You guys are going to be so happy pappy. This chapter is loooong. I gotta warn you, I'm not sure of my typing skills here… if I type too much, I tend to get braindead. I'll edit it later if you notice something amiss.
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One year ago.
A girl sat atop a tree, humming softly as she sharpened her kunai with a block of whetstone. Her feet occasionally tapped against each other in a swinging movement, seeming to create a steady beat. Her black cloak ruffled in a slight breeze along with her brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and she closed her eyes momentarily, revelling in the calm atmosphere.
For a long moment, she sat still, her eyelids snapped shut, basking in the peaceful silence.
It was promptly broken when she heard faint chimes in the faraway distance. Snapping her eyes open to reveal a set of chocolate irises, she scanned the clearing, waiting for the visitors she knew would be arriving soon.
The sound of tinkling bells grew increasingly louder as two cloaked figures appeared from the trees, coming closer. Strapping her kunai to the holster on her thigh, she then proceeded to insert her whetstone into her pack.
Then she waited for them to arrive.
The two figures advanced towards her until they walked up the tree opposite her, settling on the huge branch closest to her.
"Morning, Saya-chan!" "Morning, yeah." A very disgruntled, exhausted looking Deidara gave a brief nod. Beside him was the always chirpy Tobi, bouncing excitedly on the branch and making it shake violently.
"Stop moving, Tobi. You're going to break the damn branch, yeah," the blonde nin grumbled, running a hand through his hair. He had yet to tie it. It was tousled slightly from the wind and gave him a slight sexy bedhead look, and he caught Sakura staring at him.
She looked away as if nothing happened.
"Morning, Deidara… Tobi," she responded pleasantly. "You're late."
The two male figures opposite her seemed to freeze in their tracks as they walked down the tree.
"Tobi is sorry! But Deidara-sempai decided to wash his hair!" the masked man pointed at said man, an obvious blaming game in procession.
Deidara scowled. "We had a long scouting mission, yeah. I had to wash my hair after all the shit we went through yesterday!"
It was then that Sakura noticed he had dark eyebags. His face was unusually pale and he kept yawning, as if he lacked sleep. He did not look good at all. She flashed him a concerned look as she jumped down onto the ground from the tree.
"What did you do yesterday?" She asked with a contemplative look on her face.
Deidara gave her a weak lopsided grin as she walked towards him. "It's top secret, yeah. I can't tell you unless you end up being an Akatsuki."
Oh. "So it was another of those crazy Akatsuki missions," she said flatly, not bothering to hide her distaste. She had grown close enough with Deidara and Tobi to make those passing remarks, so it didn't surprise her when all they did was to give a nod from Deidara and an assertion from Tobi.
"Tobi is a good boy! Akatsuki is also good, Saya-chan! We just want world peace!"
Peace my ass, Sakura thought sourly, but made no move to counter his statement. Instead, she brought up a different topic. "Why in the world are you bringing bells along with you? This is supposed to be an easy stealth mission, not the attract-the-whole-population kind," she glowered, folding her arms.
"Right after you left, yeah, the guy gave us some bells. He said it'll call his pet tiger to us, so it's easier to locate him in the place."
"Tobi thinks the place is like a zoo! Ne, Saya-chan?"
"It's not a zoo, Tobi. It's an illegal animal storage warehouse that keeps rare animals to be sold illegally to others for a large fee," Sakura explained wearily. "That said, this mission is retarded. At least it's a good pay for us to go through this crap."
"I hope so, yeah," Deidara sighed, raking his fingernails through his hair and proceeded to tie it up. Inwardly, Sakura mourned at the loss of seeing his hair flow freely.
Outwardly, she was a calm, authority figure as she began talking. "We need to muffle the bell noises when we reach," she suggested.
Deidara nodded. "Already figured it out. We'll use our cloaks," he said solemnly, and he and Tobi began to shrug off their cloaks and Sakura offered hers as he wrapped the bells in their packs with them. Placing the cloaks in his pack, he nodded and they set off.
