Chapter Twenty Six
Reckoning
Kakashi stood frozen in place, his eyes on the form several feet away.
She looked peaceful – there really did not seem to be much outward sign of trauma – no broken bones pushing through the skin or limbs at odd angles. The only things that let him know he had failed was the bright red blood seeping from under the cloth around her head, and the stillness of her chest.
His hands clenched to fists and he ignored the commotion around him even as some of the cars tore out of the lot and after their targets – there would be no mercy shown to Orochimaru now.
Kakashi turned his eyes away, spotting Asuma talking in to the radio, calling in what had happened and requesting an ambulance and air support for tracking Orochimaru. Kakashi was finding it hard to focus, the blood rushing in his ears was almost deafening him.
"That's not her, Kakashi."
The silver-haired man turned his vacant gaze to Genma who was stood next to him.
"What?" He asked, his mind still in shock.
"Look at her. I mean really look."
Kakashi grudgingly turned his gaze back to the crumpled form on the floor and did as Genma said. As he let his brain actually analyse, rather than stare in shock, he saw that his friend was right.
The skin on her bare arms was too tanned, the overall height too tall and the build not petite enough to be the girl he knew. And the bright red he had taken to be blood?
"Hair?" He muttered.
With the hope bubbling up in his chest that Sakura was not the one before him, Kakashi crouched next to the form and carefully pulled the sack from over her head.
The dark red eyes stared upwards blankly, and thin rivulets of blood had escaped from her nose and ears. She was dead, most certainly, but not Sakura and Kakashi couldn't even bring himself to feel guilt for the happiness he felt.
"It's Orochimaru's secretary." He told Genma and his gaze drifted over to Asuma who still had the radio receiver in his hand. "Oi! Tell all pursuing units that the hostage is still with Orochimaru. Use caution!"
Asuma looked over at Kakashi in confusion, but his eyes brightened when he saw that the corpse on the floor was not Sakura. He did as Kakashi asked and called the announcement in to the station.
Kakashi stood up, hearing the distant wail of sirens and looked grimly at Genma. ""Orochimaru is not living to see another sunrise."
Naruto and Sasuke sped through the streets of Konoha, passing dangerously close to traffic as they rushed to get to the meeting point.
Naruto had reached in to the glove compartment and withdrew the portable siren, reaching through the passenger window to slam it on the roof. It had been a long time since they had done something like this and it always made him feel like a gung-ho detective from one of those old TV shows... but there was no joy in it for him today.
Sasuke was like a man possessed as he tore through the streets but Naruto didn't have it in him to complain. The radio was tuned in to receive any updates from dispatch but all had been quiet so far.
They were a couple of streets away when the frequency burst in to life and Asuma's gravelly voice filled the car.
"This is Alpha taskforce requesting air pursuit on suspects fleeing south on Senju Boulevard. Also, we need an ambulance out here stat. Hostage is down. I repeat the hostage has been pushed from a bridge and does not appear to be responsive."
Naruto's eyes widened in horror and he looked at Sasuke just in time to see his friend's hands slip from the steering wheel in shock. Naruto lunged to the side and grabbed the wheel, swerving back in to their lane just in time to avoid a head-on collision.
"I repeat, ambulance required at Hagane Industrial Estate."
Naruto turned off the radio with his free hand, unable to listen to Asuma's calls for help any longer. He then nudged Sasuke's foot off the accelerator and soon the car coasted to a stop. Naruto's eyes were stinging as he sat back in his seat. He looked at Sasuke again but the man's face was oddly blank.
"Sasuke?"
The Uchiha swallowed heavily, his hands coming back up to grip the steering wheel tightly until Naruto could see the veins bulging through his skin.
"He killed her, Naruto." He growled out. "That bastard murdered her. She's gone."
For once, Naruto did not know what to say.
The sound of helicopter blades broke the heavy silence in the car and the pair looked up to see a black KPD chopper scream overhead – they knew where it was heading. "Asuma said South on Senju right?"
Naruto nodded warily. "Yeah. Why?"
Sasuke shifted the idling engine in to gear and slammed his foot down on the accelerator. The tyres squealed in protest as Sasuke jerked the wheel to the right, spinning the car to follow after the helicopter.
"I'm going to kill that bastard with my bare hands."
Orochimaru sat back in his seat, a dark smile on his lips.
"They are following us." Kabuto noted from the front seat.
