Chapter 12 – Finally
"Take care of yourself, Sakura–san." Rin smiled down at her, handing her a pouch. "There's some medical supplies in here that you can use, if you need to. You won't really need to use them on one of these guys, but it's just in case you pass somebody who may need help." Opening the pouch, she showed her a scroll. "This was my first medical scroll, so it's a little old, but on it are many techniques and jutsu that will help you when studying under Tsunade–sama."
Nodding her thanks and smiling warmly in return, Sakura put the pouch inside of her backpack. "So what are you going to do now?"
The brunette glanced up at the two men stood on either side of her, regarding each of them for a moment. She turned back to Sakura with a smile. "I think we're going to wait out the storm for a little while longer. Mikoto–san has informed us of another hideout, one that even Orochimaru shouldn't know about. Shisui–san is going to transport us there some time in the next few days."
"You'll be safe there." The younger woman smiled, genuinely happy to hear those words. "I… I really hope this won't be the last time I see you all," she told them honestly. "We've only known each other a short while, I know, but…"
Rin smiled just as warmly. "I look forward to meeting you again, Sakura–san. Make sure you have a lot to tell me."
"I will."
It was Kakashi who spoke up next, placing his hand on her shoulder and pulling her away ever so slightly from the other two, confusing Sakura. When he reached into his pocket, that confusion shifted into embarrassed surprise and she knew that, should she have still been human, she would have been blushing.
"Here," Kakashi offered her an eye crease, holding out a familiar orange book. "For the journey."
"I–I can't read that! It's porn."
"It's–" he cut himself off, brushing aside his annoyance. It had become a 'thing', of sorts, for them to discuss his reading material. To put it simply, Sakura thought he was a shameless pervert, while he was trying to show her that Icha Icha was not just about sex. Kakashi's smile slipped into a smirk and he leaned a little closer, lowering his voice so it would be harder for the others in the next room to pick up on it. "Since I can smell Itachi–san quite strongly on you, I know that this book will come in handy. It's not porn like you think it is," he added, noticing her outrage, "it's about connections. Just give it a try and if you don't like it, then that's your opinion."
Even though their backs were to them, Rin couldn't help but sigh with annoyance and shake her head, whilst Obito smirked and rolled his eyes, deciding to help his childhood friend and rival. "It will also give you bonus points when you find Jiraiya–sama, Sakura–san. If Tsunade–sama needs a little… persuasion, to take you on as her student, then Jiraiya–sama will be able to do so easily. Telling him how great his book is, will help you – especially if those words come from you."
Reluctantly, after thinking about it for a few moments, Sakura accepted the small, orange book as Kakashi pushed it gently into her hand, shoving it into her backpack hurriedly just in case anyone else saw.
"It seems they've both given you gifts," Obito realised, also realising that he was the only one of his clan not to do so. He gave her a small smirk. "I don't have enough Sharingan to keep handing them out. You're a wind user, right?" Sakura nodded. Something flashed in his single eye. An idea, most likely. "Here," Obito murmured, reaching into his pocket and taking a scroll. At the sight of it, the other two members of his clan watched with wide eyes, already knowing what was inside of it due to the colouring of the scroll. "This will definitely be useful to you. Open it when you have the chance to train and not a moment before." A pause. Another smirk. "Also, make sure you watch Itachi–san's expression when you release what is inside from the scroll. I have no doubts that it will amusing."
"And why is that?"
Seeing Obito tense slightly was amusing, although he masked his startled expression easily. "You'll see eventually, Itachi–san." He gave another smirk to Sakura. "Good luck with your training, Sakura–chan."
Rin and Kakashi both smiled down at her, also wishing her luck.
After saying her final goodbyes to the clan and placing the scroll carefully into her backpack, Sakura followed Itachi out of the hideout, where everyone else was waiting outside.
Despite being outside every now and then with Itachi, it felt like Sakura had only just gone outside since arriving at the hideout. Did Sasuke feel the same way? There was no way of telling. He was watching the area around them with a blank expression, though she could see the tension in his shoulders.
He was looking for Orochimaru.