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Sakura hissed through gritted teeth, furious. From her vantage point, she watched as Deidara was approached by two girls, who, judging by their clothing, looked like hookers. He had made his move to sneak in while Tobi entered from the warehouse from the opposite direction, and Sakura was supposed to be back-up in case anything went amiss.
However, the two girls had spotted him near the warehouse entrance and he had struck up a casual conversation, as if nothing happened. In her opinion, they stood way too close to him. One of them was even stroking his arm up and down with an all-too-flirtatious giggle.
She'd thought he'd knock them out, but noo, he had welcomed them with an equally flirtatious, handsome, lopsided grin and a smooth "hey". He had even ogled at them.
Tch. Men. The brunette slapped a hand to her forehead, exasperated. Shouldn't he have suspected that they probably worked at the warehouse as well if they were in this area? There was no sign of civilisation for miles except for this… place. This mission proved to be even more annoying than she thought.
She was a millisecond away from blowing her cover and shooting her senbon into the two girls' necks when they walked off, looking rather upset and disappointed. Obviously, he had turned them down for…whatever they were offering. He shot a look in her direction, shooting her a wink as he delved into the darkness of the warehouse. She scowled reflexively.
Finally he was in. She slumped in the bushes, fighting the urge to yawn as she waited patiently for the signal. Idly, she wondered why the warehouse was so quiet when it held many animals. Shouldn't it be noisy? Granted, it was nighttime now, but some animals had to be nocturnal.
The reason came to her like a slap to the face and she bolted upright.
The animals were sedated. It made sense for them to be sedated; if they were noisy, they'd attract any passing traveller. And if they were sedated, it meant… oh hell no.
Her face paled as she continued her line of thought. The bells won't work. They'd have to find their animal manually. And if the bells don't work, it meant that they can't make a quick escape from the civilian people on patrol after they hear the tinkling of bells.
Scanning the area around her and ascertaining the coast to be clear, she stood up and ran to the side door of the warehouse Deidara had used to sneak in. With a quiet click, the door opened and she snuck in, stealthily jumping behind a smelly pile of boxes. She sniffed and caught the scent of grass, and knew it to be animal food. Wrinkling her nose in distaste, she peeked hesitantly over a particular box, trying to find Deidara under the dim lighting. She noted two men walking freely in the vicinity, patrolling what seemed to be hundreds of poor, malnourished caged animals. They were a myriad, ranging from tigers to elephants, and some she'd never seen before. A wave of pity washed over her as she looked at their motionless bodies, and anger lanced through her like a hot knife.
And they all slept as though they were on their deathbed. Thinking back, Sakura recalled the businessman describing his pet to be a baby white tiger, and she fought back a sigh, knowing how difficult the mission would be in finding the tiger. Her eyes scanned the room as she thought of the next best plan.
Their best bet would be to neutralize the two men on patrol so they could walk around freely, find the tiger quick and escape in a jiffy. After all, Sakura noticed no chakra on them, making them civilian men. Sakura crouched, watching the two men turn away from her direction, and promptly launched into a quick run up the extremely tall wall of the building and proceeded to walk upside down on the ceiling that stood about a hundred meters from the ground. She stopped directly above the spot of one of them, her brown locks upside down and her sleeveless top threatening to fall above her chest area. Thankfully, she wore her black shorts so neither Tobi nor Deidara would be getting flashed anytime soon.
With a focused, calculative look in her chocolate eyes, she released her chakra from her feet as she fell gracefully, landing on her feet behind one of the men as quietly as a pin dropping. She pressed a fingertip to the man's temple, and he could barely give a gasp of surprise before dropping onto the ground in a dead faint.
Once her work was done, she ran forward, tackling the other man who had just turned in her direction. He gave a short gasp but was promptly knocked out as well.