"As expected." Orochimaru replied. "But no matter. By the time they realise dear Sakura here is not dead and reorganise themselves we will be too far ahead."
"But what about the helicopter?"
Orochimaru smirked insolently at Kabuto's worry. "Call the other drivers. Tell them that at the next intersection we all split up. One bird cannot follow us all and they'll have to rethink their plan. No doubt they'll head to the private airfields."
"Very good, Sir."
Orochimaru glanced over at the girl next to him, her face pale and eyes wide.
"That's the problem with people nowadays my dear." He said lightly. "They are so predictable. They do not have my vision and so will not plan on me not flying out of Konoha." Sakura offered no response and so Orochimaru continued. "We will drive to the coast where one of my fine boats will take us out to sea. Have you ever been on a seaplane? They aren't as comfortable as a jet but if it means I can make my escape far away from the protected airspace of the city then I cannot complain."
Orochimaru's obvious goading was not eliciting a response the woman, and he sighed dramatically. "Not talkative? If there is anything you want to get off your chest I'm afraid it will have to be me you speak to. Once we are flying over open water I'm afraid you'll be going for a little plunge. But look on the bright side – if you are a good enough swimmer, maybe you can stay afloat for the many hours it takes for their search to fan out that far."
"You killed her." Sakura's voice was quiet and disbelieving and Orochimaru raised an eyebrow.
"Pardon?"
"That girl. The one who was in the other car. You made them think it was me and then you killed her."
"It must be a relief to know it wasn't you."
Sakura's eyes filled with angry tears. "You are a monster. How can you speak so casually about ending someone's life? The woman was someone who worked for you, yeah? So who's next? If everyone is so truly disposable to you then which of your 'loyal followers' will be the next to die just to keep you out of prison?"
Orochimaru saw Kabuto exchange an uneasy glance with the henchman in the driver's seat and his patience wore thin. "Enough. I would not be so worried about Karin. You will be sharing her fate soon enough."
Naruto flicked the radio back on as they sped along after the helicopter; they needed to be aware of what was going on.
"This is Kilo-Papa-Delta-One. The four target vehicles have split up. What is your command?"
There was a brief pause before Kakashi's voice answered. "Which way are they heading?"
"Two have taken the exit for East Konoha, the third is heading back in to the city and the fourth has taken the motorway southwest."
"Follow the ones to the east Kilo-Papa. We'll split the ground pursuit up across the others."
"Roger that."
Sasuke glanced at the radio and then at the chopper that pulled away from the path they were on. He would be hitting the intersection in question soon and he had to make a decision.
Naruto was tapping at the sat-nav built in to Sasuke's dash. "Take the motorway."
"What?"
"Look." Naruto jabbed at the screen showing a zoomed out map of the area they were in. "There's no airfields south west of here. It's just straight road to the coast."
Sasuke nodded in understanding. "Then why would he send any of his lackeys out that far just to be caught in the end?"
"That's what I'm wondering. Unless Orochimaru has a different plan up his sleeves."
"A plan that doesn't involve an airport or runway."
"Believe it!" Naruto grinned, confident they were on the right track. "Step on it, Teme."
Kakashi was stood with a map of Konoha spread out on the bonnet of the squad car. The other police cars had created a barrier so they could talk at the busy intersection. They had just pulled up, less than 5 minutes after the chopper had taken off in pursuit of the east-bound cars.
"Yamato." He nodded at a brunette man just off to the side. "You go with Sai and Asuma and try and track down the one that's headed back in to the city."
Yamato nodded and the three men separated across two squad cars.
"Got an idea, Kakashi?" Genma looked over his shoulder at the map, noticing that Kakashi had left a lot of office behind instead of sending them with Yamato.
"Yeah." His finger traced a line southwest from their current point on the map. The landscape was only broken by a green line indicating a major road. "Why travel out there? That part of Konoha is a protected nature reserve, there's no industry or buildings there. There's nothing until you hit the coast."
"Well what's at the coast?" Genma asked, his toothpick being gnawed to dust.
"Nothing, if you know the right place to go." He tapped a small cove of beach on the map, small rock formations littering the water. "How often do you think the coast guard would check around here?"
"Yeah I see your point – it's nice and deserted. But wouldn't he need a plane to get away. A boat wouldn't be practical."
"Not all planes need to take off from land."
