A/N: So, not another year later, as I promissed!
This is a dialogue heavy chapter. I know some people don't like it, but it's becoming necessary in this point of the story.
As always, let me know what you think. Happy reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 9: Drain You
Not long after she left, the bedroom door opened and Itachi came out, looking like nothing had happened at all. His hair was completely damp this time, probably from a shower. He had his back turned to her, but his head inclined slightly as he hesitated in front of the door, making her wonder if he knew she was watching anyway, hidden in a dark corner.
But he didn't turn to look in her direction, just merely closed the door and walked calmly to the end of the hallway, towards the staircase that would lead him to the lower levels. His fingers twitched once or twice, where Sakura couldn't help but wonder if he wanted to bring his hand to his mouth to cover a cough.
She crossed her arms and stared pensively at the hallway long after he was gone.
"Worried?"
That deep, ominous voice managed to raise the fine hairs on the back of her neck instantly in answer. How did he sneak up behind her so easily?
"About an Akatsuki?" She looked at him meaningfully. "Evidently no."
They faced each other down then. She didn't know what Tobi wanted, appearing like this, but it was at least suspicious he would appear just when she was alone. As he seemed to always do.
"Is he alright, though?" At her questioning look, he elaborated, "Itachi. You were leaving his room."
She didn't miss how he suddenly dropped the honorific, how his voice seemed to be more serious than normally, but somehow different from when he told her she reminded him of someone.
It was darker.
Why do you care?
His question wasn't one born out of concern. He was fishing for something specific.
"He is," Sakura lied without really knowing why. "I was just checking something in his eyes."
She shouldn't take sides. They were all her enemies, alright, and she knew what they were since the beginning. Since coming in here, though, not one of them had tried to fool her.
Except Tobi.
"Ah, yes, his eyes… and does Pein-sama know?"
There was a sarcastic streak to the way he pronounced Pein's name.
"Yes," she lied again, straight-faced. "In fact, I was on my way to report to him just now."
"Of course you were. Just like the good little girl you are." Then he dropped his voice and leaned forward, as if about to tell her a secret. "You two seem to be getting along very well now, Sakura; in fact, I would say you seem close, even."
Her back tensed just then, but she was able to hide any other outward reaction just in time. It was clear he was mocking her and insinuating ridiculous things, so she didn't answer. His visible eye was focused intently on her face. Tobi could even suspect she was lying, but in all honesty, and recklessly, she just didn't care.
Why should she justify herself otherwise to him?
His head turned to one side, catching a glare of light. The bulb right above them flickered once. Sakura saw a red glow coming from inside the hole in his mask. She narrowed her eyes.
"I'm not a good little girl, Tobi. I am a kunoichi. You should remember not to underestimate me."
"Well then," he continued, his voice still different from what she was used to. Pein's warnings came to mind, so very clear now. It made her fear him suddenly. "Perhaps I was mistaken about you before."
He was talking about her reminding him of someone he once knew.
Good. He shouldn't find her familiar to him in any way.
Because, acting like this, he wasn't for her.
She sidestepped him. "Perhaps I was mistaken about you."
With her back straight and her head held high, Sakura marched away from him, all the while feeling his gaze on her. She should tread carefully with this man, she knew, as Pein didn't feel the need to warn her for nothing. It was just revolting to be played at. And embarrassingly having to receive a warning of her other enemy, which just so happened to be his ally.
And he seemed to always be around and it irritated her. Was this what Pein meant when he warned her so many times before? Was Tobi the one watching her? And not only her; Itachi too, it seems. If she was still trying to figure out how to escape on her own, she would be doomed.
There was something suspicious there, she was starting to realize. Perhaps the Akatsuki wasn't really a tight knit group as all believed to be.
Sakura had never knocked on his door; it was never needed before.
With the strange way her brain worked, she felt intimidated by the sight of it–something that didn't happen since her first day in–and nervous about having to take the initiative.
As she raised a hesitantly fist to knock, the door opened slowly on its own, revealing Pein sitting behind the desk, already watching her with what could be described as contemplation on his face.
Sakura lowered her arm slowly and let herself in without needing to be told, closing the door softly behind her back. The office was darker than usual. Outside, rain poured down, now more relentlessly than before. It was late afternoon, but it looked like it was already night out.
