04 boy in a skirt
The first two months in the camp were tense, as everyone waited for the outcome of all the negotiations and peace treaties. War? Or peace? The Privates spent most of their time training along with the Specialists and the Sergeants. The higher ranking officers were already formulating plans and strategies in case their attempts at peace failed. Ever since Hyuga Neji arrived at the camp, the officers were either cooped up inside the Espionage Specialists' tent or trekking around the Land of Fire. Inquiries to their activities were often ignored. The Privates were kept in the dark.
The Sand did not stir up trouble again. After all the high-tension during their last assault, the lack of action made everyone feel lax and bored and they were loosening up. It was then that Naruto organized a little night out to a nearby village, Sayuri. It wasn't really a village. More like a hodgepodge of pubs, brothels, gambling joints, and motels with dingy little rooms. It was frequented by travelers and merchants, and before the tension between the Lands, it wouldn't have been rare to see a travelling man from the Land of Wind there either.
"Check out that sleazy snake," Naruto hissed, staring at the good-looking man sitting a few tables away from them. His gray hair was slicked back—actually, was that gel on his hair?—and had dark brown eyes set on a tanned face.
"That's Hidan," Kiba remarked, "The big-shot from Waterfall rumoured to be affiliated with the Hidden Mist,"
"Whaaaat!" Naruto exclaimed, and it took both Shikamaru's and Sakura's efforts to get him to lower his voice, "Then—then—why is he here slithering around in a pub?! He should be in lockdown! Old granny Hokage should have put him in jail or under surveillance or whatever!"
"There's no evidence against him so it's impossible," Sakura pointed out.
"That's right," Shikamaru shrugged, "He looks harmless, anyhow,"
"Harmless?!" Naruto spluttered, "Look at him, Shikamaru! Those girls are in captivity! Can't you see the vague signals of help they're throwing our way?!"
Sakura looked back at the man, and saw that he had both arms around two attractive looking women, whose faces were filled to the brim with makeup. They were giggling and pressing themselves against him, looking anything but unwilling. And Hidan didn't even seem to be doing anything to force them. He was just sitting there, laughing, with the girls doting on him. In fact, they seemed to look like they were having more fun than he was.
"Um," Sakura frowned, eyes narrowed, "I seriously doubt it,"
Kiba snorted, "Open your eyes, Namikaze. Those women are throwing themselves all over him,"
"Women love guys like him," Shikamaru supplied lazily, "Those easygoing, attractive types. Trust me,"
Sakura felt like contradicting, cause she would never do anything like cuddle up to a suspicious snake like that Hidan.
"Not all women," Sakura felt the need to retort defensively.
"Right, as if you would know anything about women, Akira" Naruto snorted.
Sakura's lips tugged up. She couldn't help it. She'd roll on the floor laughing if she could.
"Oh, he would, wouldn't you, Haruno?" Shikamaru said with an uncharacteristically sly smile.
Sakura's fingers numbed over all of a sudden. "Uhm. Huh?" was her brilliant reply.
"Please," Naruto rolled his eyes before taking a quick swig of sake, "Him? With his pretty boy face? Not a chance!"
"You call Uchiha pretty boy, too, and check out the girls lining up for him back home," Kiba pointed out, going a bit red in the cheeks. Surprisingly, his alcohol tolerance wasn't as good as the other two's.
"Sasuke's a different kind of pretty boy!" Naruto retorted, then looked up at the ceiling with a thoughtful frown on his face, "I meant something else! Like when I say 'pretty boy' to Sasuke, I'm referring to his good looks. But when I say 'pretty boy' to Akira, it's literally like—uh, how do I say this—it literally means pretty, y'know. Like he's literally a pretty guy! I mean, just a few tweaks here and there and Akira would look like a real pretty gir—"
"Kiba! Aren't you drinking too much?!" Sakura exclaimed, snatching the sake bottle from Kiba. "Man oh man, look at him, he's as red as a tomato. This is bad, he might throw up or something. Bad, bad, bad—"
"Ahh Kiba! You look horrible!" Naruto frowned, slapping the Inuzuka boy lightly.
Ah, thank goodness, Sakura wiped a thin sheet of sweat on her forehead. Boy, that conversation was definitely heading to a direction she wasn't hoping for.
"I don't care what you think of Akira's face, Naruto," Shikamaru said, "But I can tell you, this guy would know a lot about women,"
"I refuse to believe it," Naruto said flatly. "Look at him! He doesn't even drink!
"Then, have a look at this," Shikamaru fished out an envelope from his pocket and handed it to Naruto.