"Well, that was a waste of time, yeah." Behind a pile of empty cages, Deidara emerged, a scowl on his pale face.
"What is?" Sakura asked, simultaneously walking around the rows of cages in a carefully planned manner as she started to scan each cage for the tiger.
"The bells." With a weary sigh, he wandered off as well, catching on to Sakura's new rough plan as he looked around. Tobi appeared soon after, and after Sakura barked her instructions for him to look starting with the middle row, he bounded off eagerly.
It was about two minutes later when Sakura found a baby white tiger, nestled in soiled grass in a poor, dilapidated cage. Giving a sharp whistle, her two partners came not long after.
"Did you find any other white tiger?" she asked, glancing at the both of them. Tobi shook his head.
"Nope, yeah," Deidara answered, an unhealthy amount of sweat beading his brow. Sakura frowned, wondering why he looked especially unwell today, but chose to ask later. Channelling blue chakra into her fingertips, she made a swipe at the lock of the cage and it was effectively severed in two.
"Wait," her blonde partner held her wrist before she could reach out for the baby tiger and she gave him a questioning look. "We can't just carry him, he'll get too cold." His eyes softened as he looked at the animal sleeping in the cage.
It was then that they heard a loud rumble of laughter from outside. Sakura's eyes widened as she noted shinobi chakra, originating from at least seven people, walking very close to them, toward the warehouse.
Shit. So there were shinobi in this line of work after all.
"We have to go," Sakura said urgently as she caught Deidara's gesture to mask their own chakras. She did it quickly along with Tobi and Deidara himself and was just about to make a grab for the tiger when she heard the familiar –loud- tinkling of bells.
Oh shit. Sakura paused in her movements with eyes widened as she looked at the source. Beside her was a sheepish Tobi, who had –with all good intentions- made a grab for the cloaks in Deidara's pack, the bells rolling and clattering on the floor.
"Tobi is sorry! Tobi thought tiger is cold-"
"Dammit, Tobi!" Deidara hissed through gritted teeth just as a man outside spoke loudly. "What's that noise?"
Muttering a string of curses, the furious blonde grabbed the tiger and quickly placed him in Tobi's hands. "Go! We'll handle it!" he hissed, and without pause, a very apologetic-looking Tobi ran off by the back door with a snoozing cat in his arms.
It was then that the large front door opened sideways. A warm hand gripped hers as he pulled the two of them aside behind a pile of boxes, crouching low as they squeezed in the very small space they had.
She knew that when shinobi were around, it was futile to outrun, and they had better chances of not being followed if they made sure they could never be followed. Hence, it meant an inevitable fight.
Sakura didn't like killing, but when she looked at the poor animals, she felt an indescribable wrath raging within her, calling for justice to those responsible.
She waited with Deidara for the inevitable clash behind the boxes, having sealed their chakra once they heard the noises outside. However, something else happened.
The two of them tensed when they heard a loud smack, followed by what sounded like an animal's whimper. "This bitch here was such a hassle to steal. I thought I'd give it some form of punishment for scratching my cheek here. Eh, princess? Treated like such a queen in that damn zoo, that when I came, it put up quite a fight against me." A much louder smack followed.
Another whimper again, and it sounded like a dog this time.
What a cruel, sadistic son of a bitch!
Sakura felt her anger rolling off her in waves and she opened her mouth to stop them, mission be damned- only to find Deidara clamping his hand over her mouth.
"Mmf!" she retaliated, her eyes furious as she struggled to pry his hands off. Her legs moved and in the next instant, he had locked her legs with his, preventing her from running off.
"Stop… struggling!" Deidara hissed in her ear as he continued his hold on her. "Don't make this difficult! We can still escape, they haven't sensed us, yeah!"
However, it fell on deaf ears as Sakura heard the continuous beating… and the men's disgusting laughter that followed.
The two continued their violent tussle, her hands and legs fighting his strong grip, until they came to a point where she lay below him and he was forced to straddle her, his hand still retaining a firm grip on her mouth and his legs interlocked with hers.