"Pein-san," she greeted.
Pein inclined his head in acknowledgement, but didn't say anything at first. He was looking at her with a curious glint in his ringed eyes, with one of his eyebrows slightly arched. He didn't expect her so soon, it was clear, but there was more to his expression than surprise.
"Haruno-san," he finally answered. He got up from his chair seamlessly. "Is something the matter?"
His tone seemed almost cautious. Pein stepped out of the vicinity of his desk to access his bookshelf, the one closest to the door. He passed her in his way and Sakura couldn't help stiffening. It was an unconscious reaction her body had every time she came close to one of them, but it was slowly getting better; with some more than others, except perhaps she should start to evaluate her choices.
She took a step forward to stand in front of him, having to arch her head back slightly to see his face.
"Did you know Uchiha-san is still here?" Sakura asked in a soft tone. She wasn't sure someone would be able to listen from the outside, but it was always best to prevent it.
"I never said he wasn't," Pein said, eyeing her posture out of the corner of his eyes as she was leaning against the bookshelf. He didn't seem to mind, though.
Sakura frowned in confusion. "You said he was unavailable."
"I did not specify where."
What?
"It's–just… whatever." She crossed her arms in a defensive stance. Would he have told her this had she asked? But now it was too late. "I debated with myself while on my way here if I should tell you–"
"About Tobi?"
Sakura snapped her mouth shut at his interruption, her lips pressing together. It was surprising he already knew about this.
"How do you know Tobi appeared?"
He raised his right hand, palm facing forward, to show her the ring on his thumb. "I know where everyone is in this building at all times."
"Oh."
She just didn't know what to say other than that. So he wasn't only able to tell when she crossed through the door of her room or stepped outside, but wherever she went. The fact that he also knew about all the members was less weird, but still, it was creepy. So much could be explained with this answer.
She gesticulated with her chin towards the door. "The others can do this as well?" They did have the same rings, after all. It would be a concerning detail.
"Only me," he assured. "Do not worry."
"I am not worried–" she started to protest, but then stopped abruptly. He was eyeing her knowingly now. Her arms hugged her middle as a form of protection, her eyebrows creased in thought. Tobi's masked face came to mind. He was aware then. "Right."
"What I really wanted to talk about," she continued, wringing her hands, "involves Uchiha-san."
Pein took the time to analyze her words, in which his shoulders seemed to sag under an invisible weight, just the barest amount, as if he wanted to sigh tiredly. He inclined his head to watch her better, his sharp eyes intent now. "You were debating with yourself rather you should tell me about Itachi. There is a great chance that I might already know what you do now."
"It's just–" she interrupted herself, shaking her head slightly. "I'm bound by medical ethics. Regardless of the circumstances," she looked at him pointedly, "Uchiha-san is my patient and I should keep these things to myself to preserve his privacy. Him asking or not."
Realization filled his expression then.
Sakura licked her lips. "You know what I'm talking about then?"
"Humor me."
"I happened to find him in his room. He was in a bad shape, cogh–"
Pein silenced her by touching a thumb to her lips. Sakura froze in place at the warmth of skin on skin. When she looked up at him, wide eyed and confused, he was placing his index finger to his own lips and looking behind her, towards the door.
Just them, footsteps could be heard approaching from the hallway outside. It was very light. If they were still talking, it wouldn't be possible to listen.
The noise stopped completely for a moment. Sakura thought whoever it was had gone away at first, but Pein didn't release his touch on her lips, with the rest of his knuckles grazing her chin, searing the skin with its warmth. She was about to gently remove his hand when it came again. Footsteps. She could tell the person was close to the door, as if debating about going in or not.
Or attempting to listen through the door.
But then the sound started to get distant until it faded completely. The person was going away.
That was very alarming. Just as she told Tobi where she was going to be…
Pein removed his hand from her skin and, Sakura noticed, his gaze lingered for a little too long. She blinked stunned, wondering if her eyes were deceiving her. As if realizing this, he directed his eyes to hers pointedly before reaching up to one of the higher shelves to retrieve a scroll. Contrary to what she would believe, he didn't look one bit ashamed.
Her heart was thundering inside her chest while he looked like nothing at all had happened.