Sakura stared at it in horror. A billion of images rushed into her head. What was it?! A picture of her from the matchmaking ceremony? Her legal documents presenting her biological gender? A picture of her without makeup wearing a female's kimono? or a careless message from her mother that inexplicably landed in Shikamaru's hands?! A stupid message from stupid Ino?!
In fact, it was a message from Ino.
It was addressed to Shikamaru and stated very clearly that he was to protect Haruno Akira from everyone: Sand soldiers, anyone in camp who might think of bullying him, from Uchiha Sasuke (Shikamaru wondered why Ino included him), etc cetera, et cetera. From the eyes of someone who had no idea of who Haruno Akira really was, it definitely, with no doubt, seemed like a letter from an overly concerned girlfriend who was losing her hair over worrying for a dashing, brave boyfriend that got sent to a bloody border crawling with enemy soldiers.
"Mind telling me what your relationship with Ino is?" Shikamaru asked, looking very amused. A very rare sight indeed.
"Uhh," came Sakura's dumbfounded reply. Inwardly, she was relieved. The letter only seemed to 'prove' that Haruno Akira had serious romantic relations with women, thus, upping his masculinity by 60% at least. Nice, Ino-pig.
"Ohh, Ino, huh," Sakura said. Sexy Casanova heartbreaker mode: ON
She raked her hair over her head in what she hoped screamed STUD in bold, capital letters. "Well, nothing much. We've had...a few encounters, that's all I can say. She's pretty sweet, though, that Ino. I got to remember to bring back a few gifts for her or she'll get pissed again," Smooth, Haruno.
"I can't believe you're dating Yamanaka Ino!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Dating? Oh no, no," Sakura scoffed. "I don't date, Naruto. It's more of a no strings attached thing, really. Has all the benefits of a real relationship but minus the commitments,"
Cliche. Not to mention lame. But Naruto looked like he'd eat that crap up, though she wasn't sure she could convince Shikamaru. She was right, though. Naruto had a shining twinkle of admiration in his bright blue eyes while Shikamaru looked bored. Well. The whole Casanova act was for Naruto, anyway.
"Whoah, I can't believe it," Naruto breathed out, in awe, "Yamanaka Ino,"
Does this guy have a crush on Ino or something, Sakura smiled tenderly at him. She didn't want to ruin his crush for him like this.
"Not that I like her!" Naruto said hastily, as if reading through her expression, "I'm just saying that she's really pretty. Y'know, an unattainable type. I thought she'd go out with someone a bit more...Sasuke-like,"
She would. She definitely would. But Sasuke's a different story, Sakura thought, recalling the many times her blond bestfriend fantasized about going on a date with the Uchiha on top of the Hokage monuments 'underneath a starry sky on Christmas Eve'—were her exact words. But no matter how much Ino prettied herself up in one of those upper clan parties (that Sakura wasn't invited to) Sasuke never spared her a glance. If he did, it was one of indifference, or worse, a glare.
"What type do you like, though?" Kiba piped up drowsily, apparently having sobered up a bit.
"Dunno, never thought about it," Naruto shrugged. He did seem like the type of guy who cared more about training and other non-romance related stuff. Normally, guys didn't like romance. Just the skirt-chasing casual bit. But Naruto didn't seem interested in that, too.
"Although," Naruto continued, looking thoughtful and a bit goofy, "I do have a crush on someone,"
He threw Akira a slightly-scared, slightly-sly glance. Sakura raised a brow, "What?"
"Ah, yes, you did mention that once," Shikamaru nodded. He turned to Sakura, "He means your cousin, Haruno. That girl from Sasuke's matchmaking party,"
Sakura snorted out sake from her nose in a most unrefined fashion.
Naruto was always filled to the brim with dangerous and idiotic ideas. He was particularly insistent on his latest grand scheme, and bugged the other three endlessly. Even when they left the bar, got to camp, and ducked into their tents, Naruto was still whining and insisting and making a great deal of noise in general.
"Don't give me that crap," Kiba shook his head. "I'm not getting myself into trouble over that, Naruto,"
"C'mooon! Nobody's gonna do anything about him! Are we just gonna let that snake slither around?! We've got him right under our noses! In a week or day's time he might be off prancing around in another part of the world!—"
"Good riddance, then," Shikamaru snorted.
"—so now we've gotta do something while he's still here!" Naruto went on, ignoring Shikamaru's remark, "We can't leave the area while we're still in the service so this is our only chance to apprehend him! Prove he's a lying, disgusting, womanizing bastard!"