For a moment, Sakura was wary of their position and closeness, his breath blowing on her face. Her eyes widened when she suddenly felt the mouth on his hand move for a second. Their gazes interlocked, and she involuntarily shivered, noticing how his eyes had darkened to a stormy blue just a few inches away from her chocolate ones, as if he knew what she was thinking.
For a moment, she felt like forgetting everything else … forgetting who she was, and what she was fighting for. It was a selfish, selfish thought, but she had it all the same.
Then one of the men spoke.
"Eh, what's this? Guys, one animal is missing! There's a bell over here!"
And the two nins –one angry, one resigned- broke contact from each other as if they were on fire, and jumped out in full view.
"What the-" one of the men started.
"Split up, yeah. We can't fight here with animals around!" She gave an acquiescing nod, and he seemed satisfied. With a loud crack, his clay bird materialised and he jumped onto it as it flew out of the warehouse. Four shinobi ran out, intent on pursuing him.
The brown-haired female growled as she noted the three shinobi staying behind to handle her, each of them giving her a sneer.
Obviously they underestimated their opponent.
"SHANNARO!"
She launched into a high-speed run, pumping chakra into her feet, her anger fuelling her as she body slammed into the closest nin, who was taken unawares and unconscious on impact. Slinging the body over her shoulder, she continued running out of the warehouse, ignoring the men's curses behind as they immediately started a jutsu. Once she was far enough, she flung the unconscious man high in the sky, letting him land precariously on the ground with a loud thud that followed with a few cracking bones, and he was dead on impact.
It was then that she turned to face the two remaining nins and almost balked at the sight.
In front of the two smug-looking nins were hundreds of different animals, ranging from lions and tigers to a myriad of birds, to goats and cows. Sakura noticed a few adorable kittens, licking themselves.
If it wasn't a serious moment, she would've bowled over laughing. Maybe she would... someday, when these animals were freed.
"Neat jutsu, huh? Our master made it himself and taught it to us. They listen to everything we say," one of them boasted, giving her a sneer. To Sakura's horror, it seemed as though they had used those animals for slave purposes to do their bidding.
Oh, she was very, very angry. And what was the idiot thinking, telling her about his jutsu? The other nin didn't seem particularly pissed either. In fact, he shot her an arrogant look.
In that moment, Sakura knew they were probably chuunin-level shinobi. Pathetic bastards.
She quickly racked her brain for ideas and within seconds, she had formulated a rough plan of action, and was fairly certain it would work.
Cold brown eyes scanned them with a calculating look. Then she sneered, a look that overpowered their own. "Come at me, you assholes, and get what you deserve."
One of them curled his lip, and gave the order. "Attack her!"
The whole group of animals charged forward, suddenly adopting menacing looks.
Sakura quickly adopted a fighting stance, waiting for them to get close enough.
It was simple, really. She'd figured that if she got to the men first and eliminated them, the jutsu they did would stop as well and if there was a contract, it would be broken. She highly doubted there was a contract though, judging by the men's abusive tendencies towards these animals.
Her fingers quickly touched her eyes and they glimmered with a shocking, shimmery yellow, and it was just in time, for the animals had already charged towards her. For a brief moment, she wondered if Deidara was going through the same thing.
Making a set of handseals, she made two clones of herself that charged at the enemy for distraction purposes, while she simultaneously drifted below the earth, aiming for a spot behind the area where the two chakra signatures stood still.
Rising above the earth with a gentle swish behind them, she caught the two men unaware and grabbed their two heads and smashed them together, knocking them unconscious. With a rough twist of their necks, the men collapsed, dead. The animals soon faded from existence, but not before giving her their final –and what looked like- almost grateful looks.
When she was done, her breath was coming out in calmer, less angry puffs. She coolly walked from the area, intent on finding her partner.
Until she heard it and felt it.
