AN: I seem to have this problem of planning chapters out which turn out to be too long which I then have to cut and split into another chapter... yeah. That happened again. I just gave up half way through and decided to give you this. I think it ends at a relatively appropriate place though, but it might be lacking a bit in its structure. Sorry guys!
Thanks to nasakelova, Hana-Taisho and 1ItachiUchihagurl for your lovely reviews! And I also remembered I've been forgetting to put these, so:
Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine!
Flowers of Sublimity
Shit, Sakura thinks, what do we do?
Ino still has her gun out, and so does Shikamaru. But she knows that even if they shoot it would be easy to dodge, or a simple wind jutsu would stop the bullet. And plus, with Akatsuki on her side, overpowering them will be easy as a genin mission.
Except for a big fat problem.
Technology.
Security cameras have placed them inside this hotel, this room. Shikamaru's pressed the emergency help button, which means back up's on the way.
So that rules out genjutsu - cameras prove that all of them are in the same room as Ino and Shikamaru, and nothing they do will change that. They'll spot Deidara in the security footage, and they'll be done for. And she- none of them- can have this much attention on them. The only way to find a way out of this world is to continue their research, and none of them will be able to do that if they're locked in Guantanamo Bay!
Deep breaths, Sakura tells herself. She turns to Pein instinctively, looking towards their leader, but Ino cocks her gun at the sudden movement.
"Hands in the air," she repeats coldly.
Slowly, Pein raises his hands. Universally, the rest of Akatsuki follow. Sakura can hear the sirens blaring in the background.
"You've been mistaken," Pein begins, but Shikamaru has his gun on him in an instant. Pein silences, a frown on his face. He's not used to bowing to authority, but Sakura knows that all of Akatsuki has evaluated the same risks as she has, and knows that to cause trouble now would be worth more damage than good.
"Oh really," Ino says flatly. Her tone is dead, and for a second Sakura feels a stab of guilt. Focus, she tells herself, don't stray from the mission.
Ino reaches for her belt and dials some sort of code into the radio. Then, she and Shikamaru are advancing forwards.
"You have the right to remain silent," she says quietly. "Anything you say can, and will be held against you in the court of order-"
"Wait," Sakura pleads. Ino pauses. "Please. Hear us out."
She doesn't know what Pein has planned, but she trusts him.
"Please," she repeats. "For an old friend."
Ino hesitates, but Sakura can barely read the emotions on her face. Even in another world, Ino is still the master of subterfuge.
Finally she sighs, and places one hand on Shikamaru's shoulder, stilling him.
"Alright," she says briskly. "You have thirty seconds. Make it worthwhile."
"All of us were gathering for a different reason," Pein says quickly. "Konan and I wanted some medical advice on one of our plans for Ethiopia, so we brought in Kakuzu and Sakura. Itachi and Kisame were also here, to talk about funding our project, and Hidan was their escort. Deidara…"
"I was threatening them yeah," Deidara says quickly, and Sakura thinks what? - but Itachi, almost as if he'd known what Deidara was going to say, suddenly switches on his sharingan.
"What the fu-" Ino begins, but her and Shikamaru are already caught in a genjutsu. Immediately Deidara shunshin's to her side and presses a kunai to her neck. Itachi's sharingan snaps off.
"What'cha gonna do now yeah?" Deidara taunts from behind her.
Immediately Ino and Shikamaru's guns swivel towards him.
"Sakura-" Ino chokes, biting her lip in worry.
Deidara presses his kunai closer to her neck and pulls her in until her ear is right by his lips.
"What did Itachi do?" Sakura murmurs from the corner of her lips. "Nothing too risky?"
"He altered their memories a bit," Deidara whispers into her hair, "Now they think I've had you at knife point from the beginning."
"Come on," Ino says, switching immediately into negotiator mode, eyes flickering in worry between Sakura and Deidara. "Let her go. We can help you."
Then Deidara shrugs.
"Alright."
Ino looks extremely surprised – evidently expecting some harsh rebuttal from the madman bomber –but Deidara knows that the process will be a lot easier this way. Sakura knows his tactic - Section 1B, from the ANBU handbook. One member of the team sacrifices himself for the others. Except Deidara is the last person she'd expect this from.