"That's just the problem," Sakura ground out. She was starting to get irritated, especially since she could feel a headache coming on, "We have no proof! Nada! None! How can we apprehend the guy? Leave it, Naruto. We've got the Sand patrollers and training to worry about,"
"We squeeze the truth out of him!" Naruto declared. "He's definitely guilty! I can feel it. Just look at him! Check out his greasy, slicked back hair and say to my face that you think he's a good guy. We gotta get the truth outta him!"
"How, then?" Shikamaru asked, raising a brow.
"I already have a plan!" Naruto said, delighted that they were somehow finally considering his brilliance. He ran to the far side of the tent, rummaged inside his bag, and pulled out a few scrolls. He spread them on the table. The other three stared at the contents. The scrolls were riddled with scribbles, diagrams, badly drawn maps—and several pictures of big breasted women wearing overly provocative clothes. Sakura grimaced at the sight.
"Isn't this just your porno stack, Namikaze?" Kiba asked, looking rather dryly at the photos of the women.
"No, no, that's part of my plan!" Naruto looked excited now. "I was thinking of getting one of these big sisters to seduce Hidan and get some information!"
"Who are these women?" Shikamaru asked, frowning.
"They work at the pub we were in last night. Thing is, I don't think we can trust them to keep quiet about the whole operation," Naruto sighed, looking considerably crestfallen. "They'll surely blab, and it'll make the Leaf soldiers look bad,"
"This is why the Leaf needs to enlist female soldiers!" Kiba said tossing the pictures back to the table.
Inside her head, Sakura nodded fervently.
"Your plan has more holes than a fishing net," Shikamaru remarked bluntly.
Naruto groaned, "If I could convincingly dress up as a woman I'd do it myself! But even if you put ten layers of makeup and force me to wear those frilly, itchy looking dresses who would I be able to fool?!"
The table fell silent. Sakura then felt all three pairs of eyes staring rather intently at her. She stared back, eyebrows narrowed. "What?"
"Bastards. Idiots. Morons," Sakura chanted under her breath as she stuck her arms through the sleeves of a rather flashy red and yellow kimono. Her lips were coated in bright red lipstick and a pair of heavy chandelier earrings weighted both of her ears down. She wanted to tell them that forcing her to wear those flashy earrings was unnecessary if they were going to dump a long wig on her head, but she didn't want to seem informed about 'womanly' knowledge.
Finally, she pinned back stray pink locks from her forehead before donning the long black wig that Naruto bought from some shady shop. Finally, she stepped out of the room (that they had rented as their 'espionage headquarters'—as Naruto put it), irritably pulling the kimono's long, heavy train behind her.
Kiba was the first to react, "Holy shit, Haruno. You look like a girl!"
"Perfect!" Naruto looked too gleeful, it was almost scary, "Just perfect! Hidan will be all over you!—Uh, I mean—you look expertly disguised, Akira! That snake Hidan will never see right through it," He said, slowly backing away to a corner after noticing Sakura's murderous expression.
Shikamaru handed a small black device, which looked like a really badly designed earring. "So we can communicate. Just pin it on your ear. It's sensitive enough to catch what you're saying so we can find out if something goes wrong,"
Naruto waved away his concerns carelessly, "What on earth could go wrong? Akira is a dude,"
Sakura looked down to fix some imaginary problem on her kimono to hide her pale face.
Even for someone who had dated at least three guys before, there was something very hard about sidling over to a guy in a pub, especially if said guy had bad rumours following him around like a shadow. She easily distinguished him from the rest of the men by his pale hair. He was about as tall as Sasuke, though more muscular and bulkier. He was dressed in dark clothes that made his pale hair stand out more, and even Sakura had to admit that he was very good-looking. In a dangerous kind of way.
With the calming thought that Naruto, Shikamaru and Kiba were watching her from the shadows, she sidled up to him as confidently as she could. He noticed her immediately, raised an eyebrow, smiled, and gestured to the seat beside him. She sat and he handed her a drink. She tried not to wrinkle her nose at it. She didn't drink, but pub girls always downed alcohol like men, so she did her best to drink the whole shot glass. It took all of her willpower not to grimace at the taste. The drink made her throat heat up.
God, she hated alcohol.
"You're a lovely thing," He said with a steady voice. He was sober, "New, though, right? Haven't seen you before,"
She nodded, then cringed at her own silence. Weren't brothel girls supposed to be confident and talkative?
The foreigner didn't turn away uninterested. He seemed like the type of who preferred inexperienced girls, the type who liked to be the one to coax them out of their shells. Sakura tried not to squirm in her seat. She realized that the heavy kimono she was wearing would make it hard for her to move around quickly if worse comes to worst. She almost laughed at her situation.
Here she was, a girl pretending to be a boy soldier pretending to be a brothel girl. Kami liked playing around with her life.
"So, what's your story?"
"What do you mean?"