A massive explosion rocked the earth beneath her, and huge plumes of smoke started rising in the distance. Sakura's eyes widened in panic. It was a trademark move of Deidara's and before she realised it, her feet were moving on its own accord, running in the explosion's direction.
It was a minute until she finally reached the clearing that was still smoking, and her panic was running in full steam. "Deidara!" she called out, noticing charred bodies, bits and pieces scattered across the clearing. A chill ran up her spine when she saw charred animal bodies as well.
Then her eyes landed on him.
Oh shit. Oh no, no, no-
He was bleeding profusely from his chest area and there was a massive hole in his chest. His clothes were badly burnt and he looked up in the sky, his blue eyes unseeing. For a moment she lost the ability to think, and she could only stare at him, because he looked so lifeless… so unlike the man she knew him to be. Her senses seemed to disappear, and she could hear nothing, feel nothing, see nothing… and she remembered a certain, extremely agonizing memory that involved another teammate with the same hair colour as his….
Then a voice within her spoke.
Do not be so dramatic, Sakura. The Akatsuki nin is still alive. I can sense his life force. If you want to save the bastard, do it now.
"Kurama," she whispered, her eyes wide. Then she took another look at the seemingly dead man. His chest seemed to rise ever so slowly...
He wasn't dead. Not yet.
She found herself running to him before she was aware of her movements, her hands already flashing a steady green as she pressed her hands to his chest. Her heart thudded painfully and her mind whirled with medical facts as she struggled to save her friend.
Her friend. Sakura suddenly knew, that they weren't mere co-workers anymore; they were friends, and of the oddest kind. She vaguely noticed her vision blurring and her tears dripping like raindrops onto his chest. "Please please please," she whispered, repeating it like a mantra to reassure herself that everything was fine.
Her body shook with sobs, but she kept her hands firmly on his chest, her chakra deteriorating rapidly as it struggled to bring him back. He was still bleeding, fresh blood leaving his wound rapidly.
She was going to lose him.
Please, please, let him be okay, please…
"Don't leave me here, you idiot!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, uncaring of whoever heard them. Her eyes glistened with fresh tears, and they made a steady thudding sound as they dripped against his chest.
Then he coughed, his mouth coming up with blood. Relief coursed through Sakura like a tidal wave. However, much to her disdain, she found herself still crying uncontrollably and unable to stop.
A sooty hand reached out to her face, wiping her tears away gently, and her blurry vision focused on his hand and travelled downwards to his face.
Eyes that seemed to twinkle with amusement gazed back at her, and he managed to muster a half-grin. "Did you just order me not to leave you, yeah?"
A shaky laugh escaped her in between sobs, her tears finally starting to recede a little. "Did you have to blow yourself up, you asshole?" She tried to growl, but failed miserably. Instead, she sounded like a whining kid.
"They were jounin-level shinobi, yeah. It was difficult. Anyway, it was a bang, and I bet it was such an artistic display that it blew you away," his pallor was slowly coming back to normal as he smirked, his face turning a healthy colour.
Sakura scoffed at his statement, then realised what he had said. His opponents were jounin-level? "But the ones I got were chuunin idiots!" Her eyes flashed an angry brown as she realised what the shinobi had done. Clearly, they had deemed her harmless, the gender-biased bastards.
Deidara gave a weak laugh and coughed, receiving an angry glare from Sakura who told him to stay still. "I'm sorry… I had to kill those animal summons, yeah. I was feeling really, really exhausted and it was a tough battle with those four. They had birds that attacked me when I was up in the air-"
"You did what was necessary," she said simply, cutting him short. Granted, she wasn't happy with the outcome, but he had a valid point in doing so.
Sakura bit her lip, thinking it was rather odd of him to apologise. Wasn't he an Akatsuki member? They had killed many men without a fleeting thought, and here he was, having a guilty conscience about killing animals.
