Hello Awesomes... Thank you, thank you, thank you for reviewing! (insert heart shaped bubble here) :D
KagomeAngel91: Ah yes… A drunk Kisame leads to hilarious consequences XD And try not to think of the brown gravy!
Black n' Blue sun: Yes, I like blue too :D
Anonymous: Glad to know it helped shed some light on the issue. Hehe :D
Shadow Wolf: Thank you :D
Delilah-smurple: Hahaha sexiest fish LOL! Well that's true… :D
Sarah: Thank you :DD
organizationkhII: Hehe yeah. The problem though is making the sparks fly in a more realistic way… I think I have trouble there. And yeah he's one adept Mist shinobi! :D
DontWaitUpForMe: So true. He's a real unique guy, like all the other Akatsuki members who are unique in their own ways. Enjoy this one! : )
KurayamiEra: Haha thank you so much :D I love Gai and Lee too!
Onigirixdango: Sure thing! :D I shall have to remember that!
KiraTockyRickiSalvatore: Thanks! And yeah he's funny XD
Katara-Hatake: I love his sword too. And yeah they were lovers : ) Hehehe.
BornVillain: Hi there! :D There will be more scenes in the future! And yeah Kisame and Itachi go very well together as partners!
Jjangqueen: Brown stuff is good for you. You should try it sometime, sista :D Don't forget to flush afterwards, HAHA.
Carol: Hi! And yeah, instead of tall, dark and handsome, it's tall blue and sexy that's trending now… XD
Without further ado, Chapter 16. Enjoy!
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Sakura exhaled, running a hand through her locks as she surveyed the room key lying on her hand. Her muscles were weary from strenuous travelling and were now aching badly, as though screaming for rest. She glanced at Kisame and Itachi, who seemed to be in the same mood as her.
"Damn, I can't wait to bathe. Maybe even soak in a huge tub for a long, long time," Kisame complained as they trudged up the stairs of the inn they were staying at. The stairs creaked noisily as they went up, especially under the Mist nin's weight.
"Whoa, Kisame. You're acting like a water-starved seabass," Sakura jibed in good cheer, and she noticed a smirk curling on Itachi's lips as he heard it.
"Am not! Itachi, can you please tell Pinky over here that her jokes are getting old? She keeps calling me Seabass over and over again."
Sakura poked him in the ribs. "And you call me Pinky!"
"You have pink hair! That totally justifies the nickname!" Kisame shot back.
"And you have gills!" With that, Sakura let out a peal of laughter, rushing into her room before Kisame could even think about throttling her.
The two men stood outside her room, watching her door close, one with a fond smile on his blue face, while the other appeared pensive as usual.
Both had their respective thoughts, but were thinking about the same kunoichi who had just entered their lives not too long ago.
"Ne, Itachi?" Kisame spoke up after a while. "I have a feeling she'll make a nice addition to our team."
"Hn."
With that, the duo went inside the room lying just next to their new partner's room, their black and red cloaks swishing behind their backs.
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Land of Iron.
A yellow-haired figure sat atop a tree, on a branch, meditating with his eyes closed. After a long while, his body relaxed with a soft exhale and his eyelids snapped open to reveal startling azure eyes. A cool breeze passed him, making his black cloak sway in the wind. He watched the dawn before him with a wistful smile.
Someday, things will get better. It was something he told himself every day ever since he awoke a year ago. Someday, Konoha will be back to normal, and he'd have his old teammates by his side. There would be no Akatsuki, no impending war, and the countries will finally have some semblance of peace.
For the millionth time that day, his mind travelled to a certain pink-haired teammate. His worry had made him restless, which prompted him to meditate as often as possible. His thoughts bordered on obsessive as he wondered if she was safe, being a new jinchuuriki and hiding it from the Akatsuki at the same time.
Just how complicated can her situation get? Once, he'd though his situation as a jinchuuriki was the most complicated mess, and now, it seemed that the teammate he now thought of as a sister was embroiled in a much worse situation, which resembled a ticking time bomb that would inevitably explode.