"Did he accept your medical care?"
She blinked, startled. Was she this predictable?
Dispersing the tense moment, Sakura frowned, suddenly feeling upset. "No, he didn't."
Pein nodded, satisfied, as if already expecting this. "Then there is nothing I can do about it."
Had he tried the same as her before?
Sakura felt the same hollow feeling she felt every time she would lose a patient; she felt disappointed with herself, like there was something more she could have done, even though her mind and calculating side would tell her otherwise.
But this was different. She didn't care enough about Itachi to feel sad, if at all.
It was on her, though. It was a life all the same.
But there was something that was worrying her even more. "Tobi."
He blinked, a sharp look appearing in his ringed eyes. His interest in this topic was palpable. "What about him?"
Sakura pondered with herself for a moment. What would she gain from telling Pein about the suspicious behavior of one of his members? This had nothing to do with her.
But then she remembered Tobi's cinic words and the fact that he managed to fool her into believing he was someone that he was not.
"He seemed interested in Uchiha-san's condition, but not out of concern, I think."
He inclined his head, thinking about her words for a moment.
"It is pleasing to know I inspire such loyalty in you, Haruno-san."
Sakura blinked, and her first response was to feel taken aback by his conclusion. Was she loyal to him? The realization came then that she had just passed information on Tobi without being prompted, and that would make it look that way.
Pein only seemed distracted by the new information, a small line marking the space between his eyebrows. She decided to let him ponder. The matter was in his hands now.
But there was no denying that something was going on between them, what with Tobi lurking in the halls, watching the movements, and, taking what just happened into consideration, probably the one outside the door just a moment ago.
Even more now that Pein made it seem she had chosen his side rather than Tobi's.
When it was clear she wouldn't say anything more, he went back to his desk, leaving her to her thoughts. For now, there was just the necessity to take her mind off of Itachi and Tobi. Taking advantage of his silence, Sakura walked deliberately slowly to the glass doors behind his chair. He didn't try to prevent her, but his eyes kept watching askance. Sakura stopped her hands short of the handles.
She turned her head just enough to look at him over her shoulder. "May I?"
"Aa." His shoulders turned back and then inclined slightly downwards, indicating he went back to do what he was doing before she appeared.
Cold wind met her skin as soon as there was an opening between the glass doors, making her shiver and for a moment reconsider if this was what she really wanted. In the end, she stayed in the small balcony outside, letting the doors slightly open.
Small droplets reached her fingers where they were, resting in the cold railing that surrounded the small space, just like the one on the terrace above. On that small balcony she was protected from the rain that affected the entire village. There was no one on the streets below, but that wasn't surprising since it seemed there was no one even on rare days without rain.
Sakura contemplated the dark sky in silence for a moment–that might have been longer than it felt–until the sliding doors behind her opened slowly. She felt her back stiffening, her fingers gripping the railing more firmly. The almost overwhelming feeling of Pein's chakra signature made itself known as soon as she heard the noise, prickling the covered skin of her arms with goosebumps, but her body relaxed all the same. She could feel him hovering behind her, still at a respectable distance, but at the same time almost caging her in. She wondered if this was his intention; cage her in.
He stood silently there and she didn't do anything to rectify that. Her senses were so aware of him that she could even pick out his low, even breathing. It was so easy for him, she thought, to stand so close to her and not worry about anything while a second ago her body was so coiled, her muscles so tense, it felt she would snap fiercely with any sudden move.
The rain calmed down, almost as if matching his mood. Sakura relaxed further with it eventually, focusing on her breathing, in and out, in and out, until she almost forgot she wasn't alone.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
At some point Sakura had closed her eyes. When she opened them, Pein was standing beside her, looking at the cloudy horizon, where the sun should be sinking down if it wasn't raining. His face was calm in a way she had never seen before.
Sakura went back to stare forward. "I think we have different views on beauty, you and me."
Pein hummed, soft and low, but it wasn't an agreement. "No. I think we see the same in that sense."
Something told her he wasn't referring to the weather.
Sakura frowned, looking at him sideways. He was still observing the several buildings around them, looking like he was at peace of all things.
She remembered something then. Maybe now wasn't the wrong time to bring it up.