Deidara steps back from Sakura and drops the kunai. It clatters to the floor, the only sound in the stifling silence.
Ino and Shikamaru immediately pounce - quite quickly for civilians, Sakura notes - and kicks the kunai away from Deidara before cuffing him. As if on cue, a thunder of footsteps enter the hotel and the rest of the police force arrives, kicking down the door.
Immediately they swarm around Deidara, and he disappears among their bodies out the door. Then, the higher authority figures arrive – the mayor of The Hague, the head of the police department – and they immediately segway towards Itachi, Kisame, Pein and Konan - the most important figures.
And before she knows it, Sakura's being pulled away too by the medical staff. They probe her, checking her vitals, looking for cuts and bruises.
"I'm a doctor," she tries to say, but they don't understand her – she can only speak Japanese, and they can only speak Dutch.
So she lets herself be dragged away, towards an ambulance and further and further away from Akatsuki.
"I'll see you later," Itachi murmurs before he smiles at the police commissioner, saying something in Dutch. A second later, he disappears into the questioning room.
Sakura sighs, leaning back in the bench. She's inside the police department, waiting to be questioned so they can take down her official witness statement. They've already dealt with Sasori and Hidan - Kakuzu, Kisame, Pein and Konan are at another office. God knows where Deidara is.
"Haruno Sakura?"
Sakura looks up from her spot on the seat. A medical officer stands before her, surgical mask on his face, blue cap adorning his hair. His visible eyes are crinkled in a smile.
"I hear you like coffee," he says gently, pushing forward a cup of said broth into her hands.
"You speak Japanese," Sakura blurts out.
He chuckles quietly before taking a seat next to her. "Yes. I speak many languages."
"Is that why they sent you to talk to me?"
The man simply continues smiling.
"Haruno Sakura," he says, "I have something to tell you."
And then Sakura begins to have that bad feeling in her gut again – the same suspicion and fear she had with Hidan and Sasori but this time it's so much worse.
"Who are you?" she asks slowly.
The man simply continues to smile. "Trust me," he says, "You would be better off not knowing."
Then, the door opposite opens and the police commissioner steps out, followed by Itachi.
"You alright there?" Itachi asks in Japanese.
"Yeah," she replies softly, managing a small smile.
The police commissioner clears his throat. "Would you- like some- coffee?" he manages to ask in broken Japanese.
Sakura's head snaps up. "I- I- I've got-" but then she looks down at her hands. There is no coffee cup.
Her head whips up again and she eyes the man in doctor's dress next to her.
"Am I alone?" she asks hollowly.
"Yeah," Itachi says, shooting her a strange look. "Why?"
Sakura cracks an awkward smile, trying to stop her hands from shaking. Next to her, the doctor? The man? The ghost? Smiles softly.
"Okay," he says, "I'll get you some coffee alright? The police commissioner will be back in a few minutes – we're waiting for the translator to arrive."
"Great," Sakura says, smile automatically locked in place as she studiously tries to ignore the presence next to her. "That's great."
"Alright then," Itachi says, cocking an eyebrow before turning back to the commissioner and speaking to him in Dutch – bilingual rich kid – and guiding him outside, leaving Sakura alone in the room.
As the door swings shut, she turns to the man.
"Who are you?" she asks quietly, tired and resigned.
"I am no one," the man says deeply, "I am everyone."
And then his eyes shift – black, byakugan, brown, blue, green, sharingan, grey, before finally settling on rinnegan. Sakura begins to tremble, her whole being feeling weak in front of this entity.
"I am no one," he repeats, "I am everyone. But who I am does not matter. What do you want, child?"
"To escape," Sakura says automatically, "To die. To be free."
And then he smiles.
"You never did belong here. It was never meant to be you."
Then, he leans over and clasps her hands in his.
"Your hands have the power," he says quietly. "Use them. They who brought you here will bring you out."
And then, he disappears.
A fraction of a second later, the police commissioner opens the door, coupled by a translator.
"Welcome," the translator says jovially, "My name is Killer Bee, and this is Police Commissioner A. Please, come in and take a seat."
"You're a magnet for trouble," Ino groans, "I mean this is your third visit to the hospital in a month – and because of a hostage situation of all things!