The sun was shining brightly down on them all and Sakura took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air that was uncontaminated by anything, enjoying the sounds of birds singing and other wildlife. They were the only people around for miles, and there was no electricity in the forest. Had this been before Sakura was changed, she would have been utterly horrified by the lack of internet, or television, or even music! However, it made a nice change. It made you socialise and get to know others better.
Around them the trees rustled as a light breeze brushed through the clearing, causing stray leaves and petals to fly up into the air. And as her eyes followed them, Sakura couldn't help but smile softly at the fact that it was a cloudless day, the sky a beautiful shade of blue. So much for winter, but then again, they were apparently rather close to Suna – literally in the middle of Suna and Konoha. The weather was bound to be a lot warmer.
"Do you have everything you need?" Mikoto asked gently.
It made Sakura feel saddened to be leaving Mikoto and not only leaving the woman, but also taking both of her sons with her, too. However, while Sakura had played a major part in Itachi's decision to stay by her side, she had nothing to do with Sasuke's decision. He wanted to stay with his brother, wanted to be trained by him so that he was definitely ready to take on Orochimaru. The moment it was all over, Sakura had no doubts that Sasuke would return to the clan. Who knows? Perhaps she and Itachi would, too.
"We do," Itachi answered before then going on to telling her, "Shisui and I have already discussed what is to happen should Orochimaru linger around here."
When the other members of the clan glanced at Shisui, who was standing beside Fugaku, he continued where Itachi had left off. "Together, we have all decided what will be happening with Obito–san and his clan." They nodded. "However, what we didn't discuss with you both, Mikoto–san, Fugaku–san, is that the three of us will also be moving."
Sasuke's eyes snapped from the edge of the clearing and over to Shisui, narrowing as they did so. "Is it really wise to talk about such things while out here?"
There was a pause, one where Shisui seemed to be in thought, before he replied, "Orochimaru is not around. Neither are any of his lackeys."
"We should still be cautious," Gaara muttered from his place against a tree.
He seemed bored as he leaned against it with his arms folded over his chest. If the look in his eyes meant anything as they languidly swept from admiring the view, to Shisui's, meant anything, then he was definitely bored. That was no surprise. For months now, they had all been limited to many things, including how far they could travel from the hideout. That meant that, unless people were rather foolishly straying through the forest, then they had to stick to animal blood.
Yes, she and Itachi had managed to slip into the town only ten miles from the hideout but they had had to take precautions when doing so. Not only that, but Itachi had also had an ulterior motive for taking Sakura into town. Not just to test her restraint, but also to get a look at the possible hunts. By the end of the day he had concluded that the town was much too small for twelve vampires (not including Sakura) to make hunt there. It was the kind of town that was incredibly close. Like, for example, should one of them suddenly become hospitalised, then the whole town would be talking about it within the hour.
It was difficult enough for Rin to take away as much donation blood as she had without depleting their supplies too much. There had only been enough to feed Sasuke and even then, he'd had to pace himself and ration the blood after a while.
"He's right." Fugaku sighed after a couple of moments. Dropping his arms to his sides, he nodded once to his sons. "We will find a way to contact you later on this evening." Then, his eyes drifted to Sakura's, making her inwardly wary, though she refused to show it. "Good luck with your training, Sakura." It surprised her greatly when he smirked at her. "And try to keep my sons out of trouble."
She couldn't help but grin in reply.
They had been on the move for hours now, running for what felt like an eternity.
After focusing hard on the bond he shared with Tsunade, Itachi had began to lead the way with Sakura and Sasuke flanking him. Behind them was the Sabaku clan and Naruto. They had to be on guard every second they travelled, had to be wary of hunters passing them by or worse, Orochimaru.
The snake–like man was nowhere to be seen.
As they ran, Sakura noticed how different parts of the forest looked when they passed by a particular village. There was that one a few hours back, the one that was so rightly called 'Sin City' because of all the drugs, alcohol, gambling and prostitutes. There'd barely even been a forest around that village, everything having been polluted and ruined by all of the chemicals and smoke in the air. It had reeked of stale alcohol and sex, so much so that it had made Sakura's stomach churn viciously.
"Fuzen Machi," Itachi had murmured to her over his shoulder, noticing her attention being drawn to it.