"About our conversation earlier," she started slowly, unsure about broaching the subject.
"We had quite a few of them."
Sakura turned to him resolutely, ignoring what felt like his attempt to distract her. "You said there was a leader here before you." Her voice was firm and she was glad for that. "What happened to him?"
Pein didn't blink nor made any indication he had heard her. "I killed him," he said simply, still facing ahead. Then, more softly, almost like regretting, "His children, his wife, his entire family and the ones who had any association with him."
Her body froze in place, the blood draining from her face rather quickly. Her fingers were cold where they held the railing in a death grip.
Pein looked at her sideways, slow and deliberatively, like he hadn't just been talking about killing people. He took his time as his eyes danced across her face, descended to her tightly closed fists, then returned to her eyes. One eyebrow arched very slightly. "You do not approve of my methods."
"No." She herself could recognize the terrified, though still defiant, tilt to her voice. "How could I? It's awful." She shook her head in disbelief. "It's wrong."
"Wrong?" he questioned, dead serious. "Then, tell me, Haruno-san, what should have been my course of action?"
Sakura clamped her mouth shut, her lips thinning. At her apparent refusal to answer, he continued in a highly skeptical tone, "Should I have pardoned those who were complacent with so much death and suffering? Should I just let them live their happy lives and simply ignore so much innocent blood on their hands?"
He took a minuscule step towards her. "Is it right to be safe and tucked away when the entire world around you falls apart?" This new question seemed personal somehow. "Does it feel right to live happily, ignoring the blood just under your feet, staining your past?"
She was speechless to that. What was he even implying? Safe and tucked away? Sakura had been in countless battles, in a war, and even fought and won the fight of her life against one of his own subordinates. She had been there, she was almost dead at some point.
But he didn't know any of that. And the ones who did witness it were dead.
"Have you ever felt pain?"
Out of all the questions he asked her, this last one seemed to be the only one he was expecting an answer. She blinked several times, still shocked by his insinuations, while Pein waited, patient and with an air of curiosity she could almost taste. He leaned forward to stare deep into her eyes for a moment. The silence stretched between them, with only the rain falling as witness of the words not being said.
He went back to look straight ahead then, when it became clear she didn't know how to put her thoughts into words. There was a sense of finality in the act–a sense of a point being made.
Against the feeling of indignation raging inside her heart, Sakura found it best to return to her original question, no matter how much this careless attitude of his bothered her. "And when was this?"
His serious eyes shifted to her again, probably evaluating every little thing her face gave away. She tried her best to keep a neutral expression, but still felt like he was seeing right through her attempts.
"Their deaths," she elaborated.
When Sakura thought Pein wouldn't answer, he lightly inclined his head to one side.
"After the last world war."
The last world war was a fairly recent one where Konoha fought mostly against Iwa and Suna, but at some point it turned out almost like a five nation war. Iruka's history classes used to be her favorites in the academy and Sakura remembered them very well. While not entirely sure on this specific detail, she thought the one in power on Ame then was a man called Sanshōuo no Hanzō–the one who named her shishou and her teammates Sannin.
If Pein killed him and now the Akatsuki's base was located in a village he acted as a leader… then this really was Amegakure they were in.
Pein somehow rebelled against the political system in power, for some reason. He had said before that the last kage turned the village into a battlefield to a war that didn't belong to them… but what did that even mean? How did Ame manage to get involved in the first place?
"I don't understand," she said at last. "Amegakure is pacific as far as hidden villages go. Why would anyone go into war–?
If he was surprised by her mention of the village he didn't show. Instead, he cut her off mid question. "The right question would be why not. There is no such thing as pacific in the world we live in. If that even starts to happen, you are crushed by others who view it as a weakness, especially if they have something to gain from it." His eyes turned faraway. "There is always something to gain."
Sakura wisely stayed in silence, patiently waiting for him to continue.
"Amegakure and the rest of Rain Country is right in the middle, separating great nations and as such, serving as a battlefield of sorts for those who think it is okay to destroy an entire country that had nothing to do with it in the first place," he explained. "It always was and it always will be, just waiting for the next war to see everything being destroyed over and over again. It does not help when there is someone from the inside that is complacent, even if it means the deaths of thousands; as long as their selfish needs have been met.
