Ch: 21 The Brooding Types

"Long time no see… Itachi."

"And who the hell is he?" came a bored voice. The giant shark named Kisame turned around, away from Naruto, to address a child standing behind them. Nobody noticed him arrive.

Itachi closed his eyes. They bled crimson when he reopened them. "My little brother."

A dark chuckle escaped Sasuke's lips, and Naruto felt a surge of hatred from within himself, calling for him to give into it. It had a magnetic pull, and it called to his most primal instincts to kill. It was nothing like anything he'd felt before, completely foreign but somehow also inside him.

"It's just as you said," Sasuke began, his tone low and even. "I've fostered my hatred… All this time, I've lived my life for one single purpose… and now it ends here, Itachi." The cry of a thousand birds burst from Sasuke's left hand and reverberated against the small corridor of the motel, lighting up the hallway with bright electric blue. "I will KILL you—"

Naruto didn't see Sasuke charge forward. He only witnessed a blinding flash of light which exploded through the side of the wall, followed by a deadly quiet. When his vision cleared, he saw Sasuke dangling, helpless in the merciless grasp of his older brother. "Sasuke!"

Itachi threw his younger brother against the furthest wall down the hall, as easily as if Sasuke were a ragdoll.

There was no way Naruto could get to Sasuke in time to make a run for it—Itachi and Kisame had placed themselves between the two of them. This is bad, Naruto thought to himself. I have to do something.

"Butt out, N-Naruto. The one that's going to kill him is me," Sasuke uttered.

"Are you crazy?!" Naruto cried. "You don't stand a chance! We have to get out of here NOW, Sasuke."

Itachi watched them with apathy, as if bored of their very existence. He tossed a cold look in Sasuke's direction. "I have no interest in you, Sasuke."

"Don't you fucking mess with me," Sasuke yelled. "I've LIVED for this day." He charged forward again, but within seconds, he'd been smashed face-first into the wooden floor by Itachi's descending fist.

"You can't even make a hand sign," Itachi explained. "Don't you see?" He was up in Sasuke's face in one silent, fluid motion, holding him up by the throat against the wall as he spoke in a soft voice. "You're weak. You're nothing."

Sakura

"Sakura? You there?" the Jinchuriki asked from outside her door.

Sakura sat up in bed, not at all surprised by his arrival, as she felt him coming from a while away. "Yeah. It's unlocked."

She watched as the doorknob jangled and waited in bed slouching with her hands in her lap, realizing that she'd sulked for so much longer than she would've thought she was capable of.

"You're finally awake," he said, poking his head in first. "It's just me."

She suddenly sensed that a second presence, quiet and menacing in stark contrast to the Jinchuriki's energy, had craftly embedded itself behind the Jinchuriki's energy. Sasuke. He was brooding in the hall. "Come in... I guess," Sakura said, unable to hide her apprehension. "Where are we?" She watched the Jinchuriki close the door behind him, then relaxed when it didn't open again.

"After Itachi left, you passed out and we had to run like hell. We tried to find another place to stay, but nobody nearby would take us, ya know," the blonde explained. "We ended up here—at Mrs. Yasumichi's place. We're in her home. Her daughter's room."

"How long have we been here for?" she asked.

"Two days. I left the house when I heard you first woke up yesterday morning."

Sakura nodded. Out of habit, she brought a glowing hand to her throat to check the damage, which by now, had virtually vanished.

"How are you feeling?" the Jinchuriki asked.

"I'm… alive, I guess," she said, although she was so drained she felt like she could sleep for another month. But Sakura couldn't sleep. The malignant presence behind the door reminded her that the clock was ticking and she'd need to figure out her next steps soon. She looked to the wall, where her backpack was. "Can you pass me that bag?"

"Yeah."

She took it, nodded her thanks, and began to sift through her belongings, careful to not be too overeager under the Jinchuriki's watch. There were a number of things that absolutely had to be left undiscovered if she had any chance at talking her way out of this, and she knew for a fact that some of those items were left on the balcony when she passed out last night.

"Oh yeah," the Jinchuriki interjected, "I didn't know what those scrolls were doing on the balcony, but I figured you were working on something. They should all be in there."