"It's not a pleasant place, as you can probably already tell," Temari added. "Neutral territory, completely free of any leaders or whatever, but that's the city's downfall. It's overrun now with… questionable characters."
Hearing her pause, how it sounded as though the sentence was changed halfway through, had Sakura frowning softly. "Questionable? You mean like… thugs?"
"Partly." Kankuro sighed in reply for his sister. "It's not called 'Sin City' for nothing."
The conversation had ended there, with Sasuke reaching over and fixing the hood on Sakura's cloak, making sure that her hair was covered. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Gaara did the same, as well as Naruto. Those three had the brightest hair of them all, and were most likely to draw attention to them should somebody see a dash of either pink, red or the brightness of Naruto's blond hair, flashing through the trees. It would only bring them unwanted attention and Sasuke was in no mood for it. After a moment, as a just in case, Temari also fixed her hood over her hair.
She'd never travelled in such a way before. If Sakura had previously travelled through forests (for long distances) then she had walked at a steady pace, being careful not to overdo it or tire herself out so quickly (due to still being human). Now? Now it felt as though she had an unlimited supply of energy, like she didn't have to be wary of using too much. Each leap from one branch to another cleared at least an entire minute of walking. It was insane! Almost like she was flying through the trees!
In a strange way, Sakura felt free. It was difficult to explain, but running (or leaping) like she currently was, gliding through the trees after spending so long staying within the same area and never straying too far, was… It was something else. Even though they couldn't break their formation, even though they had to run at a constant, equal pace, she felt free.
With his back to everyone else, Itachi allowed a small smile to pull at his lips, enjoying Sakura's happiness like it was his own.
The wind picked up, threatening to yank her hood down, but Sakura held onto it, glancing over her shoulder to see if the others were still keeping theirs up, too. They were. However, she paused at the look on Temari's face, the content. It was almost as though she was greeting an old friend, in a way. Then again the wind was a part of the blonde, it was her friend.
"We will stop here," Itachi spoke, his voice no louder than a murmur.
Going by Sakura's chakra levels, they would need to take a break soon. He didn't want to exhaust her too much on her first long distance trip, not when they would be passing through Konoha once more. They all needed to stay focused, to be wary of wasting their chakra. Should they encounter a threat, Itachi wanted to be certain that Sakura would be capable of defending herself. The others seemed to agree (on the saving all of their chakra – not just Sakura's) as they followed Itachi higher up into the large trees without another word, each of them finding somewhere to rest up and concealing themselves.
Itachi and Sakura sat side by side on the highest branch, one that gave them the ability to look up at the dark sky. It would have been pitch black, had it not been for the stars and the moon.
"I remember why I wanted to travel so much, now," Sakura murmured, her eyes glued to the stars. "It makes me feel so light and free."
It took away the feeling of being trapped – something that had been difficult to avoid or overcome ever since she was raped. Itachi knew what she was talking about and he didn't take offence, or feel like it was his fault. That particular feeling had absolutely nothing to do with anything he'd done. If anything Sakura was extremely grateful to him for bringing her new life, for giving her a second chance at life.
"You forgot?"
"Yeah…" She nodded, biting on her lower lip. "I guess I must have pushed it away and focused too much on other things."
Regarding her for a moment, Itachi tilted his face up towards the sky, relishing in the gentle breeze that swept his hair off his face. "It explains why you have been so restless," he stated. "You are naturally an adventurous woman."
Yes, she was. "Itachi…"
He gave a small smile. "Ask me."
Of course, Sakura inwardly grumbled, he could sense everything thanks to the bond. Lately it had been growing so very powerful and if their emotions were intense, they could hear each other's thoughts. It was a little freaky having somebody hearing your thoughts, but together, they'd been working on that. "Can we…" She paused for a second, a soft frown pulling at her lips. "I've always wanted to see the world, so… Can we?"
His smile widened momentarily, a warm feeling causing Itachi to feel relaxed despite the fact they were not in an incredibly safe area. Only Sakura could make him feel like that. "Just the two of us."
She knew that this was his way of agreeing and it took everything in Sakura to hold back her need to grin brightly.