He leaned back slightly, staring at her almost lazily with keen brown eyes. "Stories, everyone has one. Last night a brown haired beauty told me she was sold away at a young age. Before that, a pale haired one told me she has a sick little brother, an alcoholic father, a dead mother, and very little money, hence her job. And way before that there was a black haired lady, like you, just a little less pretty, who has a father with a huge debt, and she knew he was going to sell her out, so she ran away and sold herself before he did, and now she has a small property in Grass and has a considerable amount of disposable income. Very smart girl. So, why are you here?"
Ah, that's easy. I'm a noblewoman from a dying clan, disguised as a boy soldier, disguised as a brothel girl to gain information that may help hasten your prosecution. Nothing special.
"I'm from Waterfall," She started. He raised a brow at that, just slightly, and waited for her to go on.
"I came here because—because of the war. I wanted to—I guess, make money for myself. So that—so that whatever the outcome may be, peace or war, I'll have something to live by. I've no family, you see."
"Never?" He asked, though he didn't sound sceptical.
"Never. I mean, I wouldn't know. I spent most of my childhood in an orphanage," Lame. Lame. Lame. That sounded like a line from a particularly awful noir theatre drama.
He studied her for a while, "You're from Waterfall, right?"
"Yes,"
"I came from a small village myself," He said, taking another of swig of his drink, "It wasn't a particularly nice village either. Small and cramped, not enough interesting people. I think I was the most interesting of them all. And you know what people do with special people. They shun them, they teach their kids to be afraid of them, all because their beliefs are different from yours. So I left. It wasn't hard. I detested those lot—those heathens,"
"So, that means you travel a lot,"
"I suppose. I never stay in one place for too long,"
"Ever been in other Lands? Land of Earth? Land of Wind? Land of Water?"
He glanced at her, his eyes giving her a slow once over, that she almost flushed red. Then he flashed his easy, laid-back smile, "Travel stories bore most women,"
"Not me!" She hastily defended. The conversation was finally shifting to something more interesting. If he could just let slip one—just one—thing about the Mist village, she'd be able to return to Naruto and the rest as an even better man, "I actually like History! I've never been to school, so—so meeting knowledgeable travellers is a big thing for me,"
"Okay, then, I'll oblige," Hidan replied, easing into a more comfortable position, "Which Land are you particularly interested in?"
"The Land of Water," She smiled sweetly.
He smiled so knowingly that her sweet facade faltered. But his expression eased back to its usual charming state that she started thinking she was just imagining things, "The Land of Water, I see. It's an interesting place—has a fascinating history and intriguing traditions. There is one such tradition of encouraging fight to the deaths in the Military Academy among the younger students. It's an effective way to produce talented soldiers, I heard. Soldiers who have already killed won't hesitate as much as the ones that haven't killed yet. Eliminates the chances of hesitation in battle, which eliminates potential openings for the enemy to slip through and make their kill. Interesting, don't you think?"
Sakura was starting to sweat a bit underneath her heavy black wig, "You're not joking, are you?"
"Of course not, Miss!" He laughed at her pale face, "Why would I joke to someone genuinely interested in my travel stories? I don't get a lot of chances to share them after all,"
"That's—so gruesome," She wrinkled her nose, "Horrible, in fact,"
"Really? Everyone over there thinks it's perfectly logical, though. Maybe you would have thought it was logical too if you'd been born in the Mist,"
"Absolutely not. I wouldn't," She said firmly. Because it was true. She was a medic. It went against everything she thought was right.
"What would you know about war, though? Or about life as a man?"
"You'd be surprised," She gave him a steady look, then immediately regretted her words. She had a nasty temper and could easily be riled up. She grew more pale-faced when she realized just how much she had given away. She hoped this person was as dumb as Naruto proclaimed he was.
He only laughed, though, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Hidan struck her as the kind of guy that didn't put much value on the things women say. He probably thought all members of her gender were brainless, clueless, moving slabs of meat who didn't know what they were saying most of the time. She made a mental note to keep her temper in check, next time. Her competitive nature, although useful at times, was not needed here.
The flow of their conversation lingered on the Land of Water. She kept on asking questions about the Mist as casually as she could, almost as if she were making a game of how much information she could pry out of him until the first wave of suspicion. He was a confident, easy-going talker. He knew a lot about the Land of Water, but nothing that could suggest he knew too much. She drummed her fingers on the wooden table, impatiently wondering when the alcohol was going to take effect. This would be a lot easier if he were even just a little bit intoxicated. But despite shot glass after shot glass he was downing, his manner and speech was crisp and clear. No sign of fuzziness whatsoever.
