Detours
Later Last Night
She emerged from the bathroom, wiping her hands down her front. Kakashi, hearing the door open, set the remote down and slowly turned towards her.
"Hey," He said, grabbing the phone. "You feel better?" She ran her fingers through her cherry blossom tresses, then continued to put her hair up into a ponytail. When she was done, she placed a hand on her head and went to sit on the bed. Their sleeping area was raised on a platform and consisted of a bed, a nightstand, a closet, and a bathroom. It was divided from the rest of their room by a half-wall and stairs. These led down to the small kitchen with a round table and four chairs around it. Farthest from her was the living room where Kakashi was seated. There was a coffee table, a television, two armchairs, and a small couch. Kakashi cleared his throat.
"Yeah…" She furrowed her eyebrows; her vision dazed. Kakashi raised his as she shook her head. "Yeah, I'm just never going to a bar with you again." He laughed softly.
"You've got that right. It's gotten dangerous, especially since you got poisoned." Her eyes widened.
"By you, you bastard!" Her eyes squinted as a shock of pain overtook her temples. With a hand squeezing her forehead, a rush of medical chakra surged through her veins. She continued. "You spiked my drink!" She whispered harshly. He furrowed his eyebrows and turned back around.
"Only because you spit in mine—"
"I spit in yours because you spiked mine!" He sighed.
"Like I told you: Dangerous." She rolled her eyes.
"Like I told you: I'm never going to another bar with you again." It was his turn to roll his eyes.
"Anyway, you want something to eat or drink?" He lifted the phone in his hand and she frowned.
"Drink? I don't think I can trust anymore drinks, especially with you around." He sighed.
"Come on, it was all in good fun. It's a part of life. And besides, if I were to tell you how many of Guy's drinks I've spiked, you'd probably feel the urge to arrest me. He practically lives on the stuff now…" Her eyebrows rose.
"And you feel that I should end up like Guy because…?" Kakashi rolled his eyes. "I just threw up for 30 minutes straight—"
"It was on and off…" He muttered.
"—I had to use my medical ninjutsu to try to flush out whatever poison you put in my drink, and even then I was still gagging." He pursed his lips.
"And I thought you were one of the best medics across the 5 Great Ninja Villages. Pfft." He said tauntingly. She sighed.
"Just get me some grape juice. Maybe even some anko dumplings if they have it." Kakashi nodded. Remembering the phone in his hand, he dialed the few numbers for room service.
"Hello? Yeah, uh…grape juice, oh and a few bottles of beer."
"Kakashi, you're still partially drunk. No beer." She said, placing her hands on her hips.
"Of beer? Just one pack will suffice." She rolled her eyes. "Do you have any anko dumplings? You do?" He put a hand over the receiver. "Do you want any toppings?" She put a hand on the top of her head.
"God no, it'll make me gag again." He nodded.
"No, no toppings…Room 26A. Thanks." He hung up the phone and threw it on the seat beside him.
"So what do you want to do? Naruto and Sasuke are still at the bar, but that's to be expected. It sets us back though, because we can't do any mission planning." Sasuke and Naruto spent their every waking minute at a night club, rather, anywhere that featured scantily dressed women and poles. That could be due to the fact that time has been kind to Naruto. Over the years, as he's grown boyishly handsome, his innocence had to leave to make room for his ego. He was no Genma, thank Kami, but he was turning into a barbaric, sexist pig. In other words, a man. Of course, when Sasuke came back and they became reacquainted, he didn't like the fact that his face was no longer the center of attention for these girls. It was Naruto's. So now, anywhere that boasted drinking and sometimes 'XXX', it was sure to be their getaway.
She smiled. This thought reassured her that Sasuke was indeed straight. Therefore, she wouldn't be the last girl he was with, making it her fault if he did turn gay. That, that had to be one of her worst fears.
Kakashi caught her smiling to herself and cleared his throat, raising the book in his hand. "Well, uh… I was just going to read, but if you had something better in mind…" She pursed her lips, staring at the stop sign and the warning on the cover of his book.
"If I may ask, and this may seem like Déjà-vu, what is so addicting about those books?" He rolled his eyes.
"You have to know it's not just smut; there's a catching plot mixed in with very thought out characters that any man can relate to." She narrowed her eyes at his quick and elaborate response. Raising her eyebrows, she leaned forward. "It's not just sex, but it is good sex. And it's for mature readers. If you ever took the time to read it, and stop judging this book by its cover, you'd know. And wish you were the main character's counterpart." He winked at her. She put a finger in her mouth and pretended to gag. "That's why it's for mature readers." Gasping, she folded her arms underneath her chest.
"I am mature!" She huffed. He threw her a pointed look. Sighing, she rose and walked over to the couch he was occupying. "Remember when you guys came over? I watched that whole movie myself. And I do admit; there was a catching plot. A damn good one. But there was either sex or suggestive themes in almost every scene that included a woman!" His eyes narrowed; a glint in them as he stood to match her gaze.
"That's bull." Her head jerked back.
"Oh really?"
"Just admit that you couldn't take it and I'll back off." She frowned.
"I can't admit that because it's not true." He rolled his eyes.
"Yeah right. You could barely stand the cut version. Why don't you watch the uncut version, and we'll see how mature you really are." Her eyes widened.
"That was the cut version?" She said, her voice high-pitched. Kakashi mouthed the words 'mature readers', which made her clear her throat. "You're on." She said as determination shone on her stern face. Kakashi chuckled lightly to himself.
"Loose morals, check. You know, we really have to stop getting you poisoned." He muttered as she glared at him.
"Just know this, Hatake," She said, poking a finger on his chest. "When this movie is over, you need to find yourself a couch to sleep on." His eyebrows furrowed as he heard a knock on the door and room service announce themselves.
"And why is that?" She turned on her heel, walking back over to the bed and dropped on her back.
"Because. You can't find a balance between drinks and sex. You become an animal after watching movies like that, and I refuse to be your unconscious blow-up doll… again."
Now
She bucked under him as he bit her navel. Her hands fisted in his hair as her head ground against her pillow. He returned to her lips and made hasted kisses around them. She turned her head to give him access to her neck; he took the offer willingly. He felt the vibration of her moan through her throat.
"Kaka—" He froze, eyes widening.
"Shit." It was this realization that had him thrown off of her and crashing into the wall of their room.
"Oh my God." Sakura shot up; her hands clapped over her mouth. "Oh my God." Kakashi used his hand to help him sit up as he let his head fall against the wall. Meanwhile, Sakura smoothed a hand down her hair as she sat on her knees. "Did we…" She started, leaning forward. Kakashi furrowed his eyebrows. "Kami. Kami, Kami, Kami." She moved quickly off of the bed and into the bathroom. Inspecting her neck in the mirror, she saw a series of bluish-purple marks. They continued down her chest and stomach, ending at her navel. Her eyes widened. "Oh my God!" She yelled, standing in the bathroom doorway. "What did we do?" Kakashi sighed and then grunted, raising himself up from the wall. Sakura took this as some sort of confirmation; her eyes widening. He rolled his eyes and chuckled. She was overreacting as usual.
"What if—What if you didn't use a condom?" His eyebrows rose as he started towards her. "What if you got me pregnant? I don't want you to be the father! I don't even want to be pregnant. Oh God. My baby's hair will be gray—"
"Silver," He corrected. She ignored him.
"—and kids will make fun of them, and I'll have to beat up their parents, but then no one will like me, then I won't have any friends in my old age, and all I'll have is you in your older age, and then I'll have to kill you because you'll read the books in front of my children, and then my children won't have a father—" He reached her, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"Sakura, breathe." She inhaled sharply. "We did not have sex. Trust me, none of that will have to happen." Exhaling, she tried to make sense of the situation.
