Crossroads
Callista Miralni
disclaimer: the plot only. You can find all the fun things I used as a reference to build this story on pinterest: /callistamiralni/crossroads/
The next three chapters were the most difficult to write. I'm not very good with action and suspense.
Uchiha Itachi liked his brother's fiancée.
She was strong and clever, always managing to worm her way out of difficult situations and find the best outcome. She was witty and made him chuckle with her sarcastic responses and heated interactions with her siblings and her brother.
Most of all, he liked her because she made Sasuke care.
Sasuke was the more focused of the two. From an early age, he decided to immerse himself in their mother's laboratory, her pride after the two of them. Mikoto decided to educate her curious twelve-year-old in basic biology and chemistry, a subject Itachi understood but cared little for. Obsessed, Sasuke started reading Mikoto's old college textbooks while Itachi storyboarded ideas in their father's office.
Their paths were clear: Itachi would carry on Fugaku's vision in cinematography while Sasuke locked himself in the labs researching diseases and creating vaccines and cures.
Sasuke's teenage years were painful. He stayed at home, constantly reading, and only left to go to school and events for their parents. He was on the kendo team because it was required to join a club at Konoha Prep and it looked good on his college applications.
Itachi was relieved when Sasuke went to university and allowed himself to socialize. Perhaps the only good outcome of his constant reading as a child was the ease of understanding all the material when presented, freeing up his time to become a student mentor, to make friends, and develop bonds.
Uzumaki Naruto made Sasuke act like a young man on an adventure. Haruno Sakura made Sasuke care about someone else's well-being besides his own.
For that, Itachi always felt indebted to her.
Takashi wanted to hate him.
It's the dogma of an older brother, right? Older brothers are supposed to hate any man who stole their little sisters' hearts. Older brothers snarl and growl at any upstart making a move on their delicate siblings.
Older brothers are not supposed to like their little sister's fiancé and help him egg her on.
When his parents first introduced him to the man who was supposed to protect his baby sister for the rest of her life, Takashi had his reservations. Uchiha Sasuke was tacit and brooding—how on earth was bubbly yet cynical Sakura going to live in silence and one-sided conversations for the rest of her life?
All that changed when she passed through the room wearing baggy pants, a tank top, and a backwards hat—to him, it meant Sakura was heading upstairs to dance—and Sasuke opened his mouth to greet her.
"Sakura."
All of Takashi's worst fears started to take shape. Her green eyes lit up and she smiled.
"Sasuke-kun!"
His eyes surveyed her from head to toe. Takashi almost clocked him for openly checking out his sister right in front of him but the Uchiha's next words stopped him.
"What the hell are you wearing? Do you think you're tough shit yakuza?"
Sakura grew red in the face. "Baka Sasuke-kun! That's not what it's like at all!"
Takashi hid his laughter.
"You're right," Sasuke conceded. "The Yakuza would kick you out for being so unproductive. Members have to do more than read and and botch aromatic reactions. The pathetic yields you get in the lab costs them precious income."
"SASUKE-KUN!"
He lost it. Takashi cracked up and held up a hand to hi-five the younger Uchiha. "Good one man."
"TAKASHI-NII! You're supposed to take my side!"
Later, when Takashi met his best friend and observed his interactions with Uzumaki Naruto and Ino, he concluded Sakura was special to Uchiha Sasuke. He didn't know or care to know in what way, but Takashi knew Sasuke would take care of her.
That's all that mattered.
When Sasuke brought home the ring, Mikoto demanded to see it.
She recognized the craftsmanship immediately. The tiny flowers, the set diamonds, all of it screamed Watanuki.
Watanuki pieces are one of a kind. The family had been in the jewelry business for over one hundred years and rumor had it they crafted almost half of Hi no Kuni's crown jewels. The current star of the family, Watanuki Kyouya, was known for creating designs for the masses, not just for the elite few.
Sasuke's engagement ring was part of a collection inspired by the famed jeweler's wife. Mikoto knew the collection reflected the many aspects of her college friend but that particular piece was the final work, the ultimate expression of love and devotion for an amazing woman.
It was not something her youngest child would have been able to pick out by casual browsing.
"Did Naruto-san help you pick this out?" The words left a dry feeling in her mouth.
Mikoto knew of Naruto's feelings towards her future daughter-in-law. It came up in one of the many conversations after they announced the arrangement and was the only reservation about his upcoming marriage Sasuke voiced aloud.
What she really wanted to know was if Sasuke was capable of choosing a ring that expressed his own feelings towards the woman.
Sasuke snorted. "Dobe is useless when it comes to things like this," he responded dryly. "The saleswoman asked me to describe the recipient and she handed me this."
Mikoto didn't know how to respond.
"What did you say?"
Sasuke looked away. "That-" he closed the box. "-is none of your business, Kaa-san."
She suppressed a giggle and fondly ruffled his unruly hair.
-sakura-
Someone was shaking her and Sakura groaned before burrowing further into the covers. "G'way."
"Sakura, you need to wake up. Kankuro is on the phone and you need to see this."
Ino shifted into a sitting position next to her.
"Sakura."