The problem was, she didn't know just how much alcohol she could take. She didn't want to make a single slip. Not here. Certainly not when she didn't even have a knife in her boot. Heck, she wasn't even wearing boots.
"What, you're interested in politics, too?"
She kept her saccharine smile on, "Well-informed men just intrigue me,"
She hoped that by boosting his ego a little, he'd be a little less guarded. That was what kept her going. She could feel that he was holding things back, which could mean that he did know something. That there was some truth to the nasty rumours clinging to his shadow.
He must have been just a little bit drunk, because he moved his arm to get the bottle, clumsily knocking it down in the process. It spilled on his shirt, and he cursed softly, standing up. Sakura automatically grabbed some paper towels from the table and wiped his shirt.
"Are you alright? Are you drunk?" She asked as she tried to wipe off the liquid, with no noticeable success.
"Perhaps. Just a little bit," He looked embarrassed at this as he took the paper towels from her and did the wiping himself.
"Can you—drink some more?" It was a strange question, but now that he was finally a bit drunk, maybe she could finally get something out of him.
"I could, but not with this sopping shirt," He frowned, "Can you get my room keys for me? I left them at the desk. The desk is just outside, but you knew that, didn't you?"
In fact, she didn't, so she was glad he said it. She nodded and walked outside, subtly looking around to try and see where Naruto and company were. They were well hidden, that was for sure. She procured the room keys with little trouble. She only had to say his name. That and her brothel girl attire secured the rest. Hired girls probably did this for their drunk clients all the time.
She walked back to the war and handed him the keys, "Here you go, Sir,"
"Thank you," He ruffled her black wig a bit, with a gesture so fond that she smiled despite herself.
Hidan tried to walk off by himself, but stumbled in the process, almost knocking into a particularly tall, muscular man. The man turned away from the well-endowed woman he was with to glare at Hidan, and Sakura had to settle herself in between them and pasted on her face the best pleading expression she could, "I'm so sorry, Sir, he didn't mean to. He's particularly intoxicated this evening,"
The man looked belligerent, but his expression softened at the sight of her. She must look particularly young and inexperienced in his eyes because he begrudgingly turned away to bask once more in the presence of the woman beside him. The woman sneered at Sakura, her gaze momentarily landing on her obviously less-endowed front, before turning her attentions back to her client.
A vein ticked on Sakura's forehead, The nerve!
But before her temper gave way, she placed Hidan's arm around her shoulder and guided him out of the bar. This was perfect. Absolutely perfect. He was drunk, he could barely stand, and as far as she knew, he was at her mercy. Maybe she could just ask straightforwardly and he'd blurt out everything he knew and was guilty of. When she found his room, she inserted the key and opened the door before easing herself, and the drunk man particularly hanging off her shoulders, inside.
Once they got inside, though, Hidan's intoxicated state seemed to have worn off in an instant. He straightened himself up, surprising her, and closed the door, locking it, too, in the process. He slipped the keys smoothly in his pockets just as Sakura finally turned around to face him. His casual, good-humoured nature seemed to have dissolved away entirely. In turn, Sakura allowed her sweet, saccharine facade to slip away. They faced each other, brown eyes locked on green, both sizing each other up.
"From Waterfall, right?"
"Right,"
"Me too, actually," An amused expression crossed his face as Sakura's composure slipped. How could she have forgotten? And such an important fact, too. Cold dread settled in the pit of her stomach when she realized that he must have been suspicious since the beginning.
"Yours is a face I haven't seen before, actually," He continued.
She was silent. She knew making up more excuses was useless. "Fine, then I'm not from Waterfall,"
"So where are you from?"
"That's hardly any of your business, is it?" She said in a belligerent tone despite the prickle of fear that was stubbornly filling her senses. She felt light-headed.
"I think it is. Because you've been snooping through my head all night. Asking stupid questions, thinking I wouldn't see through everything. You insult my intelligence, Lady,"
His eyes were alert now. His arms were folded together in front of him and he was observing her keenly, probably taking his time making deductions in his head. Meanwhile, she tried to make a quick survey of the room without removing her attentions from him. The door was right in front of her, but it was locked, and Hidan stood in front of it. He was a tall, strongly built man. Tackling him down to get the keys and get through the door was not an option. It wasn't even a possibility. Especially not with her ridiculously heavily clothing. The room was small, dingy, with a medium-sized bed pushed against a wall with a small desk and a lamp beside it. There was only one window. It was wide and could easily accommodate her small frame if she wished to escape that way, but it was bolted from the inside. Bolted, but not locked, but she didn't know if she could open it before Hidan manages to stop her. There was one more door, and she had enough common sense to know it led to the bathroom.