Genma's eyes widened. "Son of a –" He whistled at the other officers. "Right! In your teams. Follow me and Hatake!"
Kakashi slid in the driver's seat and fired the engine to life. Genma hopped in and picked up the radio.
"Should I call for back up?"
"Yeah. Also get the coast guard in on things. Their air support can get here quicker than KPD's."
Kakashi led the fleet of vehicles through the streets, leaving Knoha's busy city centre behind and taking to the open expanse of motorway that led to the south.
"Hey Kakashi?" Genma had the radio against his ear, trying to hear every word coming through the speaker over the noise of multiple sirens. "Dispatch are talking to the Coast Guard's heli up ahead. They're reporting two cars heading towards the coast, tailing each other pretty close."
Kakashi frowned. "That can't be right. The other three vehicles are accounted for. Are they sure?"
Genma put the phone back to his ear and relayed the question. "Yeah they're sure. Though they aren't the same makes of car."
"Well what are they?"
"One's been identified as Orochimaru's Merc, the other-" He listened on the phone again. "Is a black Audi."
"Black Audi?" Realisation dawned on Kakashi. And he put his foot down a little harder, the small fleet of cruisers behind him speeding up in turn. "Damn it, Sasuke!"
"So what do you think? What's the plan?"
Sasuke glanced at Naruto as the man spoke and frowned. "I'm going to kill him."
Naruto nodded. "Good plan."
They had followed Orochimaru closely, making no attempt to hide their presence. Sasuke wanted the snake to know that his life was forfeit as soon as he stepped out of the car. They had, as expected, ended up at the south-western tip of Konoha's coast, pulling in to a small cove that was very secluded.
The road ended abruptly a short way from the beach, the scrubby grass that had bordered the neglected road giving way to rough sand littered with shards of rock. Small flurries of sand eddied across the road, kicked up by the brisk winter breeze.
The area was deserted – planning laws were strict for this coastline and there were none of the usual creature comforts to draw the crowds to this particular beach. While the inlet of water was quite large, the gap in the rock where it opened in to the sea narrowed quite dramatically and so people in search of a view of the horizon would often look elsewhere.
If only they had suspected Orochimaru's attempt to flee by water, this would have been a great place to block his boat in. The sleek white vessel was as close to land as possible, and Sasuke could just make out the people already on board awaiting a speedy getaway.
"I can't believe this." Naruto muttered. "After the way today has gone? All we need is a grubby vest, bare feet and bomb and we've got ourselves a movie."
Sasuke ignored him, driving his Audi on to the sand a few seconds after Orochimaru's car.
Sasuke's door was open before the car had fully rolled to a stop, his gun ready in his hands, pointed at Orochimaru's form as he stepped from the back of his car.
Sasuke's finger flexed on the trigger but froze as he saw Orochimaru drag a very familiar figure after him.
"Ah, Sasuke-kun, how nice of you to join us. Sorry but we won't be staying."
Sasuke's eyes were fixed disbelievingly on Sakura's form – he had been so certain he would never see her again. He snapped back to reality however when Orochimaru took a step backwards, towards the waiting boat.
"Do not move." Sasuke hissed, levelling his gun at the man. In the corner of his eye he could see Kabuto had his gun pointed at him but also that Naruto had his pointed at Kabuto. It was taking him every bit of self-restraint that he possessed to keep his eyes on Orochimaru when his entire being was screaming at him to look at Sakura.
Sasuke kept his focus steady, but it appeared that the driver was not armed. Two against two – odds he could live with.
Orochimaru frowned. "Such a bother." He shifted Sakura to the side so that Sasuke could see the could see the barrel of the pistol pressed in to the girl's back.
Sasuke did glance at Sakura's face then, and her frightened, green eyes pierced through him deeply.
"Don't be a fool, Sasuke-kun. Let me get on that boat and disappear and Sakura here will remain unharmed." He took another step backwards and Sasuke stiffened, raising his gun higher.
"If however," Orochimaru continued. "You attempt to stop me, I will blow a hole straight through her back."
"And then I would kill you." Sasuke hissed.
"I'll take my chances." Orochimaru grinned. He began moving backwards, Sakura digging her feet in and trying to find purchase on the shifting sand.
"Come now dear," Orochimaru's voice betrayed his irritation, lowered so only Sakura could hear. "You wouldn't want me to shoot would you?"
"You're going to kill me anyway." Sakura spat.
