Chapter Seven: The Risky Gamble
"So captain…" My attention was taken from the roasted mushroom. I nearly fell back from freight as the team stared right at me with such intensity. I simply blinked at them waiting for some sort of explanation as to why my three seniors were staring at me. "So, Kaeda's birthday is coming up." Youhei said. I nodded realizing that the brunette wasn't with us she had gone to get more firewood for this camp. "What do you want to do, captain?"
I paused wondering for a brief moment if this was some sort of trick. "Wish her a healthy year?" I responded somewhat unsure of myself.
Youhei made a clinking noise with his tongue. "No, come on. Something nice." He said. "Something she'll remember from the awesome team." He said. Youhei always took things lightly and watching him turn to everyone and begin to discuss the prospect of what sort of gift would be appropriate made me wonder.
At home it had eaten up my thoughts. I found myself frozen at home one night biting my finger nails from the sheer anxiety of it and how the more the days went by the more blabber of this sort went on. My mother came into the same room I was in and nearly jumped from freight. "Oh, Itachi, it's just you."
I quickly apologized to my mother before she asked me what had been keeping me up like a ghost left to roam the house. "The team wants to celebrate the birthday of a teammate. I am not sure what to get her, everyone else does." I explained to her. I watched her relaxed face turn up into a smile and attempting to stifle light giggles. I felt confusion wash over me. Was it a laughing matter? Had I really been so out of tune with friends and how to deal with casual situations that this was thought of as simple? It really made me wonder.
"No, this is perfectly fine and natural." My mother replied. Natural? "What role is she in the team?"
"She's our medic and sentinel." I explained. What was so natural about confusion and this feeling of being flustered?
"What does she looked like?" My mother inquired from me.
"Long brown hair, childish figure still, very organized…"
My mother stopped me there. "What does she do with this long hair?"
"She places it in a bun usually. Either that or a pony tail."
She placed her hand against her chin and tapped it lightly with her fingers thinking. "Consider, perhaps a clip or a pin to go with her hair?" My mother suggested.
I thought feverishly and looked up at her. Could that be considered too plain or casual? We were teammates, and at the time I honestly did not know if she placed any embellishments on her hair. It caused me worry and a slight anxiety but definitely less than before. At least at now I had some direction of what gift was appropriate.
Sure enough the night before the team had planned a dinner night for the birthday I found myself in the stores of Konaha unsure of where to look at and what to buy, the direction I was hoping for was gone. I looked at many stores for women and everything seemed just wrong. Just as I was about to give up hope I passed by a small stand selling unique pieces of jewelry and other things. I decided that it wouldn't hurt to look and there it was. Laying before me was a single little pin with a small daisy on the top nearly glowing white. I heard the old woman behind the stand smiled and chuckled. "I see, I see. You have your eyes on the daisy."
"Yes, I apologize I know very little about gifts." I explained to the lady, who simply picked up the pin and set it in my hand.
Kaeda groaned at first when she felt light shining down on her eyes. She rolled to the side and before she realized the fatal flaw in the move as she fell over the edge and onto the floor. "Ouch!" She shouted. She had fallen right onto her face. Without her accord, she touched her hair and made sure it wasn't an utter mess from sleeping. The dream she had was beyond strange.
The dream consisted of Itachi Uchiha taking her hostage in order to give Sasuke more room for error in his life. Stupid, naturally. She flipped herself over and looked up to see a grey ceiling. Her heart nearly sank to her stomach as she realized that the ceiling she was looking up at was not the same wooden ceiling she had back in the bedroom. Hesitantly she moved only her head to the side and she noticed the desk surrounded by book selves. Kaeda scrambled to her feet and regretted it a second later.
This room was not her own, it was someone else's. Could it have been that the dream she had was real and that she was no longer in Konaha? She pulled herself up and stood on her own feet looking around in the foreign room. The room was so neat and large. She sat herself down on the navy blue covers over the bed. Across the bed was a large wooden door. The stone walls were the same as the ones in the large room from before. She looked to her left to see there were two steps that lead to an office type area and on her right was another closed door.
Kaeda wondered what was this room was or who's it was. She moved towards the office like area and looked through the books on the shelves surrounding the desk. The books were titled Meditation, How to Develop a Stress Free Environment, Advance Ninjutus, and many more books with similar titles and along the same type of subjects. Kaeda was confused. It made her think about that horror of tittering between peace and war that was the entirety of Itachi Uchiha's life, especially when they were in ANBU. She brushed her fingers against the fine leather binding of the books. The smell was starting to become familiar to her. She looked at the desk and looked at the contents of it. Kaeda looked around and sat herself down in the leather seat she opened the first file there was there in front of the light.