Bonus points to the Jinchuriki for not being nosy. Sakura's hand continued to claw through the bag until it touched a familiar object, then another. Relief set in as all her stuff was accounted for, one by one, and it looked like no one had snooped. Most importantly, that meant Sasuke didn't know she had communication scrolls with Itachi or any of the other trinkets she was given. Sakura picked up the communication scroll again. It was as white and plain as regular paper, with no buzz of chakra. Itachi hadn't rang her.

"Are you missing something, Sakura?"

"No," she said, quickly shaking her head. "Thanks."

"Do you need anything? I can go to the store if you need an extra change of clothes."

"Huh? No, I'm good," she insisted. "Just tired is all."

Tired, sure, but mostly distracted by this moment of clarity. Itachi had more than enough time to make amends by now. He could've at the very least checked if she was alive. Fuck Itachi.

Sakura might've felt dejected before, but now she was just plain pissed. She wasn't anyone's doormat and she wouldn't grovel for her spot back with Akatsuki if they were going to treat her like this at the first sign of trouble. It was time for her to face the world, alone. From now on, she was going to play by her own rules, whether that meant she'd fake her death and disappear, or somehow find a future within Team 7 and Konoha.

"Sakura," the Jinchuriki began, "Sasuke's here to see you too. Can he come in?"

Right. And there was that.

She nodded, feeling the slow rise of her blood pressure. She looked into her bag. No weapons. Damn.

The doorknob turned. He stepped in, and the room fell into a merciless quietness.

Sakura scanned the room for something sharp to protect herself with, but found only a few cosmetic products like blush and powder. She sure as hell didn't want to look at Sasuke, so she decided to settle on a teddy bear sitting on a bookshelf. Surely she could trust that the Jinchuriki wouldn't let Sasuke kill her, right?

"I won't attack you," Sasuke finally said flatly. "But I do have questions."

And apparently, she had answers.

"Why didn't you signal us?" he demanded. "We were right there, behind the fucking door. What business do you have speaking to Itachi?"

"You saw how quickly he left," Sakura tried. Her voice sounded much smaller than she would've liked. "There was no time, and... I—I didn't want civilians to be disturbed—"

"So your plan was to do what, genius?!" Sasuke yelled.

The Jinchuriki threw him a warning look.

"Forget it," Sasuke fumed. "What did Itachi mean when he said he needed to 'catch up'?"

Sakura felt a headache coming on. Too many questions, questions she didn't have the answer to. Itachi sent a clone to meet her, but she didn't know if Sasuke knew that much. That information alone would open another can of worms.

The unnerving uncertainty of exactly how much Sasuke overheard was keeping Sakura's tongue hostage. She needed to tread carefully—if she told too much of the truth, she'd volunteer incriminating information against herself; on the other hand, if she lied, Sasuke might know.

"Well? What is it?" Sasuke demanded. "Are you going to say something or am I wasting my time here?" He seemed patronizing and angry at the same time, if that was even possible.

Sakura looked down at her lap. "I don't remember."

Sasuke took a step forward. "I'm getting a little sick of your answers, you lying bi—"

Naruto shot an arm in front of Sakura protectively, undoubtedly cutting Sasuke off from hurling some form of an insult. "Watch it, Sasuke."

Sasuke stared daggers at Naruto, and the hostility of his eyes flickered to Sakura briefly before he relented. "Right before I came up to you. Itachi was talking about how his original body needed to 'catch up'. What did he mean by that? I wasn't within earshot."

Well she'd be damned. If the last sentence exchanged between her and Itachi was indeed everything Sasuke heard, then she'd still be able to talk her way out of this.

After careful deliberation, Sakura decided what her story would be. "I think he's the one that's been watching for the last few days. But that was just a clone. We must be close to Akatsuki's hideout. It's like I told you before we left, during your picnic… with Hanabi."

The lie that got Sasuke onboard with this mission was about Akatsuki's 'alleged' hideout in Iwa. To think they were only a few day's journey away with the likelihood they would have another encounter with Itachi seemed to be enough. Sasuke still didn't seem satisfied, but he didn't refute this either.

Sakura glanced at the Jinchuriki, whose tired but bright eyes leant her support.

"When I confronted you…," Sasuke continued, "I asked if you were working with my brother, because that's what it looked like. You weren't on the defensive. Why?"

"I didn't think he would attack me," Sakura replied. And that was 100% truthful.

"The first thing you should've done—and this is true with any enemy—was god damn signal to your teammates."