"Life bloody sucks," Sakura says, thinking about Deidara in prison.
"Yeah," Ino agrees, for completely different reasons.
There's a knock on her hospital door.
"H-h-haruno-san?" a nurse stutters from outside, "Th-th-there's someone to s-s-see you!"
The door open and Ino nearly topples back off her chair. Itachi raises a polite hand in greeting.
"U-U-Uchiha-san!" Ino nearly squeals.
Sakura smiles softly at Itachi. "Hey," she says.
He turns to Ino. "If you'll excuse us for a second?"
"O-o-of course!" Ino says before scrambling out of the room, shooting Sakura a stare which says tell me everything.
Sakura gives her friend a hesitant wave before turning back to Itachi.
He eyes her resignedly, as if knowing what she's going to say.
"I'm breaking him out," Sakura says quickly.
Itachi eyes her steadily.
"I know what you're going to say," she adds before he can open his mouth, "But you can't stop me. It's my fault he's in there, and it's my duty to get him out."
Itachi sighs and drops down onto the chair next to her bed. "You do realise the life you'll be confining yourself to if you get caught, don't you? The fugitive life. And that's a lot harder in this world than it is in the one before with all the technology."
"Deidara was willing to take the risk for me. I'm willing to do so for him."
Itachi takes a deep breath.
"Very well," he says finally, "I know I can't stop you. But you have to take somebody with you. Even though you have your chakra, they have sensory devices, electric fences, security cameras – and Deidara's in the most high-tech prison they have."
"You'll help me though, won't you?" Sakura says, turning on her puppy eyes. "You're powerful. You can get me blueprints, plans of the jail."
Itachi grinds his teeth and nods. "I'd still feel better if I came-"
"No," Sakura says sharply. "I won't take you or Kisame – it would ruin you both if you got caught. Same for Pein and Konan - they're both out of the question. I'll take Sasori, Hidan or Kakuzu." She pauses, evaluating her options. "What do you think?"
Itachi sighs again, rubbing his temples. "Well that depends. Are you going for subtlety or efficiency? Take Sasori for subtlety – poisons, puppets, the like – Hidan or Kakuzu for brute force. Or you could, you know, take all three. That would work to."
Sakura shoots him a flat stare. "Hidan and Kakuzu. Together. Do you think they can be quiet?"
Itachi arches an eyebrow. "So you're looking for quiet, rather than subtlety. Think long and hard Sakura. Do you think any of them will be quiet? Especially once Sasori and Deidara meet? You've got two of the most volatile Akatsuki partners on your hands."
Sakura groans. "Damn. That's right."
"I'm always right," Itachi says with a small smile. "Look. Just take Sasori. You plus the artists should be enough to keep you out of trouble."
Sakura grins. "When are we ever in trouble?"
Itachi stares at her blankly. "I can't even begin to answer that question." But then his face softens.
"Stay safe Sakura," he says gently, "Don't condemn yourself to… that."
She gives him a soft smile. "I won't."
"I would just like to point out," Sasori says, "That just because I agreed to help you, it does not mean at all that I agree with Deidara's view of art."
Sakura stops and stares at him flatly. "We're in the middle of breaking into a high security prison. I don't care about your views on art."
Sasori rolls his eyes before reaching out and grabbing her, pulling her into the shadows as the security camera turns around.
"Sakura," he sighs. "Look. Concentrate. Remember. We jump over the electric fence, you have to take care of the guard at station A, then move onto B, and then you split off to section F - and remember to lower your body temperature at Section A1 because they have heat sensors, and don't forget about the platoon station at G78. The USB will take care of the cameras but remember the motion sensors at corner A134 and U7 and B3 and O01-"
"And everywhere yeah yeah," Sakura sighs, "I get it Sasori. We don't have to go over it again."
Sasori turns up his nose. "Excuse me for questioning your abilities Miss-I-Can't-Remember-Where-I-Put-My-Pen-Even-Though-It's-In-My-Hair."
Sakura blows him a kiss.
"You love me."
The security camera turns away again and Sakura spikes chakra to her feet, leaping forward and jumping over the security fence into the prison compound. It's a high, smooth wall, impossible to get over because it's charged with electricity. Except for the fact that, well, Sakura had chakra and could simply jump over it.