The file was empty. There was no information; it was simply filled with blank sheets of paper, probably meant to be filled in. She stood and started her walk again setting the chair back to its place. She walked to the opposite end of the room and went to the door on the wall beside the bed. She opened the door and stepped into a bathroom. It was so neat and tidy it made her think that it was the room of a woman. She examined the grey stone bathroom that matched the grey stone walls from the rest of the room. She examined the shampoo and body wash. The scent was made for a man. She tilted her head and examined further. She opened the closet and realized that it was full of men's clothes. She examined the clothes and jumped at the realization. This room… this whole room with its neatness and organization… it screamed Itachi.
The ex-ANBU backed away from the room leaving things without putting them back into place. She backed away tripped once she got out of the doorway and fell back near the bed. "Ouch!" She cried out and wondered what the hell had happened. How could she have possibly gotten here? Many thoughts flew into her mind, horrifying ones that she did not want to have. She got up and reached for the door across the bed. She tried to twist the silver door knob and get it open get out. The door refused to listen to her and wouldn't budge. "No, no!" She whispered, adrenaline pulsed in her veins. Since the door knob wasn't working she went to the next best thing. She cracked her knuckles and clenched her fist. With all the strength in her she punched the door. The wooden door didn't even crack instead the force and chakra from the attack seemed to be absorbed by a seal. That seal wasn't even in the room, instead it was on the other side of the door.
Kaeda backed off for a moment as she watched the white ripples from the seal. She gave it a mighty kick and once again nothing happened. She clenched her teeth together and looked around and saw the two windows on either side of the bed but to her dismay, she also saw the two seals on the windows, outside and out of her reach. She could go either go up or down but that would cause too much noise and draw too much attention. She couldn't possibly do something so risky. Kaeda turned her attention fully to the windows. She used force, punched it, kicked it, and tried to find weapons to dislodge the window but there was no a single one in the room. She went as far as using ninjutsu to get to the seal to fall off, but nothing.
Eventually, she gave the window a strong kick and was thrown back only to crash on the door. "Damn it, Uchiha…"
Itachi was in the room below. It was more like a common room for the members of the Akatsuki. Itachi was reading a book in order to keep himself from doing something rash and trying to drain out the sound of Deidara and Sasori having a debate (it sounded more like fighting to everyone else). They fought and argued so their voices were louder than the sound of the dreaded radio. As if that did any good to the bustling sounds around them. Honestly they were simply sitting around waiting for something to happen. They wanted orders to be told to do something or go somewhere. Especially the new member, Deidara. He was just picked up the previous month. And as most new members, he was eager to get out and move.
Stupid notion. And just as this thought came to his mind one of his stupid mistakes came to brighten the mood of the common room. There was a banging sound heard from upstairs and most of the Akatsuki members there burst out laughing. This took whatever little color was in Itachi's face and forced him to clench the book in his hand. This would be a nice time to just die… or kill her. Itachi peered out of his book and found Kisame's smirking face across from him. He placed his face back into the contents of the book, not wanting to face the others. Quickly he corrected his thoughts to there was no need to face the others. Sasori, Diedara, Kisame and Hidan… all of these people in one room. The only thing that could make this better is for that damned Madara to make his appearance.
Shark-like teeth glistened from the florescent light. "I think your guest is awake." Kisame said with his low chuckle. He was not dressed in the cloak like Itachi was. In fact, Itachi was the only one who was wearing that in there. Most of them had come back once the rain had began tossed their cloak into their rooms and had made their way here. Oh he knows. Out of all of them, Kisame could at least read a fraction of Itachi. He resisted the urge to sigh heavily at the situation.
Itachi shrugged. "Let her struggle trying to get out for a little while." He said in his usual hushed tone. Kisame couldn't help himself but laugh. Itachi gave him a glance and then let his eyes linger over the others. "Might I acquire as to what is so amusing to you all?" Itachi asked shutting the book he was reading and sitting up straight, his calm demeanor disappearing.
"Nothing, nothing." The shark man said. "It's simply that… your Uchiha is showing."
Itachi stood from his seat giving a little scoff with his book in hand. He started walking up the stairs hearing more bangs and thrashes and struggles to escape. He made his way up the stairs off the compound and went towards his own room. Dying to grab the ANBU in his room and shut her up for her making a fool of herself and him. He examined his seal on the door and added more restraints to it before entering the room. The sound of the door opening had made the kunoichi freeze mid-punch.