"…So…we didn't, have sex…correct?" He nodded. Her previously opened mouth turned into a scowl, her head cocked to the side. He took a step back, but it was too late. She lunged for him and they both fell to the floor, her hands at his throat as she moved closer to his face. Her lips were pursed now and her eyes had intent to kill.
"Look, Sakura—" He pleaded, apology on his lips before she cut off his air supply. This caused her momentum to fall as she sighed, her shoulders dropping.
"What the hell, Kakashi." She removed her hands from his throat. "I'm tired of ending up in these compromising situations." She crossed her arms under her chest. He rolled his eye.
"You're not the only one—"
"Then how does this keep happening? If I'm not mistaken, even in my barely conscious state, I could tell we weren't that far from you ripping my panties off." She said, throwing a pointed look his way.
"You act like I was conscious. Besides, you're the one who said my name…" He muttered under his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing." She huffed a sigh, letting her arms drop. He narrowed his eyes, following to where her arms previously rested a few seconds ago. He noticed a large, discolored burn peeking out from under the lace of her bra. Her eyes caught his gaze and the burn disappeared.
"What are you looking at?" She questioned accusingly, rising from atop him and heading towards their sleeping area to find her robe.
"You never healed it?" She found her pack and started rummaging through it.
"Healed what?" He rose and moved closer.
"That burn, from when Sasuke—" Her head whipped around as she tightened her robe in place.
"Come on, we have to hurry. I still have to input your other contact and alter your face." She nodded at his half-nakedness. "If you don't want Naruto going crazy over unmasked identity, I suggest we do this before they wake up." He frowned. She side-stepped his question, and found something to occupy their time so it wouldn't pop up again.
Clever. But why would she be hiding the burn? He definitely didn't want their conversation to lead to more problems. He definitely didn't want her dwelling on this.
"So…your navel, huh?" A pillow was thrown aimed for his head.
"Shut-up!"
It wasn't the best way to get her out of her thoughts, but it was the fastest. Besides, it couldn't be his fault that he was the first person to find her g-spot.
…Or maybe it was wrong of him to look for it.
"Kami, this hurts." He said through gritted teeth.
"I'm almost done. Besides, this hurts me too." He opened his Sharingan eye.
"You're twisting my bones around, and you're hurting?" He squeezed his eyes shut and Sakura grunted as his last bone shifted into place. She removed the hand from her face and from underneath his cheek.
"I have to copy my bone structure, facial genetics, and the muscles from my face. I have to literally tear them, and then copy them using my chakra. After that's done, I can transfer the genetic material from my body to yours, then I can heal myself. Do you understand why it hurts us both?" He smiled, and nodded.
"So, since I understood nothing of the medical jargon you just spouted at me, I'm going to ignore your question." It hurt to do so, but a frown appeared on her face. "Anyway, could you like, numb my face or something? I'm not one to complain about pain, but this hurts like a bitch." And that was true. If Sakura had cut his face open with a kunai, that would've been a different story. He could've toughed it out until she healed him. But she wasn't cutting his face open, she was moving bones. There was nothing to heal.
"I don't think you know how much chakra this took out of me, Kakashi." He sighed. "By the way, my face is kind of burning right now. My muscles are still torn, and I have to repair them. Whatever chakra I have left, I'll use it on you. But for now, just put something cold on it." He sighed and stood, but stopped as her face started to glow.
"Okay, so…that's getting really creepy." She rolled her eyes.
"And stop opening your good eye. I didn't have a chance to seal it last night due to…other circumstances." He winked at her; she threw a coaster. "And since those aren't regular contacts, using them before their sealed will render them useless." She stood, walking to her open pack and grabbed a shirt.
"What, so you want me to walk around with my Sharingan open?" He asked, his voice laced with sarcasm. She untied her robe and let it fall to the floor as she pulled her shirt over her head.
"No. Hell no. It creeps me out when you do that." He narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"Itachi—"
"Kami, why does everyone always bring him up around me? He's not an excuse!" She exclaimed as Kakashi snickered.
"Because everyone knows you had sexual fantasies about him." He taunted. She pouted as she pulled on her shorts.
"I was like, 16—"
"You were 19, he was dead, and you were dating his little brother."
"Scary, isn't it? Sometimes I feared losing her because of that." Sasuke said; two white bags in his hands. Naruto closed the door behind him. "She was borderline obsessive."
"Eavesdropper much?" He shrugged his shoulders and sat at the table.
"This may be a deluxe ferry, but that doesn't mean the money went into the rooms' infrastructure. You can hear a lot when your next-door neighbor is yelling, and especially through paper-thin walls." She stuck her tongue out at him, putting her hands on her hips.
"Anyway, I wasn't 'borderline obsessive'" She said using quotes. "And you didn't lose me to your dead brother; you lost me to your piggish ways." He frowned. "And on top of that, you dumped me!"
"Now, now. Let's not be hostile." She frowned. "And if I remember, you dumped me." She rolled her eyes.
"Takes a real man to admit that, bastard. Kudos." Naruto added from his spot on the couch. Sasuke raised a fist in agreement. Sakura, ignoring them both, turned to Kakashi who was currently resting face down on the bed.
"That's not how I remember it. Right, Kakashi?" She said through forced tones, daring him to say otherwise. He took the bait.
"In all actuality, I've heard every version. In the end, nobody broke up with anybody." Sakura glared in his direction. "Now if you please…talking really hurts right now—"
"Ha," Sasuke said, enjoying the fact that she was wrong.
"Well then, Sasuke-kun," She said walking over behind his seat. She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Consider yourself dumped." A hiss was heard from Naruto.
"Ouch. Sorry man." Naruto said. Sakura patted him on the back.
"Stay strong," Kakashi offered, his voice muffled by the pillow. Sasuke put a hand on his heart.
"This broken heart will heal," He said, feigned sadness. "Although, this new wound hurts like a bitch." Sakura sighed at the ignorance of her teammates.
"Don't worry, Teme. It's a part of life. You would've had to experience it sometime—"
"Have you ever even had a girlfriend, Naruto?" He threw her a pointed look.
"Woman, you wouldn't believe." She rolled her eyes. "And why are you always bagging on me?" Sakura sighed, taking a seat on the bed beside him. This caused the mattress to roll, and Kakashi along with it. He was promptly pushed off of the bed when his nose touched her behind. Despite him, she continued.
"Because, Naruto. I've never actually seen you with the same girl for more than four days." His eyes widened in shock. She rolled her eyes, fearing a rant.
"I can't believe this—you don't think I can stay in a relationship long enough to be dumped?" She wasn't disappointed. Looking to the ceiling, she thought about how, first of all, no girl would ever dump Naruto. He just doesn't have that 'jerk' personality to be, and it's not like he's unattractive. Either way, her comment would turn his feigned reaction real, so it's better to start now rather than later.
"No, it's not that. It's just—"
"That." Sasuke chimed in. "It's just that." Sakura shot him a glare as Naruto's eyebrows furrowed in frustration.
"Well, Bastard, I'll have you know that I've been in a lot of stable—"
"Steady," Kakashi corrected, propping his elbows up on the bed from his position on the floor.
"—Steady relationships." Sasuke scoffed.
"Name one." Sakura slapped a hand on her forehead, knowing how this would end: Naruto yelling at the top of his lungs until he's proven his point. If Sasuke had just kept his mouth shut…if she just didn't mention the word 'girlfriend' around Naruto. Speaking of which, said womanizer had a finger on his chin in thought. It was raised a few seconds later.