The grin she'd been attempting to hold back, vanished altogether as another gust of wind blew past them. With it, was…
Sakura breathed deeply, her nostrils being filled instantly with such a sweet smell that it had her throat burning in response, had her fingers digging harshly into the branch she and Itachi were seated on, leaving indentations.
Blood.
She swallowed hard.
Itachi's eyes snapped to hers as Sakura shifted in her seat, as her eyes quickly darted from one area to another.
A creak behind them.
She whirled around, eyes fierce and the growl that tore from her, came deep from within her chest, echoing loudly throughout the forest and easily overshadowing the sounds of the night, which seemed to all fall silent at the noise. Naruto stilled immediately in response, wild eyes fixed on hers.
Sakura's upper lip curled.
And then she was flipping backwards off the branch, using the opposite tree as a vault before she was running back the way they just came, running at a speed faster than she was used to. Adrenaline rushed through her veins, scorching her and making her breathing quicken, making it hard to focus on anything other than the delicious smell of blood.
It was when somebody appeared beside her that Sakura snapped, spinning around quickly though never stopping once in her running. However, just as she clenched her fist tightly and was about to punch that person, to make sure it was known that the person bleeding was not to be touched, just as another feral growl ripped through her, her eyes locked with Itachi's.
"I will not take this from you," he murmured to her, watching as Sakura faced forward once more. Clearly, she knew that he would not interfere. "I want to remind you, however, of who you are. What you want to be."
Her eyes narrowed a fraction.
"If you make hunt now, if you drink this person's blood, you will never be able to ignore human blood again. It will be inside you and you will know the difference between human and animal blood. It will make your wish to become a great doctor so much harder."
Sakura swallowed hard, fists clenching. "I'm not hunting."
A pause.
Another leap from one tree until she was on the ground, looking down at the broken man before her.
Her eyebrows knitted together.
"I'm helping him."
Closing her eyes, Sakura took a deep breath to get used to the smell, to teach herself that while it smelled so very delicious, she could not drink his blood. This man was injured. Badly. By the looks of things, it had been a fight.
Kneeling down before the man who was just about to fall unconscious, she frowned. Three stab wounds. One to the upper thigh, just missing a major artery, one to his shoulder and the other being just a slash up his arm, although it was still bleeding a fair amount. His lip was split and his left eye was swollen shut. It seemed being a vampire doctor had its benefits, after all. She could sense where the injuries were and how bad they were, easily.
"Are… Are you an angel?" He smiled deliriously, dark eyes shutting as he slumped against the tree. "Take me… anywhere you want… angel."
Angel… Sakura bit back her giggle and slipped off her backpack, pulling out the pouch Rin had given to her. Who would have guessed that it would come in handy more or less straight away? Willing the shake of her hands away, she opened the pouch, looking through her supplies, before taking out what she needed and getting to work.
"That was…" Temari shook her head as Sakura returned to them. "Unbelievable."
"We all thought you were going to–"
"I didn't," she cut Kankuro off, nodding in thanks to Naruto, who handed her a soaked cloth to wash the blood from her hands. She did so quickly. "I had to make you all think I was so that you wouldn't go after him."
"Smart," Sasuke muttered from his place against a tree. "Are you done playing hero now?"
Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously.
What, did he think that had been easy for her? Ignoring that man's blood had been close to impossible and more than once, she'd almost caved. The entire time, Sakura had had to go through the periodic table as well as what she knew of all surgical procedures to keep herself distracted from the blood. And now Sasuke was acting like what she did was meaningless? Like it was just a waste of his time?
Not giving Sakura the time to reply, Itachi spoke up, giving his brother a warning look. "Don't start to sulk like a child because you didn't get to hunt, Sasuke. We will be passing by a prison in a few hours. You can wait until then. The man Sakura healed was innocent and had been mugged for everything that was on his person."
The younger Uchiha's upper lip curled before he pushed off the tree. "Are we going now?"
Rolling her eyes, Sakura obeyed Itachi's order of getting into formation once more and once they were all in position, they set off again.
She tried to ignore the look of the place, tried to ignore the creeping unease filling her, tried to ignore the bloodcurdling screams that echoed through the night before being permanently silenced.