A moment of utter silence and stillness occurred as neither him nor her moved from their spots. Itachi stepped forward and in response, Kaeda got out of her position. The criminal shut the door and in response, Kaeda turned to face him. They were dancing again. In their own way moving to each other's every step and every move. The hostile environment from before did not fade it remind just where it was before. Simply the scenery had changed honestly. Kaeda looked up at Itachi's face, seeing that his sharingan was not active she decided that it was best not to let the energy she had winded for her punch go to waste.
Itachi moved out of the way when he saw the fist of the sentinel move at him. Her fist landed on the door that was against his back. He moved into the room and went about his usual business as if she wasn't there. He rid himself of the cloak and went into the bathroom placing it in the closet that was in there. Once he did that he walked through his room, not paying attention to the captive girl in his room and made his way to his desk, setting the book that was in his hand on its proper place on the shelf. Kaeda was taken aback. The moments of silence between them continued.
The girl didn't know what to say, but it came out of her mouth anyway, "Itachi Uchiha!" She shouted without her mouth filter's consent. The man took a pen into his hand and ignored the girl again scribbling information down onto the blank sheets of the file. Kaeda felt infuriated and Itachi knew it. There was nothing that angered a girl more than him ignoring her. He heard her footsteps marching towards him. Up the two steps that separated them and turned his chair over so he could look at her. "Let me out."
"You prefer a cage or a cell?" He asked, coolly. He watched the color on face change from white to a light red. She raised her hand meaning to slap him but he caught it. "That isn't an answer." He said. His obsidian eyes bored into her brown ones. He brushed his thumb closer to the joint of her wrist and added pressure pushing it back until it became painfully uncomfortable. Her passive face gave away that she was in pain. Itachi tilted his head still waiting for his answer.
He was being purposely cruel to her. Itachi did not want his true nature coming out so easily. Not only would it cause problems but if the others decided to pay a visit on the young kunoichi, it might even spell death for her. He was mostly worried about the others, that he would get a soft reputation as opposed to the one where he found pleasure on slaughtering clans. He would not expose himself, like a nerve, in such a way. Especially he did not want to be exposed because of her. The worst Kisame would do is tease him. But there were greater dangers in the Akatsuki than Kisame. That bastard Madara. If he found a slight weakness, anywhere, he would expose it and ensure he got his full from disgracing that very weakness.
Itachi was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Kaeda letting out a soft yelp of pain. He had nearly snapped her wrist with all the pressure he was adding. With her wrist, he used it to shove her away and let her stumble back and fall back on his bed. He watched her turn to him with a glare in her eyes. "You're horrible." She said and Itachi shrugged. "A horrible, wrenched traitor." She snapped. "A good for nothing captain. And a horrible brother!" She snapped at him.
The criminal simply shrugged. "That I am."
His cool response nearly made Kaeda's sanity break. "Does nothing get through to you?" She asked.
"Nothing got through to me when we were thirteen, would you possibly think that anything has changed except for my power since that night?" Itachi asked, leaning back comfortably in his chair. He looked like a god perched up there sitting down setting his rule upon her.
Kaeda scoffed. "Like I said before your intelligence has gone down. You want me to stay in your room. I am a shinobi, Uchiha. What makes you think I simply won't kill you in your sleep?" She asked standing on her feet.
Itachi let out a dark chuckle. "Do you want to know why I put you in my room?" His acting mask was on. What he was about to do to her was not him. No, no! Don't scare her like that, enough with hurting people I love! In a flash he had her neck again and had her against the bed. Kaeda gasped and struggled under him, trying to get free. His red sharingan filled eyes watched her for a moment and squeezed her neck in order to make her fear for the life that he could so easily take from under his own hand.
He eased his body down so he could press his lips against her left ear making her freeze completely under him, his dark fell over his right shoulder so it wasn't in Kaeda's face. "You are too kind. Your soul is too gentle for something like killing someone in their sleep. I know you, Kaeda Sato, last one of my ANBU team." Kaeda let out a soft laugh confusing Itachi. He looked at her eyes and she looked back at his.
"You are not my gentle, fun, humorous, strong, and benevolent captain." She told him.
A wicked smile lit his face. "You are absolutely right, he died a long time ago and he is not coming back any time soon. If you want you can spend your nights here praying for that, go ahead and then spend your days realizing how foolish you are."
Kaeda smiled at him softly. "Other than Sasuke's well being what do you think that I pray for, Itachi Uchiha?"
Itachi glared before getting off of her. "Get up and clean the mess you made in my room." Kaeda rolled her eyes.
