Hello everybody, and welcome back to chapter eighteen of the Winds of Change! I know, two chapters in the space of a day!? Amazing! Well, not really. This chapter is really, really short. Since so many people have expressed interest in how Sakura and Tali are doing, I decided to give them a little chapter of only those two characters. It's mainly dialogue, and some plot progression. But, I hope you still enjoy it! So, without further ado, here's chapter eighteen of the Winds of Change!
Chapter 18:
"This is a stupid idea!" Sakura hissed.
Tali rolled her eyes at the pinkette, keeping herself in the low crouched position she had adopted. "Relax Sakura, everything will be fine."
"No, it won't be…" Sakura mumbled under her breath. The two prisoners were currently trying to shrug off their new titles as they made their way down one of the many grey corridors. Escape was the only option. Well, they could be rescued, or killed. But, those two weren't nearly as epic as escaping from a enemy base.
"Tali, are you sure we should be doing this?" Sakura asked for the umpteenth time. Tali let her brows furrow slightly, but kept her calm smile present on her complexion.
"Yes. As I've said, we can escape easily. Don't worry about it."
"Tali, you got the shit kicked out of you the last time these guys came near us. What do you think they're going to do if they find us trying to escape!?"
"Sakura, I'm not telling you this again. You can go back to the holding cells if you want. But, since you obviously won't, keep it down! There are sound ninja here. They specialize in sound detection and creating sound waves. Every word you utter could draw them closer."
"I know… but, this is god damn suicide!"
"You're very pessimistic Sakura. Maybe you should lighten up."
"I'm not even mentioning that to you anymore."
"Look, it doesn't look that good. But, there's always a bright-side, a silver lining. We could be locked in a dark cave with no clothes, food or toiletries."
"We are!"
Tali shook her head, before looking down to adjacent corridors, and continuing onwards. "Nope, we're not. We're in a dark holding cell, we do have the clothes on our backs, we're given food… once a day, and we have a toilet."
"The toilet doesn't work." Sakura deadpanned.
"Oh yes, I know. Still, better than going in the corner. Look on the brightside."
Sakura couldn't help the small smile that quirked at her lips.
"Look, if it makes you feel better, I could cast a small Genjutsu that muffles sound and we can continue talking-"
She froze, pushing Sakura back against the wall. She made a hand-sign, and the two girls seemed to turn the same shade of grey as the wall. Two sound nin walked past silently.
Tali released the camouflage, and nodded in the direction the sound nin walked. Sakura shook her head violently, shutting her eyes. When she opened them, Tali was already tailing the nin.
She bit her lip to avoid screaming, before she followed.
Eventually catching up with Tali, she went to say something when she was shushed by Tali's finger. Pulling it back, she made a quick flurry of hand seals before whispering, "Ninja Style: Muffle."
Soon a thin vapour of smoke so thin it was almost invisible swarmed around Tali and Sakura's feet.
"This will muffle our voices and movements," Tali explained, motioning for Sakura to follow her once again.
"Right. Anyway, I don't think-"
"So Sakura, tell me about your team," Tali interrupted.
Sakura opened her mouth, and closed it again. "Why?"
"To placate you and stop yourself from hyperventilating the closer we get to wherever these guys are going. So, tell me about them."
"Okay, I guess…. Well, there's Sasuke. He's cool, dark, handsome, a loner, charming, sophisticated-"
"I get the point."
Sakura smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. "Right, sorry. I used to- well, I still may- have a crush on him. All the girls in my class did. I was so happy to be put on a team with him, and he is a good guy once you get through all the… well, Sasuke-ness."
"So, you liked Sasuke, but disliked Sasuke as a person?"
"No-Well, I mean-Yeah-Well…"
"Okay, enough about Sasuke. What about your other teammate?"
"Naruto? He's an idiot. A fool, a moron and a dunce. But, he's sweet. And really caring. Even though he's the biggest pain in the ass since Kakashi-sensei's lateness."
"Kakashi? The Copy Ninja Kakashi? He's your sensei?"
Sakura smiled. "Yes. How do you-"
"Bingo book," Tali answered as they stopped briefly at the nearest corner. Peering round, Tali watched as the two sound ninja walked into a room.
"Ah. Anyway, he doesn't deserve to be in the bingo book. He's a lazy ass who never teaches us anything apart from teamwork exercises."