Hopeless. That's when her knees began to wobble.
Then she broke out in cold sweat when she realized he had called her Lady.
"You're from the Leaf," Hidan said, eyes still on her, "Judging from your appearance and your ridiculously well-mannered personality, a Lady from a clan. Not the Hyuga, not the Yamanaka, certainly not the Akimichi. Uchiha, possibly from an intermarriage, but there's something distinctly non-Uchiha about you. I've met some of them. A very unpleasant lot. So you might be from some minor clan. Which is it?"
She didn't answer. From someone who was supposedly 'dumb as a horse's ass' (gee, thanks for the tip, Naruto) his deductions were surprisingly accurate. The last thing she could do to save herself was not to let him know she was with the military.
"Tell me who you are. Who sent you," He flicked a microscopic piece of dirt from his damp shirt, "I've been spied on countless of times before, but you're the first woman—a Lady, even!—to do it. You're not just paid to do it. Nobody born in a clan would be short enough on money to consider doing something as dangerous as this."
"Are you sure I'm from a clan?" She asked, trying to mess with him. "I might be some desperate commoner. Haven't thought of that possibility?"
Hidan snorted, "I've thought of every possibility, Lady, ever since you sat down in that chair and told me you were from Waterfall,"
Sakura bit her lip.
"You might not notice small things like this yourself, but you are ridiculously well-bred. You're pretending to be a brothel girl, and you clearly can't do it properly. Why? Because you were not born in an environment where you get to visit pubs and brothels so easily. You obviously haven't met a brothel girl before. Obviously the posh daughter of some posh Lord and Lady. Your speech is too perfect—pronunciation, even the words you use are posh. Let me tell you this, people who work in these—" He waved his arms around him, "—kind of establishments all speak the same. Vulgar slangs, weird pronunciations, that sort of thing. Just from your speech, Lady, I knew you didn't belong here,"
"You don't, either," She remarked, trying not to make her voice tremble so much, "You're not dumb,"
Then feeling much bolder, she said, "You are a Jashinist?"
He tilted his head, "Correct. How'd you know?"
She pointed at the string of beads peeking out from his collar, "Rosary. And you come from Waterfall. Easy enough,"
He agreed, "Transparent. But we're not here to talk about me, are we? I simply want you to tell me who you are. You don't have to make this difficult,"
She absolutely couldn't tell him who she was. "I'm nobody,"
He stepped towards her and she almost, almost, changed her mind when he pressed something cold and sharp against her throat. He wasn't even holding her or anything. What was this, some sort of sick power play? Knew he was bigger, stronger, probably faster, and that she was completely under his mercy? She had to run, move away, tackle him, anything.
Instead, she froze.
He frowned. The weapon cut just a little bit deeper, just deep enough to draw blood, and all of her pride and half-formed plans were completely forgotten as instinct overtook her and she opened her mouth to release a blood curdling scream.
The door beat her to it. It slammed open with a loud bang and she jumped back. Once the blade was within considerable distance from her throat, she managed to take control of her legs once again and dove out of the way. She huddled to a corner, folding her legs in front of her and hugging them like a child would.
Someone strode in, dark military coat billowing behind him. It was, of all people, Sasuke Uchiha. She could barely see his face but she'd know that tall, lithe figure anywhere. Because he was the type of person you'd recognize anywhere. The type of person she'd recognize anywhere.
She felt like she could look at him forever.
Sakura was huddled in a corner, her own arms wrapped tightly around herself. Within seconds, the soldiers had hauled the struggling Hidan out of the room (and into the lobby where Naruto tackled him to the ground. There he was bloodied up bad by Naruto and Kiba).
Sasuke approached the huddled figure, "Haruno,"
Sakura looked up and Sasuke drew back, surprised. He looked at her, and her at him, for quite some time before Sakura broke the silence.
"Sir,"
Sasuke sighed, "Are you hurt?"
She shook her head.
"I'm not. I'm—tired," she swallowed. She was more than tired.
Sasuke tucked his blade back inside his coat and offered his hand. She took it, hands shaking slightly. Sasuke let her go first, but not before eyeing her brothel girl ensemble with keen, dark eyes.
"I first though Hidan would have been two halves short of a whole brain to mistake a guy for a girl, but looking at you—I'd be easily fooled, too,"
She pressed her fingers against the crook of her neck, right where the blade was pressed, "How did you—"
But he had turned away, and she had to swallow up her question and trail behind him with her head down and her hands clasped in front. When they stepped out of the dingy room, Naruto was looking at her with so much relief and happiness that she forgot how angry she was at him. Kiba awkwardly patted her black wig.