Someone yanked her out of bed and Sakura felt like throwing up. "Sasuke-kun," she whined. "Let me sleep!"
"Ino said to wake you up if something happened," he reminded her. "Something happened and you're not going to like it."
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Sakura stumbled after Ino and Sasuke to the living room. Naruto had her emergency phone in his hand, frowning at the person on the screen.
"She's here," Sasuke announced brusquely to the caller.
A federal agent gave her a wane smile. "Haruno-san," he said. "It is imperative that you do not give that gemstone to the terrorists when they call you next."
That woke her up. "What stone?" Sakura asked sharply. "The only ones I know of are in my parents' safe."
"Let me tell you something about these people," the agent started over. "They're an organized crime syndicate known as Voleur."
She snickered at the name. The agent ignored her.
"They target precious metals and jewelry and sell them to the highest bidder on the black market. Armed robbery is one thing, but they use any means possible to get what they want. Right now, they are holding the Museum of Natural History hostage. Recent intelligence claims they're trying to branch out into the weaponry and counterfeit business."
"What is so important about this gem? If we give it to them, the hostage situation disappears," Sakura countered. "I fail to see what the issue is."
"The gem itself is a particularly rare piece, despite its small size. It was once a part of the Crown jewels, its clarity is almost unmatched for a sapphire and it's worth eight hundred thousand US dollars. It was supposed to be on display at the National Museum but it was stolen en route. We've been tracking it for three months."
Sakura pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers. "What do you want us to do then?"
A sharp intake of breath made her look up. "What?" She asked, annoyed.
"Is that your ring Haruno-san?"
Sakura glanced down. "It's my engagement ring."
The agent almost looked frightened. "Are you safe?"
"Do you know where I am?"
"Haruno-san," he said. "Whatever you do, keep that ring safe at all costs."
The call ended abruptly and the meaning of his parting words sank in. "This is it?" Sakura whispered. "This is the reason why we're in this whole mess?"
Her left hand never felt heavier.
-naruto-
When Sasuke dragged Sakura out of bed, his eyes sought out her left hand. Sure enough, the ring Sasuke bought earlier that week glittered on her finger. It complimented her in every way and yet, Naruto never felt jealous.
The four sat in silence after the call ended, staring at the beautiful burden on Sakura's ring finger. How could something supposed to represent happiness bring so much grief and misery?
He supposed it had to do with the circumstances. Sasuke and Sakura were not marrying for love; their engagement was a lie and the ring was physical proof.
"I guess it's a good thing I didn't throw it down the mountain earlier," Sakura attempted to joke.
No one laughed.
"It was almost too perfect," Ino murmured. "Someone places the sapphire in the ring and it's bundled with an innocent shipment of jewelry to a specific store, probably with fake specs. Someone in particular was supposed to buy it but the salesperson was probably ignorant to that fact and sold it to Sasuke with honest intentions. I bet that's how this whole mess started."
Sakura snorted. "Why bother setting it in a ring at all? Wouldn't it be easier to take the loose stone and sell it off?"
"Maybe that was the original plan," the other woman suggested. "Maybe the ring was a failsafe is someone got caught or died while carrying it around. Besides, who is going to suspect someone wearing a ring as opposed to carrying loose gemstones in his pocket?"
"It doesn't matter." Sasuke ran his hand through his hair. "The moment those nutcases figure out we have the jewel, they'll start a manhunt to find us. We can't stay here long."
Everyone jumped when the phone rang. Temari's contact information displayed on screen.
"Hey," Sakura's cousin was calm despite the gun pointed at her temple. "We're looking for a sapphire ring. Seen it?"
One of the terrorists stepped into the frame. Discreetly, Naruto grabbed Sakura's hand and slipped her ring into his pocket before she carelessly showed it off again.
"No," Naruto said in a voice stronger than what he felt. "We're broke college students. We can't afford high-end shit like that."
The terrorist didn't find that funny and shoved Temari out of her chair when she started laughing.
"You think you're funny?" He hissed. "Laugh at this."
Someone screamed in the background after he pulled the trigger and shot Temari in the leg. Sakura paled.
"You're a liar," the terrorist accused. "Our specialist has been tracing that ring and guess what he found—Uchiha Sasuke, age 22, purchased a unique, handcrafted white sapphire ring, on Tuesday. I suggest" —he cocked the gun and pointed it over his shoulder to the crowd of frightened people behind him— "you hand it over. You can either come to us or we can triangulate this signal and go to you."
"And what if we escape?" Sasuke challenged.
"You won't escape," the terrorist answered with confidence. "Beginning at dawn, we will execute ten people on the front steps of the Museum every hour. Bring the ring by then to the museum and everyone will live. Try to run—I enjoy the chase."
Naruto picked out Misaki's voice from the crowd protesting to the last revelation. A terrorist screamed at her to shut up before another knocked her out with the butt of his gun. Ino tensed at the display of violence.
The phone fell off the table before it lost signal.
Author's note:
Aromatic reactions are a class of organic chemistry reactions involving aromatic molecules. Most drugs contain aromatic rings.
Voleur in French means "robber." The original version of Crossroads had a French cultural motif and I decided to keep it for variety.
Ja ne-
Callista Miralni