"I think she gets it, Sasuke," the Jinchuriki reminded him, gently.

Sasuke suspiciously eyed Sakura's hand. "And what are you holding? What type of scroll is that? It looks familiar."

Fuck. Itachi's communication scroll. The scroll looked plain unless someone with Sharingan could see through it. Someone like Sasuke.

"This?" Sakura squeaked. "I was using it for the list of antidotes for Iwa. It's nothing." She hurriedly put it in her dress pocket, closest to her body and away from everyone's field of view.

"Yeah? And why would you need two?" Sasuke asked, eyeing her bag with hawk-like focus.

Sakura swallowed a lump in her throat. She felt herself beginning to break a sweat under his scrutiny, feeling invisible pins and needles at the back of her neck. "Why wouldn't I have two?"

Sasuke took an exaggerated breath, as if forcing himself to keep calm at Sakura's idiocracy. "You have two scrolls. If you're working on one list of antidotes for Iwa, what's the other one for?"

"Just in case I make a mistake." Not likely. The last time she made a mistake with medicine was when she was just a teenager and left a recipe sitting out, almost putting TonTon to an eternal sleep. Princess Tsunade unleashed a wrath of fury that ensured Sakura never made a mistake again, but Sasuke wouldn't know that.

"You couldn't have known we would lose our scroll. Or are you responsible for that too?"

"I've always had them," she said.

"Oh, really?" Sasuke challenged. "You just carry extra things in your bag that you have no use for?

"Since when did I have to report everything in my bag to you?"

"Since you've become defensive about what's in it."

"Yes. Maybe because the person asking me is the sole reason why I almost died," Sakura explained, glaring. Sasuke was always such an arrogant dick, and if he already knew the answer to every damn question he asked, why'd he even bother asking?

"Okay," the Jinchuriki interjected, clearing his throat in the process. "Now's a good time for a break. I'm starving!"

Sakura almost wanted to add that the Jinchuriki was always hungry. However, it seemed to deter Sasuke from wherever he wanted to go with his next line of questioning, and she couldn't complain.

"We'll get Itachi," the Jinchuriki reassured Sasuke. "It wasn't Sakura's fault he got away. If there's one thing I know about Akatsuki, it's that they won't stop unless they get what they want. And that means he'll come back. When he does, we'll be ready to fight him."

Sasuke didn't reciprocate. He headed to the door, and with one hand on the knob, tossed his head in Sakura's direction. He told Naruto before leaving, "if you think you can trust her when it happens."

"Don't worry about him," the Jinchuriki said to Sakura. "He'll get over it."

Sakura had some things to figure out for herself, and it wouldn't be easy to figure them out while being studied by an Uchiha who had a bone to pick with her. Still, it looked like she was given a second chance. She managed to survive Itachi's assault, and she hadn't been outed as an enemy to Konoha… yet.

At the very least, sticking next to the Jinchuriki and continuing their friendly charade was keeping her safe, for now, and being on Team 7 gave her a temporary way to move forward until she could think of something better.

But she had to be careful. One wrong move, and she was out of plays.

"Where'd you go today?" Sakura asked, trying to find distraction in small talk. She discreetly put Itachi's communication scroll, as well as the scroll filled with medical recipes intended for Tsuchikage, in her pocket. This way, they'd be safe in case anyone decided to go through her bag.

The Jinchuriki sat on the floor next to her, then laid back to stare at the ceiling with his arms folded behind his head. "I got arrested."

"You what?"

He flashed an almost child-like grin. "I let them catch me on purpose."

"And why would you do that?"

"I was chasing a lead," he said casually. "Dr. Jaaku. He's a creep." When he saw the shocked expression on her face, he snickered. "C'mon. It wasn't like I told them my first and last name, ya know?"

"Did you find anything helpful?"

"Nah."

Sakura watched her blonde teammate, getting a sense that he was being a bit too nonchalant. Like he was hiding something. She was going to ask more questions, but both of them sensed the arrival of a new presence.

"Is that chit-chat I hear in there?" a muffled voice cried from outside their room.

"Come in!" the Jinchuriki replied.

Mrs. Yasumichi appeared holding what looked like a towel by her side and a tray with some hot tea. "You're awake!" she exclaimed, smiling at Sakura. "Thought I heard a little something. Come on. Let's get you cleaned up."

The Jinchuriki took his cue and began to get up. "I'll be outside. Might catch up with Sasuke and see where his head's at."