"Aha! Hinata." Naruto exclaimed triumphantly with his arms crossed over his chest. Sasuke wagged a finger at him. "What? We were together for 11 months!" They frowned.
"It was 5 and-a-half months, and you both found that a relationship isn't what you wanted…only after a few altercations between you and Kiba because of rumors turned true. That can't exactly be called 'steady'." Sasuke finished, remembering the talk going around about Hinata and Kiba while she was with Naruto. The talk that Naruto refused to believe. No, that relationship was definitely not for them.
"It's not like it's my fault. I tried…" Naruto said with a frown. It wasn't like he didn't hear the rumors; it went around every store, building, and street. But there was a difference between hearing and listening. After all those years of her bordering on a stalker, Naruto wasn't what she wanted anymore.
"Well, I know you don't want to hear it, but Hinata was the only girl that you had a chance of being in a steady relationship in…even marrying. You two were meant to be." Naruto's face contorted, then his expression turned to anger as he pointed an accusing finger back and forth between her and Sasuke.
"You and him were only together for 5 months, too!" He blurted out. She pursed her lips. He was grabbing for straws. She sighed, closing her eyes as her hand went to rest on her forehead.
"It was two years, Naruto."
"Then why didn't you marry him?" Her eyes shot open, her mouth ready to protest. Without words to say, she closed it.
"Fine." He let out a 'Hn'. "But that still doesn't explain why you've never had a steady woman by your side. You're a handsome boy, Uzumaki. There's no reason why you should still be club-hopping. You're 22, and you're not getting any younger." Naruto sighed. He hated these lectures.
"I'm fine the way I am, Haruno." He grumbled.
"Besides, you can't have a girlfriend if you're always messing with women." Sasuke turned at this.
"Speaking of women, he met someone at the club last night." He narrowed his eyes. "He thinks he's in love." He whispered behind his hand. She laid back on the bed, falling on Kakashi.
"Ouch—" She roughly pushed him over. "Hey, would you stop that?" He exclaimed. Ignoring him, she laid on her back. "Naruto, who is she?" He sighed, rolling his eyes in pleasure.
"A goddess!" She closed her eyes.
"How many times have we heard that before?" He frowned.
"It's for real."
"How many times have we heard that before?" Sighing he ran a hand through his hair.
"Sakura, can we be serious, please?" Sasuke looked up, noticing the tone of his voice. His attention turned to Sakura. She pursed her lips and sighed, raising herself from the bed and walking over to take a seat beside Naruto.
"Finally, she's gone." Kakashi muttered.
"Shut-up," She retorted. Placing a hand on his knee, she moved closer. "Who is she, Naruto?" He smiled.
"Like I said: a goddess. She's a dancer, with striking black hair. It's really long—" He looked behind her. "—But it doesn't reach her lower back like yours does. Some...5 inches before it." She examined a strand of her hair falling over her shoulder.
"So…black hair." His eyes brightened again.
"And she had light blue eyes, and they were really big. She was short, but taller than you. Says a lot about your height." He said behind his hand. She smacked it away. "Anyway, I was already caught by her face, and then I found out that she wasn't a stripper. So, I borrowed some money from Kakashi and bought a private show." Kakashi shot up at this.
"I didn't lend you any money…" Kakashi stated.
"Eavesdropper, this is a private conversation." Naruto added as he frowned.
"Well, you weren't exactly whispering, dickhead." Sasuke said.
"I also heard 'Kakashi' and 'money' in the same sentence. And since I didn't lend you any money, you stole it." His eyes narrowed. "So, Naruto, how much did she cost?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders.
"Just 50,000 yen—"
"50—50,000 yen?" Kakashi stuttered. He didn't even have that much money in his pockets last night, meaning Naruto went through his stuff and pick pocketed him. Luckily, he coerced Sakura into buying their drinks. Especially since he was only carrying 5,000 yen.
"But I liked her a lot, so I went and bought her a necklace. That was only about 20,000, so—" Kakashi raised his arms and dropped them exasperatedly at his sides.
"That better had been the best fucking sex you've ever had for you to have spent 70,000 of my money." He exclaimed. Naruto pursed his lips at this.
"The thing about it is…we didn't have sex. I didn't ask, and she didn't either. Mostly because she didn't offer sex, but that's beside the point." He waved a hand. "She's the full package. She wasn't a dancer who slept around, she didn't strip publicly, and she didn't even recognize me when I told her my name!" Kakashi ran a hand down his face.
"You didn't have sex? What the hell, Naruto. 70,000 on a damned conversation." Kakashi scoffed. Ignoring him, he went on.
"Not just a conversation, it was a private show." Sakura furrowed her eyebrows.
"Well, that's still a bit much for a private show. You must really like her, Naruto." Her attention turned toward Kakashi searching his stuff. "Get over yourself, Kakashi. It's not the first time Naruto stole from you. What's your deal?" He turned around, his face slightly swollen and his cheeks red from the pain.
"Well, I remember packing 100,000 yen. Naruto asked for 30,000 back in Otafuku Gai for Kami knows what. Between then and Naruto's newfound expenditures, we're flat broke." She rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry. Naruto's an idiot and all, but I brought about 50,000. Now I took 10,000 last night for the bar, but the rest should cover standard transportation from the port to the hotel. I think the Daimyo will take care of the rest for us, but we'll have to be careful on the food." Sasuke hissed. "What now?" He turned in his chair.
"Well, I borrowed 40,000 last night from your pack." She slapped a hand on her forehead.
"What is up with you bastards and stealing?" She exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at the both of them. He threw his hands up in defense.
"I like dancers, too!" He looked to Kakashi. "And if she's fine, I have to tip her." He reasoned. Kakashi smirked.
"Hm, you know it." He replied, nodding.
"What is wrong with you two?" Kakashi raised a finger.
"For starters, he didn't take my money."He said, directing the finger at himself.
"I just thought that Kakashi was the one who carried the money on missions, so…"
"So, we're walking to Yugakure." She sighed, rubbing her hands on her face. "Did you at least catch her name, Naruto?" She stood, figuring a nap would do good to ease her headache.
"Yeah. Miyazaki, Mei." It took every single ounce of her will power not to turn on her heel and kill him right then. Her will power was never that strong anyway, so when she felt her body moving of its own accord, she let it.
"Baka!" She shouted at him, his collar in her hands, as she smacked him repeatedly upside the head. "Baka, Baka, Baka! That's one of the targets, Naruto!" Sasuke's eyes widened.
"What is she doing here?" He asked.
"I don't know, but I do know Naruto's been all over her!" He pouted.
"I haven't been all over her..." Kakashi sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"Damn it. I knew I should've debriefed in Otafuku Gai." She dropped him on the couch and then plopped back down into her seat. With a weary sigh, she laid a hand on her forehead.
"This is too much. But it's not your fault, Naruto. We know you never pay attention during mission detailing with Shishou, so we should've gave you some type of information earlier." Kakashi nodded in reply.
"We'll just have to take care of hair colors and such later." She smiled a bit, scratching her brow.
"It's a minor setback. She just can't find out who we are, or the mission will be a bust before it even starts." Naruto rubbed his neck.
"You did his face, right?" He gestured to Kakashi, looking around Sakura at him. His eyes widened. "Whoa! You're gorgeous!" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this. "You're face is a little on the chubby side, but that's to be expected. You got Sakura's genetics, after all." He flinched as she raised her hand sharply, threatening to slap him.
"Takes a real man to go beyond the boundaries of his sexuality." Sasuke added, pointing at him. Naruto smirked and raised a flexing bicep.