His thoughts drove him mad with worry, and he longed to talk to someone so bad. Kakashi, however, had forbidden him to do so. The only ones who knew the Kyuubi had survived and lived in Sakura were only Kakashi, Shikamaru and General Mifune, besides Naruto himself.
His mind travelled to a recent memory, where Naruto had begged the General to take Sakura in.
"Please, General Mifune. Sakura is out there and we have to help her! Who knows what will happen to her? What if the Akatsuki finds out about the Kyuubi? She'll die!" the blond nin begged, his eyes pleading.
The man exhaled softly, his eyes softening as he watched the boy kneel on the floor to give a respectful bow.
"Stand up, Naruto," the wizened, grey-haired man said sternly, and the boy hastily got up, rubbing tears furiously from his eyes.
"You know I lead a neutral country. Having a jinchuuriki here means we are taking a side, and I cannot allow my country's neutral stand to suffer and bring a war upon innocents living here."
Naruto's face fell and the man sighed. His hand came up to ruffle Naruto's hair in a fond gesture.
"I'm sorry Naruto… But I am sure she'll be fine, wherever she is. From what I hear, she is Tsunade's apprentice, and probably surpassed her already. She knows how to keep herself safe. She's a smart girl," Mifune's calm and soothing voice echoed in Naruto's ears, and he relaxed imperceptibly.
And now, she was in the clutches of the most infamous terrorist organization in the world, Naruto thought, sighing as he agonized over his teammate's predicament.
He remembered the conversation he had with his sensei a few days ago. Kakashi had told him that the Leader of Akatsuki had sensed remnants of his Kyuubi chakra, and suspected the Kyuubi to be alive. Since Sakura hadn't leaked it, she had to be wondering who else did. The only one who harboured the Kyuubi chakra was only her and Naruto.
Sakura was a smart girl; she would connect the dots, so she had to know he was alive. She had to.
Just you wait, Sakura. I will find a way to save you.
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Sakura got out of the shower, towelling her hair with a relieved sigh. It took a long time to remove grime from the oddest places she had accumulated during their travel, and she was extremely grateful that the soap and shampoo the inn provided was strawberry-scented.
She loved strawberries.
Absentmindedly, she touched her left shoulder, where something akin to a birthmark lay there. It was a seal she had made herself, to prevent the Kyuubi from ever leaking out if she were to experience strong bouts of emotion. It made the seal even more foolproof, and she was grateful the seal was strong enough for Pein not to sense any Kyuubi chakra on her whenever they touched.
With a shiver, she closed her eyes and relived a memory involving the Rinnegan user. His gentle touches, his molten gaze and his reassuring voice…
She couldn't even begin to fathom why an enemy's voice sounded so reassuring to her ears. If anything, she should be terrified.
Yet, she couldn't help but notice how passionate his words sounded, the way his eyes seemed to glimmer as he spoke of a new world… and the way he looked at her. The words he spoke sounded strangely emotional, and yet, his expression was always that of a calm and collected person.
Her mind was still on the enigmatic man while she brushed her hair to rest on one side of her shoulder. With a pensive expression on her face, she exited her room and proceeded to Kisame and Itachi's room.
The door opened to reveal a cleaner-looking Itachi with wet, tousled hair, acknowledging her with a raised eyebrow. He was decked in black cotton shirt and pants.
"I thought it's best to start healing your eyes tonight," Sakura said, fidgeting on the spot in her T-shirt and shorts as he studied her intently.
With a murmur of assent, he opened the door to let her walk in. Sakura instantly noticed the main difference between the room and hers, double beds lying in the corner. The room was furnished with teak to give a zen-like feel, and came with a simple coffee table and two loveseats.
She could hear a shower in progress in the bathroom, and deduced it to be Kisame as the person inside hummed a tune, his tone deaf male voice bordering on screeching.