"While there are these sorts of people in positions of power, with great, powerful hidden villages who do not look beyond their borders, to the small villages living around them, this cycle goes on. And for the common people not related to the hidden villages' system, it only remains to hope for peace. And I am here to see this through."
As much as she wanted to deny it, he had a very strong point; the very conflict he was referring to happened in Rain Country, for the most part, even though its hidden village wasn't actively fighting in the war. There were several examples of things like this happening throughout history. She recalled the Wave Country. It was sad, but a reality all the same.
She looked at him questioningly, but didn't say anything. Pein looked back at her for a long minute, searchingly, almost in appraisal. He seemed to understand exactly what she wanted to know.
"I told you before, Sakura-san," he said, his eyes intensely holding hers. "This is the Akatsuki's purpose, through gathering the nine bijuus and using them as a weapon to hold against the five nations. To reach true peace, the world must first suffer pain. Really know it. I did, and so did this village. Soon, yours and all others will know it too."
And just like that, it was like something broke between them, something the two were too uncertain to recognize before.
And Pein was the one to take that step.
Sakura was so shocked with the fact that he had chosen now to say her first name that it took a while for his words to sink in. When it did, she scowled as rage coursed through her veins. "So you're going to… what, kill innocent people to teach the world your motto?" She shook her head, her eyes going back and forth between his in disbelief. "And you just lamented the fact that so many deaths occurred before. This world doesn't need another megalomaniac with an excuse to destroy everything. Not all of us lived through that war to be blamed for it and simply killing the ones who did won't change anything."
His head tilted to the side, seemingly ignoring what she just called him. "An excuse, Sakura-san?" And there it was her first name again. All of a sudden he regarded her as if she was a child who didn't know any better. It only irritated her further. "You will come to see that my way is the only one possible. For better or for worse."
His eyes were still fiercely on hers though, catching a frail glare the barely there daylight could provide. It didn't escape her attention that he didn't answer her question exactly.
"Your way is the exact same as that of those you detest so much. Don't you see? You'll be just as good as them." Sakura shook her head again. "No. I will never come to see things your way because I don't believe it's the better option. And I already have mine."
Pein gave one step forward which placed him exactly in front of her, their sandals touching. His hands held the railing on each side of her. This made a tingling sensation appear in her lower belly, something that was ignored vehemently.
In a complete contradiction to his body language, his face was another matter. His jaw was clenching, and his eyes had hardened. He was becoming angry.
He bent slightly towards her and the motion made one side of the top most piercing on the bridge of his nose glint. Sakura tensed at first. His face was so close she didn't know exactly where to look.
He asked in an undertone, "And… which one is that?"
"Nothing like yours," she answered, imitating his tone for good measure.
Why was he doing this? In all their interactions, except when she had her sick moment, he never came this close to her. One of his hands was even brushing hers in the railing. Was this some sort of intimidation tactic? But there was no reason for that. They were having a normal conversation in which she had every right to disagree with his one-sided views. Was he going to–
No, Sakura mentally shook the thought from her head when her pulse accelerated. He wasn't this sort of man, that was obvious. This was something else.
Sakura forced herself to maintain his eye contact. She could smell him, could feel his slow breathing on her neck. One of his long fingers shook slightly against her hand. In a bold move, one she couldn't explain further then pure instinct, green eyes lowered to his lips.
It suddenly came to her that he was caging her in–and she was letting it happen.
"Then by all means, explain to me."
That was a surprise.
Was he mocking her? Her eyes took in his entire face this time. No, his face was impassive and his gaze held no particular look in them. He seemed truly interested in her political views.
Why?
"You want to reach true peace, but through a threat of war against the five nations," she stated slowly, watching him for any sign of denial. When he just stayed in silence, intently watching her, she continued, "...like that wasn't done before? And still is. Every war that had ever happened had villages fighting to overcome, in their views, an oppressive situation. An opponent fighting to gain an upper hand that would, in the wrong hands, disseminate their people. Why would you think that fighting war with war would resolve anything? That would only insitate an rebellion eventually and then the peace created is gone. Can't you see the holes in your plan?"