"How did—"
Shikamaru reached for her ear, and she tried not to flinch away. "Transmitter, remember? Naruto got a defective one, but we could easily tell when your conversation wasn't going—as planned," He looked guilty, "We would have broken into the room. We would have. Obviously they wouldn't have given us the key, and Naruto had already decided to beat down the door, but then Sir Uchiha was here with a bunch of other soldiers and heard Naruto arguing with the guy at the desk, and so—well, it was troublesome. They demanded an explanation and Kiba had to explain that you were—for some reason, in a room with a dangerous guy, dressed as a girl—and, well—" He scratched his head. "It's a long, troublesome story."
"It must've been a long one," Sakura remarked scathingly. She couldn't keep the biting tone out of her voice, "It must've been a bloody long story if it took you this long to open a bloody door,"
Shikamaru, for the first time since she'd met him and Naruto in the forest two months ago, looked down with a guilty expression. It didn't suit him. Sakura immediately softened her tone, "I agreed to this, though. And I'm fine. I'm—I was—I was just a bit scared, I guess,"
Hidan, his mouth filled with blood, sneered at the Uchiha standing beside her, "Didn't know how desperate the Leaf was. Are you really that short on soldiers?"
"What is that supposed to mean," Sasuke looked at him coldly.
"That!" He pointed a finger at Sakura, "Sending a woman to spy on me. Don't tell me the Leaf enlists their Ladies in the army? How pitiful,"
"He's crazy," Shikamaru put in, surprising everyone.
"No, he's just stupid," Kiba added, glaring at the foreigner, a wild, almost animal-like look in his eyes, "And if he's not as stupid as he seems, he'll shut up. Right now,"
The pale-haired man laughed and shrugged, but didn't say anything.
Choji, one of the officers that came with Sasuke, deliberately pushed through the others and settled his large body between the foreigner and Sakura, blocking them from each other's view. He looked down kindly at Sakura, "Let's go?"
Sakura swallowed, "Yeah. Thanks, Sir,"
Surprisingly, the officers that came with Sasuke didn't have to drag Hidan along kicking and screaming. He went with them, calmly, even sticking his hands out in a mockingly polite manner so they could handcuff him. Sakura walked beside Sasuke at the front of the team, and she could feel the pale-haired man's eyes boring through her back from behind. She mustered up all the courage she could and tried not to make her knees wobble so much. She chanced a glance at Sasuke, and saw that his eyes were on her, too, though he quickly looked away that she thought if might have been her imagination.
"Normally, I don't meddle in Privates' idiotic stunts," Sasuke said, eyes still straight ahead, "This is a special case. It's for helping me with the poison back then."
"Oh, uh—there's no need," She looked down and noticed that he was still visibly limping. The muscle weakness wore off within two weeks but he was left with a limp. She knew it was going to heal eventually, though. She didn't want to talk about medicine. She didn't want him to ask her where she had learned, so she changed the subject.
"What's going to happen to him? To Hidan?" She asked in a low voice, lest the man in question would hear.
"We're taking him in for questioning, though I still don't know if we'll be able to find reason to lock him up," Sasuke replied..
Sakura thought she might faint, "You're—not going to lock him up?"
"No grounds for imprisonment," He replied, "He didn't hurt you. No traces of violence. Can't be harassment either since—" He looked sideways at her, "—you're not a girl,"
Sakura tried not to flinch away from his look. "Yeah, that's right,"
"We're just going to bring him in for questioning,"
If Choji, who was walking on her other side, thought anything of the conversation, he didn't show it. He just walked ahead, looking as calm as he normally did.
It seemed that for the night, Hidan wouldn't be the last of her problems, because standing in front of the Interrogations tent was the tall, lithe figure of Hyuga Neji. He was flanked by two other soldiers—also Hyugas, judging from the color of their eyes—and raised a brow when Sasuke and his peculiar party drew near. He glanced over at them all; a very flashily dressed girl with thick black hair was standing beside his fellow First Lieutenant, head down, hands clasped tightly—almost tensely—together, and behind them a rather beat up pale-haired man who was smiling easily through his bleeding mouth and bruised up jaw, and he was flanked by other soldiers including the Fourth's troublemaker son, his Inuzuka friend, and the Nara heir.
"What's this, Uchiha?" The Hyuga almost looked amused. "Picked up a circus?"
"Yes, a circus of idiots," The Uchiha replied. Sakura had never seen any two people who matched each other so much in height, build, skill and power as these two. Although, to be fair, she liked the Hyuga better because she had many chances to see how well he treated Hinata. Incidentally, whenever Neji comes home from wherever the military takes him, Hinata suddenly has a new dress or a new-expensive-something, and Sakura knew that wasn't just a coincidence.