Tali snorted. "Sounds like the worst teacher ever. When sensei teaches us, we don't get a break. Luckily he teaches me less than the others."
They both stopped as they neared the door, the sound of voices echoing down the hall.
"Shut it Kan! Sensei is in charge of this mission, and always will be!"
"Hn," a snooty noble voice said back, "I do wish we could meet this 'sensei'," Tali was sure the man was doing imaginary air quotes, "And get the chance to converse with him."
"As if he would converse with the likes of you!"
Tali and Sakura peered around the door. A tall woman with green hair, the very same woman who kidnapped her. was arguing with a fellow with bluish black hair. "Calm down Eliara," another man stepped out of the shadows, his hair slightly shorter, but still long, and green.
"Yes, we should all just calm down."
Tali stopped herself from gasping. That man with the sound headband, he looked like… Gurei? Yes, the resemblance was uncanny. Pale skin, grey hair, glasses…
"Are you alright?" Sakura asked.
Tali, for the first time, scowled. "Could it be… him?"
"Who?"
"Shh!"
Kabuto pushed the two warring people apart. "We need to work together on this. You Akatsuki and you rogues need us to help you, right? We have acquired both the girl from the Uchiha's group, and the girl from Konoha. Now, all we need to do is wait. Eliara, I trust your sensei will be coming to meet Lord Orochimaru shortly?"
Eliara scowled at Kan, but nodded. "Yes. He will be here within the next few days."
"Excellent. This meeting is now adjourned. Kan, tell your men to get ready for the coming assault."
Kan nodded. "Of course. They shall be ready soon. Extend Orochimaru my greetings. And make sure your men are ready as well."
"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto corrected him. Kan scowled, but nodded.
"Excellent."
Tali quickly moved backwards, before swiftly turning on her heel, still crouched, and walking back down the corridor.
"Come on, I've seen what I've needed to see."
"What're you talking about?" Sakura still hadn't moved from her spot, and Tali turned to face her, her bright eyes mischievous.
"I came out to gather information. I found much more than I bargained for and the mission I set for myself has been a success."
"What!?" Sakura hissed, moving away from the door and following Tali.
They rounded a corner, and Tali turned one eye towards Sakura. "Well, what else did you think I was going to do? Escape? Nah, that's god damn suicide."
Sakura had never wanted to kill anyone more so than the girl in front of her. With the lightest of chuckles, Tali and Sakura made their way back to their cell.
Kabuto watched them go, before he clicked his tongue. Foolish girls, thinking he wouldn't see them. They were lucky he cast that Genjutsu to mask their presence. Ah well. And, with the smallest of smiles, Kabuto faded into darkness.
And there we go! Hopefully some questions about Sakura and Tali have been answered, along with a whole flurry of new ones coming in. Orochimaru, The Akatsuki and rogue Lightning Nin working together? This can only cause chaos. And, why did they kidnap Sakura and Tali? All will be revealed... sometime ;).
Anyway, a really quick question before I end this chapter. This is just a little poll that I want you guys to answer in the reviews. You have two possible choices for chapter 19. You could either have the continuation of the fight scene from seventeen, which will probably also spread into another chapter. Or, you could have a scene which is taking place exactly parallel to the fight. It's pretty much the Sakura Rescue Team being assigned rooms, chatting with each other, drama and arguments, and some humor. Now, this poll will have to be fast. So, the first two reviews will be taken into account, or maybe just the first person to review will get to decide. I wanna start writing this stuff soon, so... well, yeah. You have a maximum of four to five hours, and if nobody reviews in that time scale I'll just go on random list generator and randomly choose which to do.
*Update!* Voting's closed, it ended up going to a tie, and with the random list generator, it decided the continuation of the fight scene. Chapter 20 will be the Sakura Rescue Team talking, though!
Also, thank you for those that voted on the poll. I'll reveal the results on February 14th. I do understand that some of you are having problems with the poll. At first the poll refused to come up for me, for the first day or so. It took a lot of work to put it up. If you honestly can't access it, then that's cool. Just leave your preferred pairings in the review or a PM, and I'll add them to the list. If at the end of the polling period it's a tie, then I'll randomly select the pairings.
And we're soooooo close to 100 reviews! I'm super excited. A really special event for you readers will be coming up as we hit that milestone. You'll all enjoy it, trust me.
That's all for now! Have a great morning/afternoon/evening/night!