The next morning, they all packed up and headed out in nearly dead silence. It would have been dead silent if it wasn't for Kaii consistent efforts to make small talk with everyone, particularly Sakura. Against his wishes, this bugged Sasuke. Despite his… whatever emotion this was…he didn't enjoy Kaii near her.
As they bounded through the trees, Naruto finally spoke up. "We're nearing her. I can finally sense something."
Sasuke felt himself tense. These were the most emotions he had felt in weeks due to the treatments. He inwardly wished he could ask Sakura could block his pathways again so he could kill her more easily. She wouldn't, he sighed. It would be too unethical. This jutsu was to help people not create killing machines.
Within moments, the forest ended and a grassland appeared. In the distance, there was a village. Everyone broke into a run as soon as it was noticed. Upon arrival, they slowed.
"She's not here anymore." Naruto announced
"But she just left," Ino noted as she began to inspect the houses for wounded. As they broke up, the scene was just as abysmal fresh as it was days after. There was still no sign of life. Naomi seemed quite capable of doing the job well and leaving next to no witnesses.
Sakura stopped as she left a house near the edge of the village. There was blood smeared on the side of building. Upon further inspection, she realized it was resembling a compass. There were several smears near the north-east section. She beckoned for everyone to join her.
"She's heading northeast. She knows were following her."
They broke, almost immediately. Heading northeast.
"There should be a village less than ten miles from here," Kai announced.
Sasuke noted his demeanor was different. He felt a power from the strange, exceedingly average man. He could respect it, maybe there was a reason Sakura had found an interest in him other the fact he was nice. His likeness of the man quickly diminished as she noticed Sakura glancing at Kaii with a look. He knew that look all too well, she liked when he was like this too.
Sasuke shook off those feelings. That was more than enough, he was about to have a kill someone and he was busy being concerned about his love life. How far had he fallen?
Within less than an hour, Naruto came to a dead halt. Since he was the sensory nin in their formation, everyone stopped just as suddenly.
Naruto turned to his right and stopped. "She is right in those trees."
And yes, yes she was. A pink haired kunoichi came out and walked the twenty or so feet to be near them. She tilted her head to the side, smiling eerily. She did look a lot like Sakura, everyone could not fail to note. If it wasn't for her demeanor and lavender eyes, they could honestly be twins.
"So Sasuke-kun, this is who I was made after? I have to say, I'm prettier."
Sasuke gritted his teeth as he felt Sakura looking at him. Naomi was modeled after her? Sakura couldn't help but inquire to herself. Why her? Sure, they were teammates, but Sasuke had never been to sentimental. Yet there he was, tenser than she'd seen ever seen him.
"Silence is any an interesting noise considering there are five of you," she teased. Her teasingly creepy demeanor suddenly became more sinister.
"Do you want to know how many lives I had to destroy because you found me? Your skills have diminished greatly."
Naruto angrily went to lunge but he was met with Sasuke's arm in front of him. "She's mine," Sasuke hissed. The words made Sakura cringe, especially considering the resemblance.
"Yours?" She giggled uncharacteristically. "Oh, Sasuke honey, how touching. Especially considering you tried to kill me." Her grin spread across her face and she pulled out a scythe.
Her chakra flared and it was a visible white surrounding her.
"Jashin demands your deaths. And I am happy to oblige."
Ino shuddered, recognizing the verbiage from the murderer of her late sensei.
Sasuke stepped forward, unsheathing his sword. He activated his sharingan, this wasn't child's play. It was time for him to finish what he began years ago.
As Sasuke's chakra flared, Naomi made a quick handsign. "You don't think I came alone, did you?"
Grey creatures began to peel out of the trees, there were nearly twenty of them. The had faces been no distinct features. It was though they had been carved from grey clay.
Everyone else stood in a fighting stance. Naruto had already flared Kurama into action. Sakura, Ino and Kaii were standing with their backs to each other and awaited the blows.