"True. But Sasuke-kun doesn't know that. I also think Kabuto might be able to take down that blonde friend of his. Sasuke wears angst so well after all."
Sakura glared towards the man, a hate like no other filling her being. She found herself being pulled backwards, and as she struggled with trying to pull free while also remaining on her feet, something sharp slid across the back of her ankle and split the skin. She hissed at the stinging sensation as her mind went in to overdrive and she realised it was a rock that had cut her.
She was sick of being the one in trouble – she knew how to care for herself, prided herself on being independent, and she wasn't about to forget that now.
The next time a sharp pull jarred through her arm, Sakura let herself slip on the sand, landing with her hands behind her, burying down frantically in to the grains.
Orochimaru gritted his teeth as the girl fell, shifting his gun so it pointed down at her as he started to pull her up.
Sasuke's eyes were following the pair like a hawk but even he almost missed it as Sakura's right hand came up from the ground, a jagged piece of shale clutched in her hand. She struck out in her captor's direction, and drove the rock in to Orochimaru's upper leg, narrowly missing his groin.
The man yelled in pain, the gun dropping from his hands as he instinctively reached to yank the shard out of his thigh.
Sakura heard the heavy thump of the metal on the sand and scrambled to find the gun. Orochimaru recovered quickly however and, just as her fingers grasped the smooth metal, Orochimaru's hands, sticky with his warm blood, closed over her own.
Sakura scrambled to her feet as Orochimaru yanked at the gun, desperate not to lose her grip on the weapon. The man was much taller than her and it was a struggle not to slip again as she tried to keep up with his movements.
Sasuke saw his chance with the gun no longer pressed against Sakura. He couldn't risk shooting while the pair were fighting so closely over the weapon but his feet carried him forward without thought.
"Don't move." Kabuto yelled raising his gun more steadily towards Sasuke. In turn Naruto flexed his finger on the trigger, warning Kabuto that he wouldn't have an ice cube's chance in hell of surviving such a move.
The bespectacled man looked nervous, eyes simultaneous trying to keep an eye on his boss and keeping both Naruto and Sasuke in his sights.
Orochimaru gave a harsh pull on the gun and Sakura tightened her grip instinctively, her fingers squeezing the trigger a fraction too much, and a deafening shot split the air.
The noise seemed to be too much for Kabuto and he fired at Sasuke a split second before Naruto's own bullet imbedded itself deep in to his right shoulder. The gun dropped from the man's hand as the muscles in his arm screamed in protest.
Kabuto's bullet grazed along Sasuke's side, but the man did not slow down in the slightest. He was across the sand and had his gun raised between the Orochimaru's eyes within seconds.
Orochimaru paused, his struggle for the gun forgotten as his eyes flitted between the barrel of the pistol and the cold, black eyes of the Uchiha.
"Drop it." Sasuke hissed.
Orochimaru glared but once he saw that Kabuto was down and currently being secured by Naruto he let his fingers open from around Sakura's.
Sasuke reached out and took Sakura by the arm, pulling the girl behind him gently. The boat in the harbour had fired up its engines and having apparently seen the that their meal ticket had been caught, and headed for the opening of the cove.
Just as they reached the cusp of the open water, several costal guard vessels pulled across the opening. There was general confusion and panic as the crew found themselves trapped. At the same time the scream of police sirens filled the air as half a dozen police cars and a couple of ambulances arrived from the road.
Orochimaru closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Well it would appear you got me in the end, Sasuke-kun. I can see in your eyes that you desire to pull that trigger. Go ahead, Sasuke-kun – finish me off."
"Sasuke."
It was Kakashi, stood a short distance behind him now. His voice held a warning that Sasuke understood all too well – do not lose control.
"Do it." Orochimaru hissed. "I would have killed her you know, and I would have enjoyed it."
Sasuke squeezed the trigger and Orochimaru smirked momentarily before frowning as Sasuke dropped his hand.
"You do not have the courage to do what you so desperately wish?" Orochimaru mocked.
Sasuke glared at the man and stepped backwards, slipping an arm around Sakura and holding her tightly. "I don't deny that I would love to blow your head clean off your shoulders." Sasuke said flatly. "But there are people out there that deserve answers and I will take great pleasure in seeing you rot away in jail."
Sasuke turned himself and Sakura away as two officers came forward stepped forward to cuff the scowling man.