Pein raised an eyebrow. From what she was seeing, he wasn't upset with what she just said. His previous wrath had come and gone in a blink of an eye and now he just looked slightly interested, but not with his usual detachment. He liked this subject, she concluded.
That conclusion should alleviate her nervousness, but instead left her slightly put off. That could be just him entertaining her.
"You are… berating me for my choices again."
He wasn't taking her seriously after all.
"Like I did not think about every possible outcome."
Sakura frowned. To her, that was doubtful and hard to believe if he still maintained the same ideals. "Have you?"
Pein leaned in, way closer than he should be. Sakura held her breath, her eyes fixedly on his to try and gauge what would be his next step.
"I have," he murmured. The certainty in his silky voice didn't fool her in the slightest. "This is an entirely different situation."
"We're talking about potentially killing innocent people that had nothing to do with it in the first place, as you said yourself," Sakura said in a hardened way. She scowled and straightened herself so there wouldn't be so much of a height difference between them. It still felt like his body was engulfing hers. "This is no different from what I just told you. It would be foolish to think in such a way."
A muscle contracted in his jaw at the same time his eyes hardened. He looked like an entirely different person when enraged. But this was good; it meant she was reaching him if he was this angry. It meant her words made sense to him somehow and he was now considering her ideas.
"Some would say your way of thinking is foolish and not at all compatible with the world we live in," Pein finally said. "That you, being a kunoichi, are naïve to believe it."
It was true. She remembered what Sasori asked her in that battle of theirs. Is this something shinobi should say? Technically no. But how could she not? She could never, actually. No matter how long she spent reconditioning her mind that emotions are weakness and her village always came first than anything no matter what–rather it was right or not in her mind–she just couldn't find it in her. She felt bad for being one of the people responsible for Sasori's death at the end, even though he tried to have her killed at every turn; she knew she would do the same thing all over again to save that baby trapped inside a house catching fire, even if the people around her at the time ended up handing her on a silver plate for one of the biggest enemies of her village.
But this was who she was. That was why she was here right now, sacrificing herself so Ino and Chouji could go free unscathed. She was a sacrifice as much as Naruto would be if the Akatsuki was successful. Protecting her loved ones and the ones who needed her the most was her way as a ninja.
Regardless of what would happen to her in the end.
Isn't that what he is also doing?
Pein was the same as her, it suddenly and surprisingly came to her. It was so ridiculously obvious that she felt foolish for not thinking of it before. The people of this village were his; his people to protect, his people to love, the people who needed him the most. That was why he was supporting such a bold plan to get into war with the five nations. Perhaps he really didn't need her to tell him those things; perhaps he already knew the way. Perhaps he knew it from the beginning. Perhaps he sacrificed himself at some point, his mind and his soul, so they could have the so-called peace he seemed to want so much.
Though their ways were very much opposed, they wanted the same end result: peace. Pein wasn't unlike her; he was just like her.
That realization shook her deep inside and she felt her resolution deflate.
Almost as if reading her thoughts, Pein frowned, shifting his eyes to look over the village again. "The shinobi world cannot exist without wars," he declared, almost to himself, but she knew it was supposed to contradict her beliefs.
It was a cold, hard fact.
"I know," Sakura murmured sadly. Her eyes raised to his, holding a most unexpected gentleness. "But this way of thinking is important to me. It's what I believe in and right now it's all I have."
Pein's demeanor changed then. He didn't seem angry anymore, but he wasn't less focused on her. There was a different feel to him, like he was curious, but at the same time there was something else, something deeper, floating just under the surface of his rigid posture.
Sakura felt that same tingling sensation of earlier, but didn't feel ashamed of it this time. Even if she didn't quite recognize it.
"Protect those who can't protect themselves; that's my way, the one I know of since becoming a kunoichi," she finally decided to answer his earlier question. That something deeper seemed to intensify tenfold, making her breath hitch with awareness. "I guess I just can't help but feel empathetic," she concluded as a form of distraction when the silence between them stretched in an uncomfortable way. Those shivers returned with a vengeance, making her inhale deeply to try and control her heart that was suddenly beating out of pace.
His eyes were fixed on hers and his face was still so very close.
"I have never met someone quite like you before, Sakura-san."