Ignoring Kisame's singing, she walked over to one of the beds and gestured to him. "It's better if you sit," she suggested, shrugging. Wordlessly, the impassive man sat down next to her.
She took in a deep breath at their closeness… and was instantly hit with the scent of strawberry.
Suppressing a hysterical giggle, she turned it into a cough, before resuming medic mode once more. With a poker face, she stretched her two hands out to touch his temple-
He stiffened, and before Sakura could get a chance to explain her movements, he grabbed her hands by instinct in a tight grip, his red eyes turning cold.
Sakura merely sighed. "Itachi-san, I'm just going to have to scan your eyes. I won't do anything else. You have my word." His Sharingan eyes seemed to bore into her jade ones as he seemingly mulled over her words.
After a while, he promptly let her hands go. "Hn."
Sakura deduced it as 'go ahead' in a typical Uchiha fashion. Once again, she pressed her fingertips to his temple, and he didn't flinch. Furrowing her eyebrows in concentration, she garnered green chakra and slowly let it seep in, focusing it on his optic nerves.
Itachi watched her intently as she seemed lost in her world, murmuring medical jargons he roughly knew and understood. He suppressed a smirk as she scrunched up her nose at one point. It was quite odd for a shinobi, especially of her considerably high calibre, to show her emotions on her sleeve, so much so that he had a hunch she wasn't really being honest with her emotions all the time. There were also times he could never read her, and her face became a blank mask familiar to his own. The girl was an odd and interesting mix of nonchalance and colour, and it was neither black nor white with her. With such a dangerous mix, it was difficult to decipher her true emotions, and it made a great tool for deceiving people around her.
It was no wonder she was chosen as the next best vessel for the Kyuubi.
"Close your eyes," she instructed, her jade eyes focussing on his red ones. The man shut his eyes, his body unmoving.
"I'm going to heal your eyes now. Your optic nerve is really damaged, and you are very nearly blind. It will take some time and a number of sessions to heal them. Try not to use the Mangekyou too often. The damage started with the Mangekyou, am I correct?" she asked, tilting her head as she bit her lip, her fingers still placed delicately on his temple.
"Yes," the man responded smoothly, his eyes still closed.
"Okay. You have to stop using it too much, or your condition will deteriorate. Try not to keep your Sharingan activated all the time as well."
"Hn." With that, the two lapsed into an oddly comfortable silence, hearing the noise of splashing water in the shower.
It was fifteen minutes afterwards that Sakura found herself satisfied with her healing process, and decided to stop. Stretching her arms above her head languidly, she let loose a weary sigh.
"We're done for today. How's your eyesight?" She asked, and Itachi's midnight blue eyes finally snapped open to focus on her.
He gazed at her, his expression transforming to one full of wonder. Their eyes interlocked and she fought the urge to fidget as he studied her features with even more intensity than usual.
Then his hand came up and traced a lock of her pink hair, as though he was marvelling at something she didn't know about. "I see… I can see now," he murmured, his eyes on her pink strands that contrasted with his pale skin of his palm.
Sakura beamed, thrilled that she managed to heal well. She knew she shouldn't be too thrilled healing a clan killer, but her medic instincts had come out to the front whenever a person near her was impaired or injured in any way.
Tch. You're a sucker, Sakura. You shouldn't have healed him to the best of your abilities, Kurama noted disapprovingly. One day he will turn against you.
Or maybe he will repay the favour, Sakura shot back. Kurama stayed silent, opting to speak no more.
One day… maybe he will repay me.
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So the poll results was that everyone loved him because he was blue and has this damn cool Samehada and sucks the chakra outta people. Hell yeah! I loooove Samehada. Wish I had one to suck the life out of my teachers… LOL.
So Itachi knows Sakura is a jinchuuriki. Pretty obvious who's the contact now…
New poll: Sakura or Hinata?
Ha, that's one abstract question there. I'll leave it to you to interpret it and spam me with your opinions XD Cheers!
Let me know if I make any mistakes!