"Would both of you stop it?" She gave up trying to stop the headache from arriving long ago. Having next to no chakra to soothe her throbbing temples, she moved for the bed and lay down in it, ignoring Kakashi's presence. "You guys can leave now. I have a really big headache, and I'm sure if you two stay any longer it'll worsen." Naruto took the hint and stood. Sasuke grabbed the white bags he came in with and placed them on the nightstand beside her before heading to the door.
"You brought me dumplings, Sasuke?" He shrugged his shoulders.
"Some lady gave it to me for free. I guess she liked my face." He finished with a smirk. She grabbed the bags and brought them in the covers beside her. She then raised them to her shoulders.
"It doesn't matter either way. It's food and I'm starving. Oh, and Naruto?" He twisted the doorknob of their room and pulled.
"Yes, Sakura-chan?" He said, opening it for Sasuke to walk out.
"Next time you want to steal money from Kakashi, at least leave a little bit." He waved in response.
"Or, you know, don't do it at all." Kakashi called as the door shut. He then turned, staring at her from his seat on the floor. "You know…there's going to be a breakfast gathering in about two hours for the important guests. Tsunade-sama bought our tickets under the name Tan, so we were invited." He heard the rustling of the bags under the covers and the tell-tale sound of her munching.
"So?"
"So, if you want to make that money up, you have to work for it." She threw a pillow behind her, aimed for his head.
"Piggish bastard."
"Let's hurry up and get this over with." Sakura locked the door behind them as Kakashi activated a sound barrier jutsu.
It wasn't as easy as it sounded to work for money. Especially if your name is Haruka Tan, Prostitute-turned-Exotic Dancer.
She couldn't believe the number of men who were horny at breakfast by just the mention of her name. No more than halfway into it, she had about 7 different requests for private shows. It was good money though, so of course she couldn't turn it down. Dirty money was better than no money when you were flat broke.
She got a good hour of rest before Kakashi woke her to get dressed, and the headache pulsing behind her ears still threatened to split her head in two. Not to mention the fatigue that was constantly eating away at her. She was pushing it by using a henge, especially with her nonexistent chakra. But she didn't have time to dye her hair and roots beforehand, and she swore every step she took felt like her last. But they had a lot left to do, and the day is just getting started.
Being a famed dancer in the area, all of the men at the breakfast already assumed that her price was high. So before asking 'how much?' one of the men slapped 500,000 yen into her hand before she was roughly jerked into his lap. But no, that wasn't the highest bidder. She gave 12 dances that morning, so right now; she could buy her own house back home. And houses cost a good amount of money. The four of them could buy a carriage ride with police escorts and the Daimyo himself if they wanted to. But since they already have an appointment with the Daimyo, that wouldn't be necessary.
She felt her hands start to shake and quickly sat herself in one of the salon chairs. If she wasn't cleaned out after having to alter Kakashi's face and seal a new pair of contacts (because God knows that man doesn't listen), then the back to back dances and not even grabbing a bite to eat at the breakfast must've done it for her. All she's had in her system was the few dumplings she could get down before sleep overtook her. Being a medic, she knew that after being poisoned, forgoing food and water was not a good idea. Again, on top of no chakra. With her state right now and with her being a medic, she was basically a walking contradiction. Okay, so she didn't take care of herself in the best of ways since last night. And maybe it was stupid of her to change her natural hair pigment to black and then set up a cerulean hair henge. She had a mission, and one of her targets was currently on board. Fucking up was not an option, and neither was being drained.
"Sakura, you can't keep draining your chakra like this." Ah. Either he caught her shaking, which she was sure was visible right now, or he read her mind. With all of the amazing feats Kakashi has to boot, she wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter. She laid back in the chair, trying to get a few minutes of sleep before having to do Naruto's hair. "You just genetically altered my face for about four hours. A regular surgery takes only two, and you're usually gone after those as well! On top of that, you had to take out an implanted contact, put in two more, and seal them. Convinced?" She waved off Kakashi's lecture, using the other hand to massage her neck. She's a medic. She knows how badly she's taking care of herself right now. The last thing she needs is Kakashi to remind her.
"We had things to do, Kakashi. In a small amount of time. We have an even smaller amount of time now that we know that Mei's here and she knows who Naruto is. If she finds him again, which she shouldn't happen," Her eyes shot open as she threw him a look across the room. "They'll make a connection, and even with the different hair color and facial features, she'll recognize him. That's why Naruto can't be the one who has an affair with Mei anymore." Naruto's eyes widened as she then turned and glared at Kakashi. "If you would listen, I wouldn't have to go through the process of taking that one out, and implanting the other pair." He shrugged his shoulders, placing his hands atop her chair.
"Well, at least you thought ahead." He said in relief. She growled.
"Because I knew you wouldn't listen!" She then sighed. She didn't have the momentum, nor the will power for anger. She rubbed a hand across her forehead. "Naruto, you have a longer-lasting chakra span, so in those time periods, you're going to need to conceal those whiskers of yours." He gasped, clapping his hands over his cheeks.
"My whiskers? I can't—these are my babies!" Leave it to Naruto to become attached to a facial feature.
"Your babies are a memorable trait." She stated, reiterating his unwillingness to hide them. "But without them, you're just another plain business man. Sasuke," He looked up at her from behind a manila folder. "Lose the blue hair. And maybe…" She started, her imagination going crazy. "Maybe you could use your Mangekyo to make everyone around you think you have a different eye color—"
"Yeah," He started, nipping her creativity in the bud. "It doesn't work like that." Sighing she turned to Kakashi engrossed in his book. His gaze met hers and the book almost fell to the ground.
He let out an authoritative "No" before she sat up.
"Oh, Kakashi—" He raised a finger and directed it at her.
"I'm not—" He began, his voice high. "I'm not," His voice more solid. "Cutting my hair. That is it." He finished, searching her salon-crazed eyes.
"Oh you have to do something to it!" He pressed the index finger and middle finger of both of his hands together forming a cross and created a henge.
"I'm a ninja. I can do things like this." She rolled her eyes, scoffing.
"You and I both know that even with your eye covered effectively, you don't have enough chakra to keep that running for three days at a time, without rest." He raised his eyebrows.
"Are you underestimating my staying power, Sakura?" She matched his leveled gaze.
"Not at all. But I do believe you've underestimated my knowledge of you." He turned in disbelief, placing his hands on his hips.
"Is that true?" He said, looking up to the ceiling.
"Kakashi, I've never seen anyone who wasn't a Hatake, who's hair could defy gravity like yours." He moved to face her; objection written all over his face.
"Bull!" Naruto, previously occupied with a magazine, turned to the scene before him.
"Kami. There they go again." He said, shaking his head.
"And you have?" Sakura countered.
"Granddad's hair—"
"—Stood on end and he wasn't even born into the family, I know. But do you know how many Clans marry within themselves? No, he wasn't born into your family per say, but he had your blood and you know it." Confusion was all over his face.
"How'd you…" She closed her eyes again, waving him off.
"It's amazing what the Copy Nin will spill when drunk. But that's beside the point. We have to change your hair somehow so there won't be any semblance between you…you and…Hatashi…" She trailed off, another idea already brewing. Kakashi caught on quickly and decided to stop it in its tracks.
"Sakura, no. No." Her lips formed a pout as her eyes got wider.
"The flat-iron isn't even permanent and I just want it to flip over your eye! You already have the glassy contact portraying a blind eye, along with the scar, it'll help your cover story." He shook his head repeatedly.
"No, I can't. I just—this is heritage." She rolled her eyes.
"And I promise your heritage will go back into its original shape." She pleaded as he sighed. His resolve was slipping, and they both knew it. "And I know you don't want your texture to change, so I'll wash and blow dry it really good every night, because God knows you don't do that already." Her eyes shone as she folded her fingers together. He rolled his eyes.