Sasuke stood and activated his sharingan. "Ah- ah –ah," Naomi's voice rang. "No genjustsu for you." He snarled, they'd have to do this the hard way. He lunged a clang rang out. They swiped at each other for several blows. Sasuke flew back, landing with a skid. She had improved dramatically. It didn't help that all she needed now was one drop of his blood now.
She let out a blistering cackle as she ran toward him and threw her scythe. Sasuke jumped to dodge, but that didn't stop her from the chain twisting around his sword. Before he knew it that was ripped from his hand. Mid-air, he tilted himself downward and fell toward her back. He activated his chidori and she turned kunai in hand.
If it wasn't for his sharingan, he would've missed it. Spotted a shuriken being thrown by Kaii, his rinnegan spun. He felt his chidori plunge through the grey figure.
The figure was basically sludge. As he went to pull out his arm and felt stabbing in it as he ripped it free. His arm was gushing blood. Goddammit.
He jumped to the edge of the clearing, opposite of where Naomi had been. He noticed the concerned looks of his comrades as they were enthralled with the grey figures. It seemed the figures were gelatin like, but once they were wounded they quickly solidified causing a weapon or yourself great damage once you tried to retract.
His eyes flickered behind him just in time to notice the pink haired woman slicing into his already bloodied arm. He growled, launching himself away. How could he be so stupid? He had two goals in this fight, not bleed and kill Noami. He had already failed at one.
The grey creatures had all been beaten and the rest of the team simply stared at the battle. They dare not interfere unless Sasuke was literally about to die. Even then, he may kill them when he came too. He wanted to do this alone.
Sasuke charged Naomi with his chidori blade, she had already taken his blood, there wasn't much else she could do now. She bounced back several feet with ease. The blood loss was getting to him, he was slowing. The chidori didn't help either, the chakra burning his already damaged forearm. Naomi was now back near where she had come out of in the forest. Focusing, Sasuke cringed. She was in a circle and she was turning colors.
The screeching laughter brought chills up everyone's spine as Naomi turned into a black and white skeleton. "Lord Jashin will be thrilled with this sacrifice!" She twirled a kunai around her finger before holding it to her neck.
"Ino! Now," A voice screeched. Ino fell only to be caught by Sakura. Naruto and Kaii rushed to Sasuke's aid, not that they were particularly useful.
"Naruto! Guard Ino! I'm going to heal Sasuke."
Sasuke growled, aware of what had already happened. Failure. Failure is what had occurred. If it wasn't for them he would have died. But at least he would have died with dignity. Now, he just failed. Sakura kneeled next to Sasuke, all business.
"I will mend it enough to stop the bleeding. You've lost more than enough blood."
"Ino, how long until you can't do it any longer," Kaii inquired.
"I have 14 minutes left. We have two options. We knock her unconscious, rendering me unconscious. Or, we time it as perfectly as possible. Usually I can release in time, but it's always risky."
"We can carry you as long as she is unable to move. I'm going to knock you unconscious now," Kaii warned as they walked toward each other.
"Three, two, one." He wrapped around her neck, hoping she had released in time. Sasuke wasn't at full strength and they were two days from Konoha. Carrying two bodies would be a pain.
Luckily, Ino grunted under Naruto's watchful gaze. She sighed and announced. "We need to decapitate her."
Everyone glanced at her, eyes widened. Even Sasuke was shocked at such a suggestion from the blonde. She was volatile, but she wasn't tortuous. Then again, she was a part of the intel until. Noticing this glances Ino sighed.
"She had Sasuke's blood. That's permanent. If she is able to harm herself within a circle, she will be harming him. She has to be decapitated and crushed. That's what had to happen with Hidan."
Sasuke attempted to stand, shoving Sakura to the side. Sakura glared, "Your arm has just stopped bleeding. Don't open the wounds."
Annoying. He mentally noted. He disliked her care for him right now. He stepped forward, grabbing the sword which had been knocked from him. He headed toward Naomi's limp body. This wasn't the first time he had stood over her seemingly dead body. She was just as bloody this time, but it was not her own. He gritted his teeth as he raised his sword, beheading the woman.