His words were so sudden she couldn't stop a startled expression taking over her face. Even as he said it, words that would hold a nice meaning in any other case, his eyes were narrowed. He looked like he was confirming a previous thought and it still managed to surprise him.
It was difficult to know if his statement was a good thing or not. Pein looked like he was having an epiphany about something–related to her, most likely, and Sakura suddenly felt like she had just gone through some sort of test.
It was extremely uncomfortable to have him so close and so focused like that. She couldn't handle it.
"I'll leave you."
The words were whispered, but with that proximity, he would've heard them all the same. His emotions were completely under control when he stepped back, allowing one hand to slip from the railing and creating just enough space for her to pass beside him to reach the double glass doors. She felt his eyes on her the entire time.
Once out of his office, she barely held herself from bolting.
He had been cursed with the bad timing of others it seems.
Haruno-san–Sakura now it is–had just left when a swirling mass materialized by his side in the balcony. He turned ahead, returning his hand to the railing and his eyes to the horizon, ignoring the growing headache at his temples and willing the rain to fall relentlessly. He breathed in and out slowly, sensing the humidity around him. There wasn't anything Madara could tell him that would hold his attention enough to completely forget what had just happened.
You'll be just as good as them.
It was her stern voice in his head, saying so.
It would be best to ignore those thoughts for now. He breathed in deeply again, one finger tapping the cold metal in the same rhythm as the drops falling. There were more important things he should be focusing on. Their plan was coming along swiftly. He expected Konan back at any day now; perhaps then he would be free of his self imposed shackles.
To then be chained to the Kyuubi and the fact that he might not get a chance at obtaining it the way they initially planned. A confrontation with Konoha at this point, after everything that has been done by the Akatsuki, would end up in an intense bloodshed–on their part. It became more true with each day that passed without a sign of the Jinchuuriki.
And Sakura would be right in her assumptions of innocent people being killed unnecessarily; sacrifices for the greater good he wanted to bring to this world.
He felt himself frowning at the thought.
The silence had stretched too long when his companion finally broke it. "Trouble in paradise?"
He could feel the muscles along his back tensioning as his eyes narrowed. His mind came back to the present, but he had no intention of entertaining Madara's bold notions. "You test my patience."
Dark chuckles could be heard through the sound of rain falling in the ceiling.
"It was not me who did it. I am not that talented," he answered mockingly. "Your little Sakura on the other hand…"
His hands tightened around the railing. My little Sakura indeed. His little voice of reason. As if he needed one; as if he needed her naïve notions of peace that only those of her village knew. A Leaf child who never had to grow up too fast or risk being killed amidst a war she knew nothing about, telling him about fairness–about wrong and right.
You'll be just as good as them.
Just as good as Hanzō and–
It was not his intention to have to go to war, but it would have to happen if they forced his hand.
Pein only had an idea of his increasingly darkening mood when Madara stepped up beside him to rest his forearms in the railing.
"You are letting her under your skin. I thought you were smarter than that, Yahiko."
His lips thinned as he tried to regain his self-imposed control, unclenching his hands and straightening his body so he was once again at his full height. His breathing evened out as he thought of the ridiculousness of what was just happening.
Indeed, he let her under his skin. No one had ever dared question his plans and choices before; yet, he just stood there and let her pick everything apart with her righteousness ways. As if she knew the worst ways of the shinobi world.
Even still, it was her words echoing in his mind, her wide, innocent eyes looking back at him, afraid yet petulantly and even angered at some point.
He couldn't summon enough anger at her, though. Considering his position in recent events in her life, her vision of him was understandable.
Sakura, Sakura...
A curious thing. Perhaps he was turning soft after all, just as Madara was implying.
"Isn't it time for you to go?"
Pein knew it was. With Madara gone, he would have one less worry in his tired mind.
"Aa," his companion answered, in a highly amused tone. It was funny to him, his dilemma. Which one of those exactly was unclear. "That fool Deidara already must be wondering where I am."
Madara turned away from him then. "I trust you can keep things under control while I am gone."
His words held doubt. In his present state, Pein couldn't blame him.
"Aa."
Once he was gone, Pein let himself stagger back against the doors. Sakura's chakra was still wavering wildly, an unquiet ghost in his mind's eye. He sighed deeply. Things would only get more complicated from now on.