It didn't add up, and Sakura mentally filed away the information for later. Maybe she really didn't know Deidara after all.
"By the way, Deidara…" she continued, her voice trailing off as if she was uncertain of what to say.
"Hm?"
"You were poisoned," she informed him. In the midst of healing, her chakra had encountered a foreign substance, and she opted to take it out after she mended his internal organs that had ruptured badly during the explosion. The blonde man who had been listening grew increasingly pale as she continued to speak. "You had no idea, did you? Whatever you did on the mission yesterday ended up in you getting poisoned, and whoever who did it meant to kill you very slowly, so you won't even realise it until it makes you paralysed."
Silence reigned on them, and for a few minutes, his eyes focused on his surroundings, as though absorbing the information.
She decided to push her luck in finding out more information. "Who did this to you?" Azure eyes locked on brown and she noticed a stormy expression on his features, as though he was inwardly debating on whether or not to tell. For a moment, Sakura thought she'd got to him.
Then, as though a shutter was closed on his open features, his eyes turned distant as they focused on her with an obviously forced grin.
"I can't tell you, Saya. It's top secret, remember? Akatsuki business, yeah." Propping himself up on his elbows, he ignored Sakura's nagging as he sat up. He proceeded to stagger in an upright position, his face turning from cheerful to grim when he turned away from her.
Then when he turned towards her, his forced grin was back, and for some reason, Sakura's heart dropped.
He was reminding her of their differences. He was an Akatsuki, a terrorist, and she was just a missing nin who didn't share the same ideals as him.
A chill crept up her spine as she realised she had actually healed him, an Akatsuki member. If she had left him to die, the world would have one less terrorist, one less person to bring horror and pain. And yet, she had done the exact opposite, because she felt he was a friend.
But was he?
Her mind ablaze with conflicting thoughts, she hastily reached through her pack at her shoulder, finding a familiar bottle and tossed it to him. He caught it with one hand, raising his eyebrow.
"An antidote I made, to cure most poisons. One swallow every six hours and you'll be fine," she said it all in one breath, her guilt coursing through her with every word as she avoided his gaze.
She couldn't believe it. She had just given an enemy nin an antidote for his poison.
"I-I have to go," she choked out, before she could break down. "You can call Tobi to help you move, right?" Without waiting for an answer, she took off and ran away from the object of her troubles, a fresh flow of tears clouding her vision.
"W-wait! Saya!" Deidara called out after her… but she was long gone.
…I'm so sorry, Naruto.
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3 years ago, a similar encounter.
"N-naruto," she whispered, stroking his soft, blonde hair feverishly. The boy coughed, a steady stream of blood escaping him as he watched her with unsteady eyes.
"S-sakura-chan… It's okay, I will be okay. Please… I unsealed Kurama, you have to keep him before he leaves me…" Giving her a weak smile, his hand went up and caught hers, clasping it shakily as he struggled to look at her.
He was going to die.
"No, Naruto. You will not leave me," she whispered, her voice wavering as her other hand scanned his injuries. He was poisoned to the extent where not even the demon's chakra could not extinguish it enough. His body was already burning, and his eyes were unfocused. Sakura noted dimly that she was crying, and he had cupped her cheek in response, wiping away the tears.
"K-kurama, don't come out. You promised," he mumbled as his breaths grew shallower by the second.
"Shh… You'll be fine." She didn't know if she was reassuring him or her own self. She refused to think otherwise –no, she will not believe otherwise.
Sakura heard footsteps behind her.
"Sakura, move, or I will haul your ass myself," her mentor's voice rang through the clearing, and although it was authoritative, it sounded shaky, as though she'd been crying.
"No, Naruto, please, please-" Please, please, please don't leave me alone.
A pair of firm hands settled under her arms, intent on carrying her away.
"It's time, Naruto, Sakura." The solemn, sad voice belonged to Naruto's sensei. Screaming hysterically, Sakura kicked and fought his grip. She stared, wide-eyed as she noticed her teammate, her best friend, take one long, last shuddering breath.