That was that, he thought. He chest was pained. If he hadn't 'killed' her in the first place, he certainly wouldn't be standing over her again now. He flicked the blood from his sword.
"Someone take the body. We should take it to Konoha. Her head will be good for intel."
Chills ran up everyone's spine. They had all seen war. They had all seen murder, but for some reason the thought of carrying a body back to Konoha with no head bothered them. They were human after all.
Kaii interrupted the silence, as usual. "I have several scrolls to carry bodies. No need. If we place her in two different scrolls, that would be a good precaution."
Sasuke switched his attention to the overly average shinobi. This man was growing more useful. He had held his own against the grey creatures. He had less marks on him than everyone except Naruto. He seemed strong enough to make tough calls as well. He wasn't about to go get lunch with the man, but he could acknowledge he might not be so average.
Several hours later they made camp. They couldn't find a clearing so the middle of the forest would have to do. The rest of the days travels were melancholy as best. Naruto attempted to speak a few times, but had quickly resigned himself to understanding the situation. Ino seemed troubled, maybe Naomi's mind was too graphic for her. She had been through events similar to Sasuke after all. Flooding those to the forefront of one's mind is often a good tactic to rid oneself of the Yamanaka's jutsu. Sakura knew better then to start any conversations, she was the last person at least one of the members of the squad wanted to speak to.
Kaii, however, did not seem to understand. He continued to comment on how lovely the light breaking through the trees was. Also, Sasuke had learned he was an avid bird watcher by how he continually noted the change in birds and their tweeting.
The average shinobi had instantly dropped back into Sasuke's list of least favorite people. It was as long as it used to be, but it definitely contained Kaii quite high on it at this point.
"I'll take first watch," Kaii beamed as he bounced himself into a tree. "I thought I saw a rare bird wandering about. Hopefully I catch a better look at it in the next two hours."
Sakura giggled briefly, before sucking the laugh back in. It was long enough for Sasuke to feel bile rise in his throat. Sakura enjoyed his disgustingly oblivious nature. Gross.
Sasuke shook off the feeling again, laying down in his sleeping mat. He didn't feel as bad as he thought he would about Naomi. His head however was still preoccupied with the other pink haired kunoichi who was only twenty feet away from him.
He closed his eyes to appear sleeping. He easily had another four hours until watch, he had agreed to go third at some point on their travels. Today was a giant blur. He had failed. You failed on your own, A part of his mind corrected. Kakashi's voice haunted him on occasion. One wouldn't be able to tell necessarily, but Sasuke held a great deal of respect for the sixth hokage.
He sighed lightly. They had succeeded as a team. And that's what is important, the same fatherly voice noted.
"So how'd your bird watching go?" Sakura mused as she approached Kaii.
He glanced down, first surprised but then grinning. "Well! This bird is amazing. The coloring is stellar. It eats insects and can fly up to-" He stopped abruptly, scratching the back of his head. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling."
Sakura smiled sweetly at him, climbing up to join him on the branch. "You know I don't mind." She felt compelled to touch his hand, comforting. Had she hurt him so bad, he felt like he couldn't express his passions to her anymore? She mentally kicked herself. She was such a jerk.
Kaii smiled softly, nearly blushing. "You're quite the talker yourself, I guess."
That was the biggest thing they had shared with each other. Their genuine, loving passion. They both loved everything they did so fiercely and it was a breath of fresh air to have someone to share your passions with uninterrupted.
She chuckled, tucking back a stray piece of hair. "I know, I ramble all the time. I just get so excited and I just go and go and –" and paused.
"Or when I'm nervous I do it too." This time she did feel something touch her hand and she glanced up, surprised.
Warm, brown eyes stared down at her. They were comforting. "Don't be nervous around me, Sakura. I never want that." Her heart melted, and then it broke.
She wished things could be simply. There was nothing she wanted more than to be happy. These warm brown eyes made her warm and content. But, the dark mysterious onyx made her happy and wild. She felt satisfied with Kaii, but with Sasuke she felt full and complete. She knew she had made the right choice, but goddammit, why did Kaii have to be so nice?