"We leave tonight," Sakura decided.

With a nod, he was gone.

Naruto

"I thought you came around. What the hell was that?" Naruto caught up to his brooding teammate, who stood alone in the street looking to where the light couldn't reach.

"I did what you asked, dobe."

"I asked you to talk to her—not interrogate her!" he exclaimed, ready to pull out his own hair. "Do you even hear yourself sometimes? Christ!"

"Well someone on this team has to ask the tough questions. I didn't think Jonin in Konoha were complete amateurs."

"Who are you calling an amateur, asshole?" Naruto shot back. "You certainly don't make it easy to be on your team."

"What team?" Sasuke snapped.

Naruto sighed. What were they doing? What was the point of arguing?

"We need to get it together, Sasuke."

"God—don't you think I know that? This is just a fucking delivery mission, but everything is so, so—"

"Screwed up?" Naruto sighed. He knew the arena they'd stumbled into, one full of complicated emotions and uncomfortable conversations, was outside of Sasuke's wheelhouse. It was always one area he excelled, but Sasuke didn't, and years of solitude as a missing nin probably didn't help.

"Hey—remember way back, some time after the Chunin exams? When Itachi and Kisame snuck into Konoha and they found me in the motel while pervy-sage was gone?"

"That was the first time I saw Itachi since growing up."

"Yeah, that time," Naruto replied. "You really got your ass kicked, ya know."

"What's your point, Naruto?"

"You told me to butt out, remember? I mean, you were pissed that I was there, but you were even more pissed that Itachi wasn't acknowledging you because of it."

"I wanted to fight him. He only cared about you. What is there to talk about?" Sasuke asked, indignation evident.

"But what were you going to do? Your sorry ass couldn't even make a hand sign after he stopped your chidori."

"I was young," Sasuke muttered. "What does this have to do with anything?"

"Yeah, and freakin' angry at everything, all the time. You got so pissed that you made me fight you on the rooftop afterwards. We almost killed each other!" Naruto shouted, smiling. Seeing how things turned out, he could smile about it now. But back then, everyone was afraid for Sasuke.

Naruto took a moment to pause and look over to his friend, who kept a neutral gaze at nothing in particular. "It's kinda, well it's like we're back to where we started, ya know? Except this time, Sakura's me, I'm Kakashi, and you're well…uh, still an arrogant bastard, I guess."

Naruto could see the 12-year old Sasuke in the man before him. Brooding just as much as he ever did before, but one hundred times more lethal now. Funny how time could change certain things but not everything.

"But you know what's different this time?" he asked Sasuke.

He didn't get a response, but Naruto knew his friend was listening.

"You're here because you want to be, Sasuke."

It was just incredible, how Team 7 was back together as adults, like how they were always meant to be. No matter how long it took to get here; fighting on while everyone else, even the rest of Rookie 9, gave up on Sasuke, through all the years of screaming at anyone who spoke ill; making promises to Sakura even though deep down, Naruto never knew if he was right. So now that they were here, Naruto would not change a thing.

"You know what, Sasuke? I'm glad I failed your recovery mission. After dragging your ass back, you would've been stuck in Konoha, resenting me and Kakashi and everyone around you. Then maybe you would've had a mid-life crisis and went off the deep end. At least this way, you've seen the other side and decided this is where you wanted to be."

"Right," Sasuke laughed, his voice dark with anger. "Being here, stuck as someone's delivery boy while Itachi does as he pleases."

"I know this isn't where you thought you'd be… but what if it's where we're supposed to be, Sasuke? What if fate is testing us, and this mission is our chance for a do-over? And if we play our cards right, fight hard enough… somehow things will turn out okay?"

Naruto looked to the ground in thought. He caught a pebble with his foot and began rolling it with the heel of his shoe. He didn't know what that do-over would look like. What was a world where Sasuke never left, but somehow didn't want to pursue Orochimaru either? Would they all have made Chunin together, then Jonin, and still be doing this, completing missions as Team 7? Naruto didn't even know what it meant for everything to turn out 'okay', but that didn't bother him.

"I wasn't going to kill her," Sasuke said, breaking the silence. "I was angry. Out of control. But I would never—"

"I know, Sasuke. You don't have to explain."