"Sakura…" He drawled in a warning tone. She perked up. "If my hair loses shape…" She jumped from her seat and engulfed him in a hug.
"Oh, Kakashi, thank-you! I promise, your hair won't get any grayer than it already is." He patted her back awkwardly, replaying what she just said.
"That's not…I didn't say—"
"We have to hurry. I only paid that lady for two hours." Kakashi's eyes narrowed as she started pressing buttons on her chair while kicking off her heels.
Her high, high heels.
Weirdly enough, for a woman who's brash, impulsive, and really hard to understand, the Prostitute/Dancer alias looked damn good on her.
As he heard the bell going off, he reprimanded himself for thinking of this as a forbidden topic, thus making it a forbidden topic… He shook his head softly.
The vindictive woman before him was his teammate, ex-Anbu subordinate, and he would even go as far to say that she was a friend. If, your friends beat you like enemies and kiss like lovers, then yes, he and Sakura were good friends. He believed that this twisted definition they had for 'friend' is probably the leading cause as to why, this morning, Kakashi was on top, and Sakura was on the bottom. Not that he's ever on the bottom…Not that this is a position that they regularly take. The places 'top' and 'bottom' were just the temporary locations of friends as the movie and the booze released itself. Maybe she should've called Naruto in after all to be her roommate for the night. Then, maybe Kakashi wouldn't have found her g-spot. Which was, surprisingly enough, her belly-button.
In a correct reality, that shouldn't have happen at all.
With that being said, he took his mind off of it. Because with every lingering thought, it made everything they've done feel kind of forbidden. And he was really starting to hate that word…
Either way, with them being teammates (the word 'friend' should be banished from both of their vocabularies), he could very easily admit that she looked good. He hated when dancers were overly slutty, and Sakura made her outfit, actually look…sophisticated. She wore a long skirt that clung to her like a second skin and stopped at her ankles. When she showed it to him, he voiced his opinions about it not being enough. But then she put it on, and it shut him right up. There was a slit that started at her mid-thigh and got wider as it reached her ankles. If that wasn't contradicting enough, she wore a lavender long-sleeved shirt, that of course, was sheer. And it wasn't your average peek-a-boo sheer, the shirt was practically invisible. And if that didn't get her an umpteenth number of men who wanted a dance, she decided to wear a lace bra. Kakashi was a subtle man. He was sure if he wasn't supposed to be her brother, he would subtly ask her for a private show. And she wouldn't refuse, because he was Hatake Kakashi. Anyway, she wore clothes that Ino wore on a daily basis. But he knew that Sakura didn't go to Ino's house; the clothes were all hers. If that didn't put a new perspective on things, he didn't know what would.
Despite her racy outfit, her hair spoke volumes. She did it in curls, bouncy curls that little girls usually donned to formal parties. They were awfully round and took the form of slinkies that moved when she walked. They framed her face perfectly, but gave height to her forehead. And since Sakura's hair was already long, the curls didn't take that much length. And that's impressive, seeing as though he didn't know many prostitutes without hair extensions… Speaking of hair, Sakura's was currently blue, as it has been all throughout breakfast. It must've been a henge because it was just pink this morning, and they barely had enough time to change when she woke, so when would she have dyed it? If his good eye wasn't mistaken, her roots were black. She had told him something earlier about changing her natural pigment with her chakra. And there she was, teaching Naruto to do a partial-henge, because everyone knows that Naruto's never done a henge, because no one takes him undercover.
With all of that going through his mind, he was lucky to be ready at a moment's notice, because Sakura's knees just gave out.
It took four hours for Kakashi to come up with one solution: He hated playing nurse. First and foremost, he didn't know how, and secondly, he's supposed to be the one passing out from fatigue. He couldn't really call it playing nurse anyway. He carried her over his shoulder from the salon all the way upstairs and deposited her on the bed in their room. He put water by her bedside and tucked her under the covers, and that…was about it. He also got rid of that henge that Sakura was so desperately clinging to with the last bit of her chakra. It took his Sharingan to do away with it, but that's the job of a nurse, right? And it was the job of a nurse to make sure that the patient was alive and well, and that nothing mysterious happened to the patient while unconscious. So he couldn't help the double take when a long, thin scar that ran from her temple down to her chin appeared on her face. So he was a little happy when she stirred. If she was awake, he didn't have to probe her mind…like nurses do. Probe, that is.
"Kami, how long was I out?" She stretched her limbs above her head.
"4 hours, he replied cheerfully, enjoying her shocked expression.
"Four…?" He nodded.
"But I had it all under control. See?" He pulled on a strand of his newly black hair. "It didn't take long. I told Sasuke and Naruto that you were fine and to read over their profiles in their rooms until you awoke." He reassured. She rubbed her eyes, peering around him.
"But…they're right over there," She pointed to the living area. He chuckled softly.
"Right. Well, they stopped listening to me years ago." He finished. Her eyebrows furrowed.
"What happened?" She asked. Kakashi turned to follow her gaze.
"They, uh, argued for a bit on who would get the couch. Being the real men they are, they played rock, paper, scissors." A look of confusion was frozen on her face. "To make a long story short, Sasuke lost and got mad, so he used his Sharingan to put Naruto to sleep." She nodded slowly, digesting the information. Her expression was no less confused.
"That's good and all," She peered around him once again to find Sasuke sprawled across the too-small couch, and Naruto lying spread-eagle, face-down, on the floor. "But I meant with their hair color." Kakashi raised his eyebrows.
"Ah." He watched her silently as she checked her nails. "Sakura?"
"Hm?" She answered.
"We need to talk." Her shoulders slumped as a sigh left her lips. Her nails forgotten, her gaze met his hardened one.
"Kakashi," She breathed. He was never going to run out of things they needed to 'talk' about. From previous experience, she could almost guess where this one was headed. Maybe she accidentally whispered Ren's name in her sleep, or she forgot to eat yesterday. The list was endless. "Is it that serious that we have to talk about it now? Naruto and Sasuke are in the other room, and we're only divided by a half-wall—"
"I was just curious as to why, for the second time today, something appeared, then disappeared, on your body." He questioned with the raising of his eyebrows. Her eyes widened slightly, but she quickly shook it off.
"Come on, Kakashi. Really? I just put your lens in, and it's common for patients to see things that aren't there—"
"Don't take me for a fool, Sakura." She placed a hand on her forehead. "You know your games don't work on me." Lying back down on the bed, she sighed.
"Kakashi, please. Not now." He looked to the ceiling in annoyance.
"Then when, Sakura? I understand—"
"No you don't!" She whispered harshly. "You don't. Because if you did, you would've given me the time to handle it. Two weeks ago, I was holed up in enemy territory. Bound. Waiting and welcoming death. Now if you think two weeks is time enough to handle it, you're out of your damned mind." She said, a finger pointed up at him. "I know who I am, Kakashi. And I may not handle things like you want me to, but in the end, it all comes back to me and my decisions." He frowned.
"You know I can't let you do this to yourself." Her face went through a series of emotions before she slammed her fists on the bed.
"Damn it, Kakashi! I'm still having fucking nightmares! I still have qualms about eating food because of the shit they would stuff in it to make me experience pain. Hallucinations. Contorted versions of reality. Is that what you wanted to hear?" His eyes narrowed. She felt the tears behind her eyes but kept his gaze. "I really wish I didn't sleep. My subconscious is cruel to me, Kakashi." She whispered through gritted teeth. "You want my flaws right? You want my imperfections! You want to see me crumble." Her voice broke off as she released the henge. The first tear trailed down her cheek. "Well, fine. Here it is."