"Thank you," was all she could muster. Anything more and she'd be breaking all the boundaries she'd recently set for herself. She placed a gentled hand on his arm, squeezing it. "You should get rest."
Kaii nodded and leapt down. "Goodnight, Sakura," and she swore as he walked away she could hear him mutter 'I love you', but she chalked it up to imagination.
"We need to speak," Sasuke announced as he stood under her.
Sakura jumped, but glanced at him. Inwardly, she was thrilled. Their last conversation had been…awful. They had both thrown such vile words around. However, he didn't need to know she was thrilled. He needed to work for this.
"You think," she grunted.
Sasuke's face developed into what looked like a smirk as he placed a hand on his hip.
"What happened with Kaii?" His smirk was gone now.
Sakura sighed and sat up, her legs now dangling off the branch. "I didn't know if you were coming home. And if you did, I didn't know if you'd want me." Heck, I still don't know if you want me, she mentally added.
"So, I found someone to bide my time with. It was supposed to be casual, but we got along well. Before I knew it, we were together every day. I'd watch his kitten when was on missions. I was having dinner with him and his parents. He was telling me he loved me."
"He was giving you the things I never could," Sasuke stated. It was a statement of fact.
Sakura, ignored his comment. And kept her train of thought. "But, I didn't love him. Not then, not now. I could see myself loving him if you never...If you never returned. Not long after that conversation you came home. I felt it, I knew he couldn't give me what you could."
She shook her head, grinding her teeth. "He never could."
Sasuke glanced up at her, confused. Sakura, sensing his confusion leapt down in front of him. She took his hand. He flinched, but didn't retract.
"Sasuke, he may make me content and satisfied. But you bring me passion. That's something he can't do for me."
Sasuke nodded for a moment, then from what Sakura could see, genuinely smiled. Before she could get a good look, however, she was met with the warm lips she wished she could bathe in.
The gates of Konoha were a welcome site to the shinobi after a taxing mission. With a last burst of energy, they all flickered to the Hokage's office. Kaii placed two scroll on his desk.
"The blue is her head. The green is the body. I recommend keeping them separate."
Kakashi cocked his head and Sakura jumped in. "Orochimaru helped her procure Hidan's 'religion' of sorts. We know she isn't as resilient as him, but I am not doing this mission again."
"Ah," Kakashi noted, ever the conversationalist.
"Kaii, take the blue to Ibiki. And of course, assist. I'll keep the green, I know exactly where to keep it."
Sasuke glanced over at Kaii, he was in interrogation? The man was far too pleasant for that. It wasn't forced like Sai either, the man was genuinely kind and disgustingly average. And the tortured people?
"Sasuke, join Kaii. I want you to sit in on the interrogation and assist if necessary. Everyone else, you are dismissed."
"Hai," they announced in unison as everyone body flickered away except for Sasuke and Kaii.
Sasuke nodded toward the door, indicating he should lead the way. This average torturer (apparently), jumped and grinned sheepishly, before exiting. Sasuke wasn't often confused, he was a bright lad, but he truly did not understand this man.
"So, you're in interrogation," Sasuke announced. This even surprised himself, small talk was apparently becoming part of his personality lately.
"Heh, yeah. It usually confuses most people," Sasuke went to ask a question, not use to Kaii's rambling, but was cut off.
"I am handy with genjustu and am excellent at infusing weapons with chakra. I'm a lightening type, that makes for an interesting time."
"Hn," was all that he responded with. For some reason, Kaii was under the impression this meant Sasuke wanted him to continue talking.
"Yeah, I mean I'm a jonin for a reason. I know I seem sorta lame but I can actually do okay when I-"
He stopped when he realized Sasuke wasn't paying any attention. "Sorry I uh ramble."
"Hn," was all Kaii was met with.
This time he realized it wasn't an invitation to continue talking.
A/N: The next chapter will wrap things up!
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Thank you for reading :D