They exchanged understanding in the quiet that passed between them, and Naruto could see gratefulness in his friend's eyes. Years ago, those same eyes were cold and black with darkness looming from a hateful and wretched place inside. But now, they were heavy with a tragic kind of wisdom, one he knew few people could understand.

Then a thought occurred to Naruto, something that he'd been wanting to say for a while every time Sasuke accused Sakura of being off in some way. "Sasuke, I have to tell you something," he blurted. "A couple weeks before you got back, Sakura was hurt. Bad."

Sasuke turned to look at him. "What happened?"

"She was taken by Akatsuki, and she was gone for a couple weeks."

"What? Why didn't anybody tell me this?" Sasuke said, his voice rising.

"We thought she would tell you on her own terms. I still want her to tell you on her own terms," Naruto admitted.

"Fuck Naruto," Sasuke spat. "This isn't something you keep from someone like me!" he shouted.

"I know. I'm sorry," Naruto said. "I was under a gag order." He knew he was wrong to tell Sasuke, but he also knew he was wrong not to. Baa-chan might kill him if she found out.

Sasuke sighed. "God damn it."

And right then, Naruto realized Sasuke wasn't mad at him—he was kicking himself for something.

Sasuke spoke again, but softly. "We have to complete this mission. I won't get close to Itachi if we don't. I don't have a choice."

Naruto didn't know what to say, because if Sasuke was ever deluded about his ambitious plans, now was not one of those moments. Sasuke needed Team 7. And Naruto was going to do everything in his power to make sure they succeeded.

So Naruto just said what he always did. "Then we're going to fight like hell to make it happen. Believe it."

Sakura

"I didn't think you'd be up so soon, dear. How are you feeling?"

Sakura gave Mrs. Yasumichi a half-smile as she took the tea and towel. "Actually, I'm feeling a lot better now, thanks to your hospitality." What the woman didn't know was that while Sakura looked fine, she was probably going to be dead tired for the next week, walking around with half a brain like she was some kind of zombie.

Mrs. Yasumichi whistled. "Those healing abilities are really something. The magical world of shinobi will always astound me."

"You know we're shinobi?" Sakura asked, shocked.

The woman guffawed. "You three showed up in the wee hours of the morning drenched in more blood than I think I've ever seen. I'd have to be plain stupid to not put two and two together."

"No—I'm sorry," Sakura backtracked, not wanting to offend her host. "It seems like many in this town are hesitant to—actually, opposed to associating with us."

She didn't want to seem ungrateful, but how in the world was Mrs. Yasumichi okay with housing shinobi? Didn't she know how dangerous that could be? Not just for her personally, but also her daughter and their family business?

"Nonsense," the older woman dismissed. "We're no different. No point drawing lines where there are none."

Sakura sipped her tea, silently pondering how they could be more similar than different. They both shared loss. Mrs. Yasumichi lost her son Kiya. Losing him must've been no different from the feeling Sakura had about losing her parents.

"You know you gave us quite the scare, dear," Mrs. Yasumichi continued, tidying up Ena's room while she talked. "Your boyfriend, especially. He was knocking on our door like a madman, holding you in his arms. He cares a great deal about you, that one."

Sakura decided to let the 'boyfriend' comment slide—the Jinchuriki always treated her with care ever since they were kids. It was actually kind of nice to think about, considering how cruel Itachi had been.

"Has he told you that he loves you yet?"

Okay, nevermind. Too far. "Actually, no. We're not—"

"Oh honey, I wasn't born yesterday. He does. He's absolutely smitten. It's just wonderful," she gushed.

Clearly, the older woman was utterly convinced—and very happy about it. Sakura supposed there wasn't any harm in letting Mrs. Yasumichi have this one.

"He… hasn't told me," she admitted.

"He's handsome too! I think I even caught Ena sneaking a few glances."

Sakura decided 'handsome' could fit the bill, in a platonic kind of way. The Jinchuriki did have the whole blonde-hair-blue-eyes thing going for him, not to mention he was tall and muscular. He was also charismatic, and he'd nailed that charm that made people instantly take a liking towards him.

"Yeah," Sakura agreed. "I guess he is."

"The brooding types always are, aren't they? Handsome as they are mysterious," Mrs. Yasumichi sighed wistfully.

Sakura's tea went down the wrong pipe, sending her into a bout of violent coughing.

The Jinchuriki wasn't the brooding type.

Sasuke was.

To be continued…