"Sakura…" He traced her scar down her face. She put her hand on his.
"This was…this was the night I was captured. When we were split up, you were with Katsumi. There was an excellent Anbu swordsman by the name of Daichi. He slashed through my hood and my Anbu mask with precision to rival, even mine. He knew, Kakashi. I think he knew." She inhaled, moving her hair out of her face. When she exhaled, her eyes opened to find Kakashi's gaze. "Daichi knew that if I escaped, this scar," She started, outlining the closed wound. "This scar would always be a reminder of what happened down there." She scoffed, turning her head away from him as she forced the tears to stop. "Even in death, he mocks me." Shaking her head, she smacked her lips. "He was a medic. I just know he was. The way my skin…he had to be. To cut that deep and accurately…even if I had healed it right then, the scar would be faint, but it would be there. I tried desperately to rid myself of it. But when that failed, I just created this." She lifted the covers and started to unbutton her shirt. If she was going to show him something under it, well, the material was already invisible…
She slipped her right arm from the sleeve and pulled down her bra strap. Once she was out of that, her hand went to her back to unhinge the hooks. She then turned to Kakashi with hardened eyes.
"Look, pervert." He put a hand over his heart. "We won't have a repeat of this morning, so no peeking." He rolled his eyes.
"Accidents happen." He said as he shrugged his shoulders. She scoffed.
"And that's the what…4th time an 'accident' of this caliber has happened?" She countered as he sighed
"I get your point." She made an 'I win' sound before undoing the hooks. She kept her arms tightly folded across her chest as she slowly turned around.
"When did you get that?" He asked, immediately noticing the piece of Naruto on her back.
"Eh, it comes and goes." His eyebrows rose, telling her to explain. "It's for holding chakra, just like Shishou's on her forehead, and yours on your—"
"Yeah, I think I know that. Why'd you get it?" She bit her lip.
"It stores chakra to keep the henge going, but after the alcohol, which affects my chakra badly as is, and altering your face, I had to dip into those deposits to keep myself going. That's why the burns appeared this morning."
"The poison and the alcohol messed with your henge." She nodded. "And you're trying to hide them in the first place because…?" She rolled her eyes.
"You know I don't like reminders. After something is done, it's done." Some nights, the pain is so unbearable; she had to cast the whisper of a goddess jutsu on herself. But it was a hell of a lot easier said than done. "If I had to stare at that scar every day, I would definitely go insane." Kakashi eyed her, deciding to keep his comments to himself. "So is this 'talk' over with? Hatake Kakashi has discovered yet another chink in Haruno Sakura's armor." She grumbled as he sighed.
"Those scars aren't flaws, Sakura. Okay, so they're not the most attractive, sure. But who said you were attractive to begin with?" She raised a hand and he shrunk back. "My point is, those reminders are what make you human. Besides that, you're a machine, freshly manufactured from Anbu. And I mean that in the nicest way possible." She was taken aback by his comment.
"Machine? What am I, a computer?" He placed a hand on her shoulder that she shook off.
"Face it. You're always calculating to find the best scenario rather than leaving things up to chance, you never leave anything half-assed, and if I'm not mistaken, you're still in Anbu, correct?" She scrunched her face up.
"I mean, as far as I know." He chuckled to himself and then faced her.
"If that doesn't bleed 'compulsive perfectionist' I don't know what would." Her mouth shot open. His chuckled evolved into a laugh.
"Compulsive perfectionist? I'm not a compulsive perfectionist!" His laugh stopped in its tracks.
"Sakura, why did you join Anbu?" She blinked, searching her mind for an answer.
"Because…because I wanted to become the best. I wanted to lock my emotions away…" She trailed off, knowing her words proved him right.
"And you did a damn good job at hiding your emotions from us," He reasoned as she frowned.
"I'm working on it. You know what they did to us in Anbu. I'm like your third sponsor, meaning you've gone through it more than enough times to know it's hard to go back." She said, throwing him a pointed look. He rolled his eyes.
"Either way, I'm still right. Somehow, during your four months of isolation, you've trained your mind to act like a computer. More so than your scrambled mind did before." She threw up her middle finger. He responded by smiling. "Now, there's nothing wrong with that, but it clashes with your brash and impulsive nature. Being a computer, your ultimate goal is to be some kind of perfect, so your imperfections would have to be 'deleted'. With that being said, what else are you hiding from me?" A small frown was on her face. She hated when he did that. She hated when he dissected her down to a science. When he figured her out. When he was right. He can't just take it? He can't just, understand why she doesn't want these scars adorning her body, a constant reminder of her own hell? Of course, he dreaded the thought of innocent little Sakura letting Anbu change her way of viewing things. The way it changed him.
She brushed her bang aside, letting her arms then wrap around her middle.
"Kakashi, I already told you. I showed you. For what other reason would I have to lie to you?" He took her hand in his and almost missed the vibrating. It was faint, but he caught it.
"You're a good liar, Sakura-chan." She snatched her hand away, an incredulous look on her face. "Anbu has taught you well, but I'm not stupid." She slammed her fists back down on the bed.
"What do you want from me?" She exclaimed, careful not to be too loud.
"The truth." He replied calmly. The truth that she has so desperately tried to hide from him and everyone else.
"The truth?" She laughed softly. "The truth." She leaned forward and grabbed Kakashi's shoulders. Her red fingernails dug into the fabric of his dress shirt. "Kakashi…sometimes, the sick, twisted part of me wished that I was still captive in that hell hole. That I'd rather be stuck there then have to come back home and cope with…this." She said, referring to her state of mind. Letting go of him, she tipped her head back and ran her hands through her barely noticeable black roots and pink tresses. "The sane part of me…" She paused, looking as if she didn't want to continue her train of thought. She let out a breath. "The sane part of me just wishes it was all over, you know?" His green eyes widened slightly. She didn't mean over as in no more nightmares and no more pain, she meant over as in…she wished she had died back there…
His hand sought for her but she moved out of reach. She swung her legs from under the covers to the floor as her toes felt around for shoes. They touched sandals, regular civilian sandals that slapped the floor when she walked. Slipping into them, she quickly got up and walked towards the door. She brushed away a stray tear. She needed to get out. The air in the room was suffocating her, and Kakashi's judging stare wasn't helping at all.
When she reached the door, she grabbed its knob. She then felt Kakashi's hand locked on her wrist, and she tugged.
He was close.
So close that she could feel his chest on her back, his boot in between her two legs, and the other resting on the door, stopping it from opening any further. He was behind her, his head bent low. She felt the corner of his mouth pressed lightly against her cheek and his hair brushed against her temple. His breaths were slow; they fanned across her face. She inhaled deeply, smelling his scent of pine and faint spices.
In that small space of time, she thought about staying.
She thought about bearing all to him. He was there; he would listen. In that small space of time, the smell that she was so familiar with made her want to stop hiding. To stop hiding from herself.
"Sakura…" He whispered. She felt his lips move. "Stay. Please." He asked. She closed her eyes. Her hand gripped the door knob. He wanted to talk to her, and she knew that if she stayed any longer, she would break. He was offering her everything, but she just… she just couldn't.
"I…can't. I can't. You know that." He slowly released her wrist as she felt his body heat lessen. He watched as her pink hair slowly turned a cerulean blue. She pulled on the door. "I need fresh air."
I need time.
Leaning against the railing, she rubbed her nose again.