"NARUTO!"
Her scream echoed through the clearing, a chilling sound in the night.
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Present time.
Sakura exited the shower, feeling more like herself by the second. She sighed happily, towelling her hair and then proceeding to brush it. She hummed a familiar tune, recalling her recent conversation with Itachi.
It was obvious he knew she didn't reveal everything, and of course, two can play the same game. Sakura wondered why in the world he thought Sasuke needed to become a monster. He was either batshit crazy with a dual personality or he had valid reasons in saying so.
She couldn't decide which category he belonged to.
Her stomach rumbled suddenly, breaking her from her thoughts. She exited her room with a weary sigh, intent on finding food. Her walk to the kitchen was an eerily quiet one, and she wondered where the other members were. Flinging open the kitchen doors, she found an equally empty kitchen and proceeded to make herself a meal.
It was about half an hour later when the other members started trickling in, their loud chattering breaking the silence.
"Well, if it isn't the bitch who made me lose all my money," Hidan said, his mouth turning up in a pout upon noticing her. He glared at her, but not before shooting her an impressed look.
Sakura only gave an acknowledging grin, getting accustomed to his word choice. Kisame came in soon after with Tobi and Itachi, demanding some food. Grumbling slightly about opportunistic maniacs, she scooped her soup into 5 different bowls before proceeding to set them on the table where the men sat. They dug in greedily. Well, it was actually Hidan and Kisame who did it.
"Mm-Pinky, you are awesome," the Mist nin said in between swallows of his soup, shooting her a grin, and Sakura couldn't help but beam.
Itachi, on the other hand, chose to retain his manners while eating, not even speaking once. Tobi had once again run off with his soup and rice bowl.
It was then that they heard someone humming a tune and Deidara waltzed in, his hands in his pockets as he casually surveyed the scene before him. Then he grinned.
"Man, this is like old times when Konan was around, yeah," he said, giving her one of his toothy grins as he walked over to her. Sakura tried to ignore her heart thudding contentedly in her chest.
"By the way, what did you cook, hm?" He asked, standing beside her as he peered at the stove. The other members eavesdropped shamelessly.
"Seabass soup," she responded evenly, stirring the soup with a ladle.
Kisame proceeded to choke on his soup, coughing violently, as Hidan got into a roaring fit of laughter.
Sakura simply smiled.
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Somewhere in Tetsu No Kuni, Land of Iron.
A man sat alone, cross-legged on a large rock, seemingly meditating. A cool breeze made his black hair shift slightly, and he opened his eyelids to reveal a pair of mismatched eyes. He sighed as his eyes scanned the trees before him.
He wasn't surprised when small tremors occurred, and a large, rock figure slowly began coming upwards from the ground.
After all, he had been waiting for quite some time.
The figure opened its mouth and began to speak in a familiar, deep voice.
"State your identity."
"Hatake Kakashi," his voice rumbled pleasantly in his mask, as he bit his thumb to place a drop of blood on the rock figure's hand. The blood glowed a positive green.
"Update on situation: Haruno Sakura is with us."
With that, the figure crumbled to dust, leaving behind a shocked, wide-eyed Copy Nin in its wake.
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CLIFFHANGER. DUN DUN DUUUNNNN.
And err, yes. This is the lame reason for the seabass nickname. I know, I suck at jokes. T.T I just wanted to make this chapter end on a more lighthearted note. AND DID YOU SPOT DEISAKU'S INDIRECT KISS in the flashback? MUAHAHAHA.
Also, I want to add that even though Sakura healed him, it wouldn't be a big problem for her. The Akatsuki has functioned perfectly fine without a medic. It is only when she is Haruno Sakura that they want her... She has a killer reputation for being Tsunade's apprentice.
New poll:
If you could have one of the Naruto characters for a night/day, who would you pick and what would you do with him/her?