Focusing then on Sakura, Sasuke could feel the tremors beginning in her body as the adrenaline of the previous moments began to wear off. "Here," he murmured and he reached down and took the gun that Sakura still held in her hand.
Kakashi moved to meet them, smiling warmly at the pair in front of him, his grin widening as Naruto also meandered over. "Well you practically threw the rule book out of the window but if you had not been here then Orochimaru would have gotten away from us. I think you did the right thing."
"I don't understand," Sasuke frowned as he handed Orochimaru's gun over to Kakashi. "I heard on the radio that Sakura had been killed?"
Kakashi shook his head. "Had you continued to listen you would have heard that it was a decoy." He looked over the three of them. "Well it looks like Naruto is the only one that doesn't need a bit of patching up."
Naruto grinned and brushed a speck of imaginary dust from his shoulder. "What can I say? Pure skill."
Kakashi sighed. "You two go see the paramedics while Naruto and I deal with our little friend over there. He's beginning to look a little pale." He nodded his head to Kabuto who was indeed looking worse for wear. The team from one of the ambulances were already making their way over to the prone man, so Sasuke led him and Sakura towards the other medics.
Once they were both sat across from each other in the back of the ambulance, Sasuke studied Sakura's face carefully. "You're okay?"
She nodded. "Yes. And you?"
"I'm fine, just a graze." He ignored the sting as the paramedic working on him dabbed at his wounded skin, instead watching intently as the other medic cleaned up the gash on Sakura's leg.
Sakura's lips pulled downwards and her eyes started to well up. Sasuke thought for a moment that it was because she was in pain, but then Sakura whispered out a single word. "Itachi?"
Sasuke's expression softened, seeing how distraught she was. "He's fine, don't worry. Recovering well and complaining about being confined to a bed."
Sakura gave a half-hearted smile but the tears spilled down her cheeks. "What a nightmare."
Sasuke stood, ignoring the disapproving noise from the man trying to bandage his side, and moved to sit next to Sakura. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her against him. "It's over now. We're all safe."
He rubbed his hands up and down her spine soothingly and allowed her to soak his shirt with her tears. He could take a guess at how scared she had been since she was taken from the park, and he did not blame her for falling apart now that it was all over.
Sasuke watched the paramedic finish taping the cut closed on Sakura's leg, but he could tell it would need stitches too. The medic covered it with a sterile bandage and then hopped out of the ambulance, giving the couple some privacy. Sasuke threaded the fingers of his left hand through Sakura's hair, playing with the soft tresses. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Sakura nodded against his chest. "Yes. Orochimaru was surprisingly civil... well apart from the plan to drop me out of the plane after he'd made his getaway."
"He's got a plane waiting for him?"
"Yeah. The boat was going to take him to it."
Sasuke looked over Sakura's shoulder and saw Naruto loitering near the adjacent ambulance as Kabuto was loaded on to it. He waved his partner over, and relayed what Sakura had told him. The blonde man nodded and went in search of Kakashi - perhaps they would end up with a few more arrests by the time the day way out.
"Can we get out of here? I have no real idea where we are but I know that I don't want to be here." Sakura groaned and Sasuke smirked.
"Sure. That leg of yours is going to need stitches, and then we'll need to do statements. After that we can go home."
"Oh joy." Sakura stiffened slightly as her mind caught up with everything that had happened. "Metsuki! Is he okay?"
"He's fine." Sasuke assured her, stroking her hair. "From what witnesses say, he chased after the bike before returning and staying with Itachi. He's safe at Ino's who, by the way, is blocking the KPD switchboards with calls for updates."
Sakura straightened, wiping the remaining wetness from her face. "Good. I just want to be home." Sakura grasped Sasuke's hand tightly. "With you."
"Hm?"
"If you ask me to move in with you again, I'll say 'yes' this time."
Sasuke stared at her, that odd-but-not-bad feeling building in his chest again. "Not too soon then?"
"No." Sakura huffed out a tired laugh. "I will admit that on this occasion, I was wrong. Life is too short to care about whether it is too soon or not. I don't want to be without you any more than I have to - so it's the definitely the right time."
With the hand not entwined with Sakura's own, Sasuke reached up and cradled her cheek. "Sakura, will you move in with me? Please?"
"Yes." Sakura gave him a brilliant smile then, the trauma of recent events momentarily pushed aside. "I will."