Title: Like a Girl

Summary: By the end of his confinement, Sasuke really just wants everyone to see Sakura punch like a girl.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Prompt: A Night with No Stars

Warnings: T

Comments: Continuation from the previous prompt (Impulsive). Experimenting on subtlety.

The worst part, Sasuke decided, was that his restraints were so laughably weak. The chakra draining was troublesome, to borrow Shikamaru's catch phrase. They left him with enough chakra to maintain the jutsu and then some, but they were no where near strong enough to contain someone with as deep reserves as Sakura. They simply didn't work fast enough.

And yet, these idiots, treated him as if he was no longer a threat. In the three days that he'd been there, they'd posted a single guard to stand in front of his door. More often than not, the fool was playing cards with friends, sleeping, or even drinking.

How pathetic.

"Are you sure we can't turn her around? I'd like to see that famous ass just once."

"Nope, sorry. Boss's orders."

"Aww… Shinji, why'd you want to look at her rear when you can look at her boobs from this angle?"

"There's not much to speak of…"

"Ah, you're right."

Cue audible sigh of disappointment.

"Neh, how long do you think we're going to keep her here for?"

"Boss says we'll have dug to the mountain's core in a week. We've uncovered up almost everything already." Sasuke's ears twitched.

"Awesome! Can you imagine how much those—mmph!"

"Shh! Don't say anything in front of the prisoner, baka!"

"Sorry!"

"Hey… What are you going to do first after you get your share?"

"Hmm… I'm going to buy a big house in the fabric district!"

"I'm going to buy a ring for my girlfriend!"

"I'm going to…"

Sasuke tuned them out as he thought. So they were digging up a mountain, probably looking for rare metals or gems… And what did the file say about the village? –Ah, they were coal miners.

Well, that certainly explained the attacks as this crew began looking for the treasure. However, what Sasuke couldn't understand was why the Boss would go to such great lengths to keep the villagers away, and yet hire all these workers—

Every worker that had spoken thus far had a different accent. Different accents meant different regions, which in turn meant that if a number of them were to disappear at once, no one would be too suspicious.

So he planned to kill them.

Sasuke had done a lot of bad things in his life, and perhaps, in his darkest hours, he might've come to this revelation with apathy rather than the anger he felt now. These men, no matter how crude or simple minded they were, didn't deserve to die just because they agreed to perform a job.

Sasuke needed to warn Sakura and the others. The man had said a week, but who knew when the Boss would decide to act.

He waited until nightfall to move. "Ano, sir? I need to use the bathroom."

"Huh? Fine, fine. Be quick about it," the guard said gruffly.

"Sir? I can't use my hands with these chains on me," Sasuke said, trying to sound as helpless as possible.

The guard paused for a moment, assessing Sasuke in the growing darkness with a hard glare. "You won't try anything on me?" he finally asked cautiously.

"Oh no," Sasuke replied, eyes huge, green, and innocent. "And even if I wanted to, I'm too tired from these chakra absorbers to even throw a punch." (Perhaps being petite and cute had its perks after all.)

Grumbling, the big man lumbered towards Sasuke, unlocking the chains around his wrists. In that instant, Sasuke had swept the man's feet from other him. He landed with an oomph! Sasuke gave him a blow to the neck, and he was out cold.

Amateur.

Coming out of the cell, Sasuke spotted Kusanagi almost immediately, hanging not five meters from the cell on a hook. The number of careless errors this bunch was committing was alarming, Sasuke thought with annoyance. Did they seriously discount Sakura's abilities so much?

It didn't take long for him to be spotted. (He mentally made a note to ask Sakura later how in the world she managed to sneak around without being caught.) Shouts rang out. He didn't have the energy to subdue them quickly, so instead, he ran, following turn after turn as he tried to find his way out of the hideout. He could hear the clamor of men grabbing weapons, running, shouting, as the alarm was raised.

At one point, he found himself in a room full of dynamite. He crossed it quickly, before stopping in front of the next entrance. Not long after, men came tearing down the tunnel, only to skid to a halt just outside the room when they saw its contents.

Sasuke was almost out of chakra. Three days of near constant draining did that to a person, apparently. Dropping the disguise, the smoke had barely cleared when he cried,

"Katon: Gōkakyū no jutsu!"

The explosion was deafening. The entire base rocked dangerously as pieces of the stone ceiling gave way and fell to the ground with a thundering crash. The smoke blocked all the senses like a warm blanket. Immediately, Sasuke took his advantage and was out the ceiling and into the open air, running along the rooftop towards the trees.

It was a night with no stars, perfect for cloaking himself in inky darkness and moving quickly. Of course, the problem was, he had no idea where exactly he was moving quickly towards. A light bloomed some way in the distance, and he could barely make out the mini army of missing nin behind the boss. He came to an abrupt stop some meters away from them, eyeing them carefully.

"UCHIHA SASUKE!" the boss boomed out. "Come here to save your little medic friend I see. Finally realized that the healing down at the village couldn't be completed without her, huh? Well, I'm afraid we can't let you take her.

"Search the area! They must've split up," he barked.

Sasuke waited for the men to disappear before saying, "No, your prisoner was always me. Sakura has been down at the village helping its patients this entire time."

The boss boomed another loud laugh, never losing their relaxed pose. "Clever, clever, fooling us like that. But it makes no difference. You're of no use to us then, and you're weak from those chains," he said, grinning maniacally. "You may take down a few of my men, but you won't be able to take them all down, and from what I've heard, a lot of them hold grudges on you."

Sasuke smirked.

"Oh, I don't plan on taking you down."

"Wha—"

He pointed just above the boss's head. "She will."

"SHANNARO!"