Outside of the prison, Sakura took a deep breath, thankful that the wind was blowing towards the prison, therefore not blowing the smell of death and blood into her face. Yes, the deaths would be inside the prison and yes, she was at least a mile away, but her sense of smell was strong.
They had all gone inside, had all gone to take as much blood as they could in order to last the journey. Itachi hadn't been comfortable with leaving Sakura outside alone and neither had Temari or Naruto, either. However, she had assured them that she could do this. Staying hidden within the trees wasn't difficult and knocking out a few humans who found her wouldn't be either.
She sighed.
It seemed all she could do at that moment in time, was wait.
Hunting always brought Itachi a strange sense of power, of control. It was something he never knew whether to accept, or to be wary of. Too much power could corrupt a person, could make him arrogant and whatnot.
Then again…
He breathed deeply, a low growl rumbling in his chest.
Nobody could truly ignore feeling powerful, could they? Even if they didn't relish the feeling, a small part of them would.
He slipped into one of many offices with ease, watching from within the shadows as the officer on duty practically slobbered over the screens showing him footage of the entire prison. This was a perfect example of a man with too much power, of somebody being corrupted by it. Before even turning onto the corridor with this particular office on it, Itachi had smelled evil. He had caught a whiff of something that brought back awful memories to him.
Pain, suffering and sex.
Some people simply weren't cut out for being a man of power.
Itachi flash stepped over to the other side of the office, bringing the officer out of his perverted spying as he did so. The reaction was one he had been expecting. Fear of being caught, surprise to find that nobody other than himself was in the office. It wasn't fully lit, so the officer could not see him.
It was supposed to be the men inside of this prison who were criminals and whilst they deserved punishment, they did not deserve what was happening. Nobody did. Not them, not Sakura–
Another deep growl rumbled from deep within his chest, alerting the officer that he was definitely not alone.
Blond hair flopped into his eyes as he spun around in his chair, hazel eyes snapping this way and that to try and find the trespasser. Nothing. "W–Who's there?"
Even criminals deserved privacy.
The screens shattered, Itachi's movements much too quick for the officer to keep up with and by the time he'd moved back into his hiding place, the other man was falling to the ground, arms and hands covering his head in a weak attempt to shield himself.
"You are a pitiful excuse of a man." Itachi's eyes narrowed, voice low as he glanced at the desk. "Genzou–san."
"Where are you?" Genzou demanded, shooting straight to his feet and reaching to his holster. "You have no right to be in here!"
"Do you really wish to speak about rights?"
Silence. Hazel eyes narrowed.
"You are aware that rape, no matter who the victim is, is still rape, aren't you?"
Genzou's upper lip curled and not even a second later, his gun was being held tightly in both hands, the man turning this way and that as he tried to follow Itachi's voice. However, his deep voice sounded as though it was coming from all around him and he couldn't figure out which way was the right way. "You know nothing about my prison!" the man spat hatefully. "The men here are vicious, they show no remorse for the things they've done!"
Black eyes flashed to red, glowing ominously in the lowly lit office. "And taking away their dignity, their self–respect and privacy, is the way to punish them?"
Again, nothing but silence.
Itachi was in front of him in a second, easily batting the gun out of Genzou's hands and pinning him to the wall with a single hand wrapped around his throat, lifting him off his feet.
"It is men like you," Itachi's voice dropped to a deadly murmur, "who makes it seem like there is no way out. I am not excusing the wrongs these men have done. I am in no way defending them. However, if you continue what you are doing to them, then they will never become better people. They will go on living as criminals, they will go on lashing out and doing who knows what. They will want retribution, even if they are not punishing the one who harmed them."
It was weakly that Genzou clawed at the hand around his throat, trying pitifully to make it loosen. Impossible. No matter how hard he fought, the hand was unmovable. His nails couldn't even penetrate Itachi's skin.
"W-What are… you?" he rasped.
Red eyes narrowed before Itachi was spinning them around and slamming Genzou into the ground, causing what little air was left to rip unmercifully from his lungs.
Instead of answering, he leaned over the man and sank his teeth into his neck, a small part of him enjoying the tortured scream that echoed around the office and down the deathly silent corridor.
Usually, you were supposed to eradicate all evidence of ever being there.
Not this time.