She had traveled to the east part of the ship; the workers quarters. That way no one would recognize her and her nonstop flow of tears. Even if they did, they couldn't talk to Haruka. She was a Prostitute, but they were working, and the ferry had rules. With that being said, she was left alone for the rest of the day. While the east part of the deck may not be beautiful, she knew that Kakashi would never find her here. But he knows to respect her pleads for space, so she estimated that he gave her 45 minutes to an hour before he started to search.. He must've gotten the memo that she didn't want to be found, because she's had no instances of running into Naruto's clones. If he hadn't interacted with Mei, she's sure she would've spotted at least one by now. But she figured she's been out her long enough. It was getting dark, and she's sure Kakashi's worried half to death.
Kakashi has common sense, though. He knows that they're short on time. He would've long since abandoned trying to look for her, and instead, started debriefing Sasuke and Naruto. They're docking in about a day, and although this isn't the first time she's been Haruka, and she's read the mission scroll more than enough times, she's an important part to its success, so she shouldn't be missing anything.
Meaning, it was time to head back.
But she didn't want to, for reasons she couldn't really identify. Of course, when they awake, Naruto and Sasuke will start to question her whereabouts. How did Kakashi explain that to them? 'She just needed air' would translate into 'I upset her and she had to leave before she started to scream'. But it was her fault. She was slipping.
Kakashi shouldn't know what's bothering her. If she didn't get drunk last night, he would've never found out. About the scars, the henge, and more importantly, the death wish. She'll continue to laugh. She'll continue smile. The problem with that is, it'll only fool Naruto, and even that for a short period of time. Sasuke will find out first, but he won't pester her. Kakashi…
She's taking him for granted, and the thought just doesn't seem to want to leave. He's not that close or inviting with anyone, yet she's pushing him away. Soon, he'll actually be gone and then what will she be left with? She rubbed her nose again.
It was time to head back.
Just as she pushed off of the railing, something landed on her shoulder. Her instincts kicking in, she made a move to push it off, but a familiar voice sounded.
"Sakura." She said. Shishou's summon. Sakura thought.
"Lady Katsuya, what are you doing here?" She turned and looked down at her, a hand going to pet the slug.
"Tsunade has a message that could not be sent through the pigeons. Where are the others?" Sakura started to walk again. She pulled her hair to cover Katsuya and started for the stairs. It wouldn't be good if she was found talking to a slug.
"They're in the room, I'm going now." She whispered as a worker brushed past her on the stairs. "You have to be quiet now, malady. I'm undercover—"
"No need. I feel Naruto. They're with him." She paused. "I've located them. I'll take us there now." Sakura's eyes widened.
"No, wait—" She whispered harshly before her ears popped and she was lifted off of the ground. It was long before her feet hit their room floor. She waved the smoke away.
Kakashi was turned toward her, chopsticks and noodles halfway to his open mouth. His eyes flickered back to the screen. He was frozen for a second more, and then his chopsticks were dropped back into the bowl and placed on the table with a loud 'clang'. He shuffled for the remote and cut the television off.
"Hey!" Naruto argued. "I was watching th—" Sasuke, seated beside him, clapped a hand over his mouth.
"Lady Katsuya," Kakashi greeted, standing and bowing. He prompted Sasuke and Naruto to do the same by clearing his throat. "You have a message for us?" It's a rare occurrence for a summon of such high standards like Lady Katsuya to interrupt a mission. Whatever Tsunade-sama had to say to them, it was important. With that being said, he didn't want her to find out that he's watching porn when they could be debriefing.
"Yes." She mumbled through Sakura's hair. Sakura pushed it aside, carefully eyeing Kakashi as she placed her on the table and was seated. He moved closer, but at a respectable distance. "Tsunade has told me to inform you that your mission is being postponed." Naruto's eyes widened.
"Postponed again? Why?" He asked as Katsuya moved to the edge of the table, leaving behind a trail of slime.
"Come, sit." Kakashi was the first to be seated. He faced Sakura, while Sasuke and Naruto filled up either side of her. "You're mission is being postponed because your Shinobi careers are being threatened as we speak." Sakura furrowed her eyebrows, leaning forward.
"What?" She breathed.
"The council has used your recent treason as a means to appeal to the Daimyo. You've also created a rift between Fire and Grass ever since that first escort mission. The four of you have killed more than 80 of their men, and then two of the Kusakage's personal advisors at the exchange. On top of that, you didn't retrieve the Peace Treaty." Sakura sighed and slumped in her chair.
"We've already been punished. Three months of missions with no pay, no matter the rank. And I've been taken off of the Captain position in Anbu." Kakashi stated.
"That was before you failed to retrieve the Peace Treaty." He sighed, running a hand through his black hair.
"So what can we do to save ourselves?" Sasuke asked, folding his arms over his chest.
"The motives of the four of you have been questioned. To continue on with this mission as Shinobi of Fire Country, you must first be interrogated by Anbu specialists." Sakura sat up straight.
"That means…" She trailed off.
"We'll be going back to Konoha." Naruto finished, bewilderment on his face.
"No. You'll be going to an island a little ways off from your mission destination. Kakashi will lead you from there." He nodded.
"That means will be porting tonight," He stated.
"Listen carefully, because next will be a personal message from Tsunade." Katsuya started. She paused as they moved in to listen. "Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi. You four will be interrogated by Anbu, but I'm sure it won't be anything you guys can't handle." It was a voice recording of Tsunade. "But choose your words wisely and think before you speak. Anything and everything you say or don't say will be recorded and used to calculate your motives, and whether or not you four are fit to be ninja, or are a danger to Fire Country, as well as the Ninja world." Naruto's eyes widened. "Answer truthfully but carefully; one wrong sentence can hurt you and me both." The recording stopped as Sakura swallowed. "Anbu will need to see this." Katsuya stated as a scroll appeared in a puff of smoke. "I wish you all the best, and I do hope that you handle this dire situation with the utmost importance." She finished, leaving with a pop and a little cloud of smoke. Sakura stared at the spot where her form previously sat.
"How could…" She whispered in disbelief. "How could the council do this?" Kakashi exhaled, gripping the table in front of them.
"It's just politics, Sakura. You know how they're favored by the Daimyo. And of course, Tsunade has no real power over them, solely because of that fact. It's one of the main reasons why Root has been running right under her nose. If it wasn't for us trying to escape that first night, she would've never had known. Because of that, she's put her Anbu out to stay on top of them. To watch them watching us." He looked to the ceiling and fingered the stubble growing on his chin. "Grass pays us for weapons and material used for Shinobi clothing, and ever since that escort mission, they've found another country to supply them for less money. Because of the skirmishes happening, there have been more missions. More missions means more money, and since the bulk of these missions are going to Anbu…well, that's a lot of money going out and not coming in. Anbu get paid considerably more than jonin. Grass's money would usually balance that out. And it was good money too, but now it's gone." Kakashi finished. Sakura placed a hand on her forehead. Another headache was threatening to split her head in two. That escort mission would haunt them for the rest of their life, or Shinobi career, however long they had left in that.
Naruto grabbed his profile from the floor and tucked it under his arm. Sasuke raised himself from his seat and started for the door.
"I guess we'd better go and pack since we're leaving tonight." Naruto said with a sigh.
"Make sure you guys are ready to go within the hour." Kakashi added as Sasuke pulled on the door. Sakura found herself in their sleeping area, arranging her pack and things from the closet.
"I'll see you on the deck." Naruto said following Sasuke out of the door. He paused and hummed, as if having something to say. She turned her body to face him; and sudden movement of her head would only intensify the pain. "Take care of yourself, Haruno." He finished finally, walking out and shutting the door behind him. She replied with a nod, and the room was filled with silence.
The question was, who's going to break it first?
Kakashi sighed, pulling up a loose floorboard and gathered their stashed weapons. He did this almost mechanically; his mind elsewhere.