Sakura was sitting around beside Sasuke as she had been doing since they allowed visitors to start coming in. She was there all hours she could be and the young pink haired girl couldn't find herself to keep her gaze up. She felt the weight of all the things that had happened over the course of the past few days. Her pure green eyes gazed upon the handsome face of the young Uchiha in his sleeping form before becoming downcast back into her hands. Iruka had come in to tell someone that Kaeda had disappeared only to have found Sakura.
The secret was forbidden, Iruka would tell Kakashi once he woke up but it made Sakura wonder what would happen to Sasuke once he found out. Everything seemed to coincide, Sakura was sharp enough to get that. It must have been those two that had come after Naruto… those two that had hurt Sasuke and Kakashi… they must have taken Kaeda too. They had simply taken her, unless they had gone beyond that and had ended her life. It was a troublesome predicament and she wondered how her elders would deal with it.
"I'm coming in." An unrecognizable voice said as a young woman seemingly in her thirties strolled into the hospital room. Sakura stood and stared at the woman with light blonde hair.
"Who are you…?" She questioned and stared in wonder before Naruto called her name, came from the door and nearly embraced her.
"Everything will be all right now!" Naruto cheered. "I brought along an awesome person." Naruto chuckled and his bright sapphire eyes turned towards his sleeping friend. "Sasuke will be fine now!" He told her. Sakura was taken aback by the sense of a new level of maturity that had grown in Naruto.
Tsunade noticed that the flowers were not from the same days and let out a small smile. "I hear from Guy-sensei, please save Sasuke." Sakura whispered to Tsunade after turning to her.
The blonde legendary sannin smiled at the young gennin, "Ok, leave it to me." She said brightly. Tsunade turned her attention to the unconscious boy, and placed her hand on his forehead healing the damage that had been done to his mind and repairing the mental scars that held him back from consciousness. Once the green glow from her hand faded the young Uchiha opened his eyes.
The onyx eyes stared up at the ceiling for a moment. Immediately the image of Kaeda and Itachi flew to his mind. Of those two standing within the line of the dead and dared not to rise in fear of learning that it was true. He heard his name being called out by the two wrong people. He forced his body to sit up and banish the horrible nightmare from his mind. He felt a pair of arms wrap around him. For a moment he thought it was Kaeda. Kaeda who was hugging him and Kaeda who was crying for him but as he turned and saw the pink he realized that no, no it wasn't.
Sasuke had no strength. No strength to tell the kunoichi to get off of her and no strength to ask for the brunette. He felt weak and broken, as if his bones were made from the same breakable porcelain as the ANBU masks and as torn as the edges of the black ribbon that held it securely on the wearer's head. "Are you sure you don't want something?" For once he wanted to hear those words. But you are late, too late though, you ran out of time with her. For just a moment he wanted the annoying brunette to laugh and ask him her crazy paranoid questions. He did not want Sakura's arms around him. You know very well that these are the wrong arms.
Naruto took the embrace to heart and as it sank to his stomach, he stepped out of the room. Like Sasuke, Naruto was also missing that absence of love and affection. He wanted, if only for a moment, for Sakura to praise him and there she was wrapped around Sasuke like she usually was. It hurt badly, but for the moment it couldn't let it stop him and the tender moment between Sasuke and Sakura wasn't about to become the excuse for Tsunade not to heal Kakashi. Naruto indeed lured Tsunade to Kakashi's room and had his shattered mind fixed as well.
Once Iruka heard this news, he found himself running up the stairs of the hospital up to Copy Cat Ninja's room. "Kakashi!" He started and was glad to see Jiraiya sitting idly beside the window. "Oh thank goodness, Lord Jiraiya, you are here too." This was exactly the people he needed to see. He tried to catch his breath for a moment before standing up straight. "I need to speak to you about something that has happened to Kaeda." He said.
"Yes, I told Kakashi what happened while during the attack." Jiraiya said assuming that this was about the event that had happened at the hospital.
Kakashi tilted his head. "Where is Kaeda?" He said. "She would have been here by now."
Iruka sighed. "That's the problem." Then there was silence between the two men. "She went missing the day of the attempt kidnap." Kakashi looked shocked. "Her apartment was found like she had just up and vanished out of nowhere." Iruka lowered his head and scratched the back of his head just as confused as the rest of them.
Jiraiya stopped leaning against the window. "This doesn't fit the Akatsuki's motives. Why go after an ex-ANBU?" He questioned.
The men looked around at each other. "I don't think this was an attack by the Akatsuki… but moreso of a statement by Itachi." Iruka whispered. He noticed that the other men looked at him confused. "Stay away from Sasuke. I am still here and I still want a taste of his revenge." Remember that, elders of the Hidden Leaf. Sasuke will always be under my protection and no one elses.
Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes. "What do we tell Sasuke?"