"Oi, Hyuga!" Naruto exclaimed from the back in his usual, pumped-up way, and Sakura cringed at his lack of respect and the casual way he omitted the honorific 'Sir' from Neji's last name, "This snake needs to be locked up,"
To Sakura's surprise, the Hyuga looked on calmly—almost politely— at Naruto and said, "This guy? Why?"
"Because he's a sneaky, sleazebag of a snake!" The blond said impatiently, "Look at his slicked back hair. What kind of good guy does his hair like that? And isn't he rumoured to be affiliated with the Land of Water?"
Neji frowned, "Well, I can't just arrest someone on the spot, Naruto. We'll need to find out more about him. Formal protocol,"
Sakura was taken aback by the friendly way the Hyuga addressed Naruto. She didn't think she'd ever seen him act like this to anyone but fellow Hyugas before. She respected Naruto herself, but she didn't think Hyuga Neji did.
The soldiers led the foreigner into the Interrogations' tent with Sasuke trailing behind them, followed by Neji and Naruto who were conversing casually. Sakura almost sighed in relief and was about to sneak back to their tent when the Hyuga turned back sharply and his pale eyes met her green ones. She froze on the spot, all the air leaving her lungs. Naruto turned back to see what he was staring at, "Ah, Akira, why don'tcha change back at your tent? I'll take care of that snake for 'ya,"
Naruto then steered Neji away by the elbow, Sakura could hear snippets of their conversation as they left.
"A boy? That?"
"Yeah! Amazing, isn't it! Makeup is amazing! Now I'm starting to wonder what the girls back in the Leaf really look like,"
Sakura rushed back to their tent, hanging her head down and ignoring the stares that followed her as she passed the training grounds where a few soldiers were conversing. When she got to the tent, the other Privates they were sharing the tent with were there, and they looked at her, slack-jawed. She, then, violently ripped out the black wig, releasing her hair and smearing the makeup off with the sleeve of the flashy kimono.
A Private, Hakuzoku, spit out his water, "Haruno?!"
"Bloody hell, it's just you," Another one said, putting his head in his hands, "And I actually thought Kami listened to my prayers,"
"Shut up, just shut up, all of you," Sakura growled as she dug into her bag, grabbed her uniform, and ducked out of the tent to find a private place to change.
Sasuke left the tent before he could strangle the pale-haired man. He was a potty-mouthed, sarcastic bastard; it was so easy to lose your temper when interrogating someone like him. He pretty much dodged and deflected every question, injecting sarcasm here and there. It was enough to make his blood boil under his icy exterior. He decided to leave the man to the Yamanakas. Interrogation wasn't his speciality, anyway. And besides, his limp was aching worse than ever.
Then Itachi exited the tent in front of him. Sasuke turned around to duck back inside the Interrogations' tent, just to avoid his brother, but then Itachi called out to him good naturedly.
"Sasuke? I hope you weren't trying to ignore me,"
"I would never do that," Sasuke growled, though his voice clearly stated otherwise.
Itachi chuckled lightly. Then he assumed a more serious expression, "The patrollers stationed outside the village have reported two small scale raid attempts near the agricultural areas. I've arranged for more sentinels outside, as well as inside, the village."
Sasuke grunted back, eager to get away.
"The Hyuga have dispatched their own private police, as well,"
Sasuke was already trying to move away inconspicuously.
"Don't worry, though, there are plenty of sentinels around the manors of the minor clans, too. I've also given special instructions to pay attention to the Harunos,"
Sasuke stopped edging away. He stared at his brother who stared back at him pleasantly.
"I did it for you," Itachi smiled good-naturedly. Sasuke expressed his thanks with a venomous look.
He turned away, suddenly conscious of his limp. He made an effort to ignore the pain and walk as straight as he could. He never liked showing weakness in front of his brother. He hated how everyone thought Itachi was a million times better than he was. Sasuke worked a lot harder. Why didn't anyone ever see that?
"No thanks?" Itachi called out with an amused voice.
"Thanks," Sasuke responded with a voice that sounded anything but grateful. He seethed as he went, inwardly cursing his older brother and his inconvenient limp. He hated how Itachi was always better. He also hated how Itachi could read him like a book. He especially hated how he couldn't read Itachi at all. Itachi wasn't even in the marriage candidate dinner, but he knew that Sasuke liked the pink-haired lady, anyway. It was annoying, how Itachi always seemed to know everything.
.
TBC
A/N: soldier sakura dressed as a girl was a request from a close friend. she said that crossdressing stories are never complete unless they involve double crossdressing: a girl dressing as a guy dressing as a girl. lmao xD