Norimono palanquin:
A type of sedan chair used by higher class citizens in feudal Japan, consisting of a box carried by four or six people by means of two long poles. "Norimono" [Japanese] means "thing to ride" or "vehicle".
Black hair drifted over Sasuke's apathetic expression as he strode towards Naruto and Sakura, his single dark eye burning as it shifted from him to her. Even if he was blind rather than one-eyed he would have easily sensed the guilt that she hid in her thin smile as he approached, her gaze flicking to the headband he wore that fell over his bandaged, still not fully-healed Rinnegan eye. He knew it stood as her reminder that she had not yet fulfilled her promise months ago to fix it, and he let his stare linger on her a moment, long enough that she had to look away.
"Sasuke!" Naruto greeted Sasuke sunnily with a wave. Sasuke gave him an acknowledging nod, glancing between them once more with a scowl. "Sakura."
She was no longer paying him attention, glancing down at the pack at her side with a thoughtful knot between her brows. She moved from foot to foot with subtle unease, a kind of nervousness making her fidget more than usual.
He didn't like how strangely shifty Sakura was being, and when his gaze slid back to Naruto, Sasuke noticed that he was acting similarly, glancing around much too innocently like his mind was on something he knew it shouldn't be. It was clear he had been discussing something out of the norm with Sakura before Sasuke's arrival.
Sasuke glowered, folding his arms. Of course… they had been talking about him again. "What now?" he voiced his thoughts, annoyed with them both.
Naruto kept his sunny smile, though it seemed to take a hidden effort to keep it on his face as he made a dismissive gesture. "We were just talking about some war stuff, don't worry. C'mon, let's go." He nudged Sasuke in the side. "Are you excited, Sasuke? We get to do a mission together!"
Sasuke rolled his eyes, but had no cutting comment this time, walking in stride with Naruto instead. His gaze strayed back over to Sakura.
She was already walking ahead, leading the way towards where their team was meant to meet up at the agreed time. Now that the three of them were moving, she seemed less shifty, but still different; there was a distant look on her face as Sakura gazed out at Konoha, the sun catching in her green-fire stare. It was as if she was entertaining a daydream, or a pleasant thought; her features glowed, her stride confident and slightly bouncy.
"Tonight will be pretty easy," Naruto bragged, stretching his arms behind his head as he walked beside Sasuke. "We're in, we hit 'em hard on the sly, then we're out."
"Unless Madara shows up." Sasuke's sharp eye slid back over to Sakura. "Have you confirmed that he isn't going to be there?" his voice carried to her, and she glanced back at him with some of the glow fading from her figure as he went on. "You've waited too long to give us any kind of update on what's going on with that. You deal with him enough that you're supposed to know these things."
"Um…" Sakura straightened, adjusting her qipao and blinking at him a few times with a ripple of barely-visible guilt passing behind her expression once more. "You know, I'm still not sure, or I'd have told you. We're just going to have to be careful."
"And let me guess… you're just another clone." Sasuke scowled, black hair blowing back from his face in a strong gust of wind. "Isn't this getting old, Sakura? What's your plan? I'm tired of waiting."
Even in the wind he heard her scoff, and this time there was no guilt evident in her tone as she strode forward without looking back, letting her words fall back to strike him as she led them all onwards. "Like I've told you so many times: it's not safe for my original to resurface yet. Not with the war still as it is, so of course I'm just a clone." Sakura's gaze turned over to the forest, briefly dancing through the thick, endless horizon of trees. "I have a backup clone that'll be nearby just in case I somehow get dismissed."
"So many clones." Sasuke folded his arms. "What a waste of chakra. With the amount of them you've made to amuse Madara you could have fixed my eye already."
Sakura and Naruto both stiffened uncomfortably now, almost simultaneously. Sasuke could tell they didn't want to go into these subjects out here in the open just beside Konoha's border — but he cared little for their discomfort as he glared at them both with folded arms.
"You're still strong with your other eye, Sasuke," Naruto said, clapping a hand on his shoulder reassuringly. "With you and me and Sakura going with both our team captains, we're unstoppable."
"Of course I'm still strong," Sasuke shot back.
The three of them made their way through the forest past border-fences towards the front gates in a terse silence, untouched by the sunny joy of the day. Sasuke's dark eye continually flicked to Sakura with all the subtlety and stabbing weight of an icicle, countered by the equally intense side-glances Naruto sent her way that were watchful and quietly concerned.