Instead of getting rid of all evidence, Itachi had instead fabricated a few things. For example, there were no vampires who had sucked the blood from the most evil prisoners along with one of their officers. No, there had been a suicide after the murder of many criminals. There had been a suicide note, one that confessed to all the horrific crimes Genzou had done. With his Sharingan, it was easy to copy his handwriting flawlessly.
Itachi had never acted in such a way with his prey before. Their deaths had always been quick, even if they didn't deserve them. Tonight… Tonight he had shown no mercy on that man and instead drawn out his impending death, making him feel absolutely everything. All Itachi had seen was a vile, unforgivable creature. All he had seen was somebody who didn't deserve any mercy.
All he had seen was the broken form of the woman he loved on those cobbles.
It was like Itachi had gone back in time, had been reliving the moment he found Sakura.
"Itachi…" Sakura frowned as he finally returned. He was back much sooner than the rest, meaning they were alone. "What's wrong?"
He couldn't help but reach out for her, burying his face in her hair and breathing deeply, willing those haunting memories away. Sakura was safe now and she was somewhat alive. He had saved her and she was with him. No matter what it cost, Itachi vowed to keep her safe, to give her a happy life.
Hands cupped his face, forcing him to look into those expressive, apple green eyes. "Itachi, tell me what happened."
It wasn't a question. He smiled a little at the fierce woman Sakura was becoming. Part of him knew that she'd probably always been fierce, but after everything that had happened to her, it had taken a short while for her to find herself again – and she was still on that path of finding herself. It was an honour to be a part of that, to watch her.
"It is nothing for you to be worried about, Hime," he murmured quietly, brushing his lips against her forehead. He couldn't kiss her, not with that man's vile blood still lingering in his mouth. Nothing was going to stop Sakura from fulfilling her dream – not even himself. Before she could argue, he silenced her. "Have you already made hunt?"
She shook her head softly. "Not yet."
"Come," he murmured whilst grabbing her hand, gently pulling her away from the prison. "We don't have long before we need to leave."
While she hunted, Itachi had been quiet – quieter than usual, should she say. What made his strange mood even stranger was that he hunted with her, taking down two mountain lions as well as three deer. Through their bond Sakura could tell he was feeling low, could tell that something was bothering him, but she knew better than to push him. If Itachi wanted to talk, he would talk to her. All she could do at that moment in time was be patient.
They made it back just as the others did and without saying a single word, they set off much faster than before, pushing themselves this time. Why, Sakura had no idea, but she couldn't deny that she was growing more and more excited by the minute.
Two days later, during the middle of the evening, they finally arrived at an old cabin. On the outside it didn't seem like much and from what they could see of the inside, it seemed just as old. The wood was a faded grey colour most likely due to rain and old age and Sakura could see a name carved into the side of the cabin, but due to it turning at an awkward angle, she couldn't read the full name, unless it was only three letters long.
Dan.
There was a curving symbol beneath it, but she couldn't see it. The romantic in her was hoping it was one of those carvings young couples made into trees, though she couldn't be too sure.
The door opened with a creak, clearly needing a good oiling and a large figure stepped out of the cabin, his muscular build definitely intimidating. However, at the long, spiky mane of pure white hair, Naruto grinned brightly, all stress and worry falling off his shoulders.
"Ero–Sennin!"
Said man chuckled, a low and throaty sound as he smirked down at the blond. "It seems you managed to survive without me, Naruto." His dark eyes drifted to Itachi's. "Perhaps not by yourself, though."
"Oi, I can look after myself!" he argued loudly, waving his arms in the air with anger.
"Of course you can, kid."
"Jiraiya, what is with all this racket?"
And as a blonde left the cabin, a blonde who looked so very beautiful to Sakura, she felt all breath leave her. This was Tsunade. It didn't even need to be clarified for her. She could tell just by the woman's aura (Itachi's memories helped, too). This woman was powerful, she could tell already. There was just something about her that screamed everyone else was beneath her, that she would have no regrets and nothing would hold her back from putting somebody in their place.
"Tsunade–sama," Sakura breathed before taking a step forward boldly, surprising them all with her sudden confidence. "I have a favour to ask of you. Please make me your apprentice!"
Edited 02/09/2016