What would he say to her? He's sorry that he wants to get her through this? She has to know that he's not just doing it for his health. Kakashi has been captured numerous times in the past. Okay, so he doesn't have the estrogen in his body to feel the emotions she feels because of her captivity. He can relate to her. There's not that many people living he can say that to. It's that fact alone that has him trying to help her move on. She can't be like him, or the others. He won't let her. But it hasn't been successful so far. Now with Tsunade's recent message and their mission on hold, those 'We need to talk' insinuations will be given the cold shoulder. She'll be ignoring him now more than ever.
Another one of Kakashi's plans that went south.
So when she came up behind him, just as he turned around, he couldn't help but be a little surprised when she hugged him. She buried her face in his shirt as her arms closed around his neck. Familiar fingers dug into his hair. The small gesture reassured him. He knew that, without conversation, they were alright again.
"I'm sorry." She mumbled into his chest. "I just need more time." She finished in a whisper. He returned her hug, squeezing her around her middle. And although he said no words, she knew this small gesture meant that he would give it to her.
"This is so—" Naruto started, fishing for words.
"Cool?" Sakura offered, readjusting the pack on her shoulders.
"No…" He said. "That's not the word I was looking for."
"Heavy?" Kakashi added as he pulled along three large luggage bags. Naruto started to snap his fingers repeatedly.
"Nah, that's not it either." Sakura merely rolled her eyes, not bothering to help the struggling ninja behind her.
"I warned you, you shouldn't have made that bet. I thought you would've known by now that when it comes to Naruto's tactics, I'm a genius." She stated, folding her arms over her chest in triumph. Kakashi struggled to pull one of the bags over a rock.
"Yeah, well, I didn't know that still rang true in terms of pick-up tactics." He grumbled, finally getting the bag over the rock, only to have it fall and bust open. He sighed as she held back a laugh.
"Trust me. I heard them all before." She said, reminiscing. "Try to break it down into fewer words, Naruto. You'll get it." He pursed his lips as Sasuke tightened the hood over his head. He began to look around.
"How about, 'not what you expected'." Sasuke drawled. Naruto snapped his fingers and pointed at the Uchiha.
"That's it!" He exclaimed. Then he frowned. "Where are all of the booby-traps and lasers?" Naruto said with a pout.
"Well for starters," Kakashi began, closing the bag after all of its contents were put back. "This isn't a spy movie."
"Don't sit there!" Sakura shouted with her palms raised. Naruto froze, about to rest himself atop a large rock. "It's booby-trapped." She finished with a wink. Naruto rolled his eyes and continued to sit. "Or is it?" He groaned, figuring it wasn't worth the risk, and lay spread-eagle on the ground.
"This is so stupid." The 22-year-old complained. "Our whole mission gets thrown off of schedule. You were supposed to have an impromptu show tomorrow evening, and who knows how long this stupid interrogation will last." Sakura sighed, plopping herself down on the "booby-trapped" rock. Naruto glared at her.
"If we really wanted to, Naruto, we could forget this whole interrogation thing and go back to our mission." He shot up, a smile on his face.
"Really? That's good. Maybe we could—"
"Yeah, and while we're at it, why don't we cuff our hands and knot a noose?" Sasuke added with cheerful sarcasm. "Don't feed into him like that, Sakura." Naruto huffed sigh, all remnants of the false hope were gone.
"So what, we just sit here until Anbu whisks us away?" Kakashi opened his mouth, but Naruto cut him off. "If you say we have to walk in one more direction, I swear I'll kill myself." What a threat, knowing that if Naruto was dead, the Kyuubi would run loose.
"Don't be stupid. We have two members of Anbu with us. I know they have other information that we don't have." Sakura faced the water as Kakashi sat down on the grass.
"No, not information. Just protocol." She said, barely above a whisper. She always hated this part. Naruto's eyebrows furrowed as his face scrunched up in thought.
"What do you mean protocol? Do we have to sign in or something? I don't get it." He walked within 5 inches of the rock she was seated on. She exhaled slowly and folded her fingers together in her lap. She didn't get a chance to change. With all of the packing that she had to do, it just wasn't a big priority. Her chakra levels haven't fully recovered from its exertion, so with Kakashi's help, she used his chakra to change her natural pigment to black, and then he dyed her hair cerulean blue. Anbu probably wouldn't appreciate her attire, but it's not her fault that her mission was interrupted.
Kakashi watched with hooded eyes as Sakura kicked off her sandals and her feet plunged into the soft earth. She closed her eyes, her hands now gripping her skirt.
"They're here…I feel them." She whispered this time.
"What?" Naruto breathed. "Who?" He got into a fighting stance, hands poised and ready to fight at a moment's notice.
"We don't have much time." She spoke under her breath in hushed whispers. "Naruto this next part is really important, so please, listen closely." Sasuke moved in closer as well. "We're going to be taken." Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"Taken as in...escorted?" He offered, hoping what he said was true. Sakura shook her head softly.
"Taken as in captured." He stepped back, his face going through a series of emotions.
"No. Sakura, no." She sighed.
"Naruto, don't do this." He was angry now, his hands in fists and his mouth turned up in a snarl.
"Then we'll just have to fight them and force them to take us to the base." She ran a hand through her hair.
"They have rules, Naruto! Just like we do." He pointed a finger at her.
"You know—" He paused, running his hand down his face. "You know, Sakura." She looked away from him and towards the water. The last remnants of the day were slowly fading. So was their time.
"We're intruding on they're land. From the minute we walked a mile from the port, they were watching us. Then we surrounded their forests, so they'll be fighting to kill." She looked down at Kakashi arranging their things. "Kakashi, please place our mission scroll near the top of the largest bag. That way they won't have to look far." Naruto turned to look at the forest. She was sure he could feel them surrounding them too.
"You two know the way. You can—"
"Naruto, you know that we can't." Her eyes showed the sympathy she felt for him. And it was little things like this that reminded her of the boy that he used to be. The boy who spent most of his time running and hiding from vicious men trying to capture him. Luckily, he's never been captured, but there has been many a time when he's gotten close. It was the little things like this that showed everyone and especially her, that Naruto wasn't just some fighting machine. He got scared. His first instinct in this situation would be to fight, which would have them arrested and contained for a minimum of a week for being Konoha Shinobi, and then they would still have to be interrogated. It wouldn't be enough time for them to stop the wedding. The mission would be a failure. "It's going to be alright, Naruto. They won't hurt us." She lied. "They're on our side." She felt them move in closer, and she knew everyone else did as well. What made this situation worse was that Naruto hated being powerless. He hated just allowing things to happen. But she knew he was going to have to make do because they had no other choice. Naruto finally sat on the rock with his back to her back. He grabbed her hand tightly in his. "They're here." She whispered, loud enough so that only he could here.
"They're on our side…protocol…" Naruto chanted quietly to himself as she felt him breathing deeply. They were only a few feet from the beginning of the woods.
She heard Sasuke's form fall to the ground and a grunt Kakashi let out from a blow. She couldn't see them, no. But she knew they were around her. She squeezed Naruto's hand.
"You'll be alright."
And she was struck behind the neck.
I don't think sorry can begin to express how I feel. I know it's been so long, but I didn't know how this chapter would finish, and then I had to totally revamp it…It's been a lot for me too. I had to basically stop writing it entirely because the basketball season picked up, and then dance, and then—I'm telling you guys my life story. But I love you and thank you for the support you've given that kept me going on! School's almost over, so the next chapter should be up sooner than the last. With that being said, I hope you enjoyed Clash Chpt 15! Don't forget to review!
-Keoo19