer questioning her. "It's true." She didn't have to fake her softer, wearier voice. After Kiba and Sasuke arrived – only moments after she had snapped the clasp on the bracelet – all the fight had gone out of her. The strength she had been forcing herself to hold on to faded entirely, and she had all but collapsed in her chair.
When Sasuke and Kiba had rushed in, she had been so sure blood would be shed, and cursed herself for calling them. But they had done nothing. In a flash Kiba was behind Danzo, Sasuke in front of her, Sharingan activated.
Danzo's eyes had widened in his first real sign of fear – and then Kiba swiped a hit to his neck, and he crumpled. It seemed so anticlimactic now.
The story the three of them told the police officers only needed some minor adjustments. Danzo had attacked her, Kiba and Sasuke had saved her – but Sakura didn't mention the provocation, or the real reason for the assault. She was a pretty girl with ripped clothes. The officers treated her well, didn't protest when Sasuke gave her his jacket to cover herself. It gave her the perfect opportunity to whisper, as she did the buttons, "I saw Itachi."
Sasuke's eyes had widened then, and they were narrowed now. He sat beside her, drumming his fingers impatiently on the arm of the chair he sat in. Sakura could feel the frustration radiating off him in waves.
"Are we done here?" she asked wearily.
The officer hesitated. Then, "Sure. You're free to go." He didn't ask her to testify in court. Sakura was thankful. She stood before he could remember. Kiba followed her out the hall and to the elevator, though Sasuke parted ways at the door to Danzo's office without a word.
"Well," Sakura said. "It's… over?" But it wasn't, not really.
Sakura knew that Kiba and Sasuke had had to restrain themselves when they saw Danzo, and she appreciated it. Danzo would suffer more this way: he had lost his reputation, and he had no way to gain it back – not without admitting to a far worse crime. True, he would be out on bail soon enough, but he would be out of office. Then, Kiba, or Sasuke, or perhaps both of them would make their move. Sakura didn't like it, but she had no say in the matter – no right to it. Although, if she thought about it, Danzo's actions had affected her life too, however indirectly.
"For you, it is," Kiba said. He was smiling at her, the way he had the first time they met. He raised his hands and added, "A deal's a deal. I'll take off your genjutsu—" He broke off when she shook her head, then said, "Unless you want to stay this way…?"
He sounded incredulous. It appeared that she'd finally gotten through to him.
"No, I want it off – just not yet. Just… give me a couple hours," she said, taking a step back. "There's something I need to do."
Kiba raised an eyebrow at her, but he stepped away with a shrug, and Sakura turned to leave.
She felt like there might be something more to say to him. But what was there to say in such an odd situation? Thank you? Sorry? Hardly.
So without looking back, Sakura hitched her purse up higher on her shoulder and strode out of the building and to the bus stop.
The entire ride to school, Sakura stared out the window, deep in thought. She didn't know what to do. But just as before, when she had gone to meet Danzo, she knew she couldn't leave things as they were. Not when she had some sort of power, however shallow.
Sakura shook her head inwardly at her thoughts. Beauty wasn't power. She had learned that, at least. But as sad as it was, it was true that a pretty face turned heads. Beauty attracted attention, but she could do the rest.
With everything Sakura had been through over the past month, she could at least do this one thing.
When she reached Konoha U, Sakura took a deep, cleansing breath, and went scouting.
It didn't take long to find a pair of boys rating girls that passed. As Sakura approached, they broke off to stare at her. Sakura would never get used to that. But, she realized, she wouldn't have to.
"Don't stop on my account," she said. "Go ahead. Rate me."
The boys exchanged glances. Then, simultaneously, "Ten."
"Sweet," she said flatly. Then she pointed to them. "I see a couple of zeroes."
The first boy's face darkened. "What—"
"What, I'm not allowed to have an opinion?" Sakura asked, propping a hand on her hip. "You're not the only ones who can rate. It's Konoha U's unofficial sport."
With a wide smile, Sakura turned on her heel. After a quick scan, she found another group of guys who were rating, and she made a beeline for them.
She had her work cut out for her. But she could handle it.
Still, she flipped open her phone and speed-dialed her best friend.
"Hey, Ino, make some calls for me?"
But maybe she couldn't handle it alone.
Before someone says it, I realize that the brief bit on McCarthyism was extremely simplified. But I got the point I wanted to make across. So whatever. A few last things will be covered in the epilogue, which will be up soon, so stay tuned!