Sasori lands a second after her, a small frown on his face from having been left behind.
"Remember," Sakura says, snapping into mission mode, "I'll go left and you'll go right. Use genjutsu only. We don't want to cause a ruckus."
"Tell that to Deidara," Sasori grumbles before shooting off towards the right.
Sakura smiles wistfully, fingering the USB in her pocket. It's a virus that Hidan had managed to get (apparently he had ties with the mafia - no surprise though, Sakura thinks), and it'll shut down all the cameras. That means they'll only have to worry about the heat and motion sensors - and the guards, but they're practically sitting ducks.
The whole process is actually remarkably easy.
The main office is simple to find - while it's hidden at the end of a maze, she has the blueprints Itachi got. Similarly, a genjutsu'd guard is all it takes to get the USB into the port and the entire camera system is down.
Of course, there are layers of fail safe too - a secondary and tertiary camera system running under different power supplies (Sasori's taking care of those) - as well as the sensors and numerous more traditional physical traps - but in all honesty, Sakura is a ninja.
And nothing like that can stop her.
Luckily - luckily? - Deidara is in solitary confinement. That means that she and Sasori won't have to bother henging themselves or genjutsuing the other prisoners.
His cell isn't one of the strongest, but it's still rather hard to locate.
There are several security codes needed, others need fingerprints, or a retina scan. But those are easy to pass too - after all, a person will do anything under genjutsu.
Deidara himself is behind three metre thick concrete walls (enough to withstand gamma radiation, the medical part of Sakura's brain thinks). The cell is a moderate size - better by margins, compared to some of the shinobi interrogation rooms they've all been through - and according to reports he should have a bed and a small drawer. He's handcuffed, most probably, and there's a camera in the room for suicide watch. But she's already disabled that.
Sakura turns to Sasori. "You ready?"
"I was born ready," he deadpans.
Sakura turns to him. "Wow," she says flatly. "You've certainly picked up the lingo."
Then she summons her chakra and punches.
"That-" Sasori begins, but then the wall crumbles and alarms begin to blare. "...was not a good idea," he finishes. "I'm telling Itachi you did that."
Sakura rolls her eyes, pulls her fist back, and punches the next wall. "It doesn't matter. All the guards here are under my genjutsu, and it'll take backup super long to get here." She pauses, pulls her fists back, and punches again. "That's actually one of the advantages of a high-security prison. It's extremely isolated and any outside help won't get here till an hour. Maybe. And we can outrun cars anyway."
"Someone say cars yeah?" Deidara grins.
A grin splits over her face. Deidara jumps up from his bed and envelops her in a hug. He even shakes hands with Sasori.
"Nice room," Sasori says.
And it is. Deidara has a bed, a drawer, and even a bucket for his toilet needs.
"Wow," she says, "They certainly keep prisoners in good condition."
Deidara grins back. "What'dya expect yeah? That I'd be chained up on the wall being tortured?"
"We've all been there," Sakura shrugs, before reaching over and slicing open his handcuffs.
"You ready?"
Deidara grins. "I was born ready."
"Oh my god," Sasori says blankly, "You did not just say that."
"Why?" Deidara asks affronted, "What's that to you yeah?"
"Guys," Sakura cuts in before a full-blown fight can start. "If we could get a move on…?"
"Of course," Sasori says smoothly, turning his nose up at Deidara. "I can hear the sirens approaching. We need to run. One hour my ass Sakura."
"Yeah yeah," Sakura says.
"Hold on a sec," Deidara says slowly. "Why don't you guys go out first yeah."
He undoes the henge on his hands and his tongues emerge.
"You're not…" Sasori begins with a sigh.
Deidara grins. "I so am."
"But not too big!" Sakura adds, "There're other prisoners here!"
"Yeah yeah," Deidara repeats, shooing them out before dropping some clay on the floor. "Now let's go!"
The room explodes and they run, away from the whirling of helicopters and the screaming of sirens.
AN: Also, all of my chapters seem to be around the 3000 words length. Are you guys happy with that? Cause the next chapter's turning a bit longer, and a few of mine have been shorter and longer. Let me know what you think, and I hope you liked this chapter! And don't forget to review - I love your comments :)