It would be best for the sake of tonight's teamwork to avoid too much dissonance between the three of them, but Sasuke had a gut instinct churning that something vitally important was off with them. He couldn't let this one go, and so he turned his head to give Naruto a significant look, holding his gaze as he called him out directly. "Naruto… you've got a look on your face like you know something you shouldn't."
Sakura's own expression was carefully neutral as Naruto ran a hand through his choppy yellow hair with an uneasy laugh. "You know, I know a lot of things I probably shouldn't," he answered evasively. He missed Sasuke's hidden knowing look as he gave himself away already with his reaction to his callout. The look on Naruto's face became both playful and a little smug as he started counting off on his fingers. "Like how on some missions, back before you left the village, you would talk in your sleep. Or how much you secretly love cats, and that one test I know you cheated on at the academy, and how you pretend like you hate Sakura but you definitely don't, or—"
"Naruto," Sasuke growled. Sakura hid a smile as she slowed down, walking at Naruto's side while he went on. "And Sakura too!" Naruto had an inane grin. "I saw her sneaking out of a sake bar once. And that time she was shopping in that store Kakashi-sensei goes to to buy his books—"
"Naruto!" Sakura punched his shoulder, effectively interrupting him enough that he laughed heartily. Naruto's good humour was infectious; Sakura shoved at her red cheeks, Sasuke shaking his head with the very slightest tinge of colour dusting his cheekbones, and the air between the three was warmed somewhat as they continued on their way, Naruto beaming at them both before shutting his eyes over a smile.
It wasn't long before the comfortable silence eased into Naruto's chatter again, this time about Ichiraku ramen he particularly liked. While half-listening, Sasuke noticed the way Sakura continually glanced across the rooftops of the nearby Konoha border buildings, her good humour remaining but all her senses visibly alert. She seemed wary, like she expected either of their team captains' imminent arrivals… or perhaps the arrival of someone else.
Madara. Sasuke's hand drifted automatically over the hilt of his sword at just his name itself. Maybe he had been a little hard on Sakura. Sometimes he didn't think about how much she was forced to clash with the mass-murderer that Madara was. After all, according to her reports and what she'd mention at team meetings, she had suffered countless deaths at his hands by now. Madara was hardly known for being reasonable or for holding back, and so Sasuke was certain each of her clones' deaths had been brutal and likely laced with cruelty.
Sasuke grimaced. He had still been through worse. However, this long-term mission of hers was undoubtedly hard on Sakura.
She hid it well — but it was still no excuse for being cagey, and her frequent clone deaths didn't line up with her recent overall happiness. Why would she seem better off when she was going through so much repeated trauma? It didn't make sense to him. She never talked about Madara and her deaths at his hands anymore, her conversations about him at team meetings kept short recently, but Sasuke understood that she was likely enduring much more pain than she let on. Perhaps she was just more skilled at masking her many emotions.
At least her strange game against Madara was still working. Sasuke had expected her to get herself killed at the start of this whole mess, and he was hesitantly glad that she somehow hadn't, yet. He had to admit to himself that Sakura must know what she was doing if she had managed to keep Madara at bay all these months. She had bought all of them more than enough time to recover and rejuvenate chakra. In that sense, she had upheld her end of this plan, even if Sasuke's Rinnegan remained in a stasis while long-awaiting healing.
Sasuke glanced at the symbol imprinted on his palm, the mark from Hagoromo that was the perfect opposite to the one on Naruto's hand. An impatient itch to end Madara's life urged beneath his skin, layered beneath his thoughts that continued to center around Sakura and what was going on with her.
Why did Sakura still glow like she did? Someone as daily-tormented as she was by a shinobi as wicked and powerful like Madara should be reserved, withdrawn — a reaction to trauma Sasuke knew better than anybody. He did recall that she was affected visibly in the beginning of this mess with the war; hollow of eyes, exhausted constantly, a certain darkness behind her eyes that had now long-since faded, like something major had pivoted somewhere over the summer for her.
Sasuke grimaced once more: he didn't envy Sakura's many deaths at Madara's hand, no matter how she was affected, his own near-death experiences with Madara a set of brief but bad memories. It was ceaselessly strange to him to no longer be the "Last Uchiha", with not only Obito back in Konoha and in the public eye as himself, but with their distant and legendary ancestor Madara back as well, terrorising and jeapordising all.
Sasuke blinked as Naruto's ramen-speech ended. He glanced over; Naruto was gazing thoughtfully at Konoha like Sakura was now, though his expression was more warm and grateful than searching like hers. It reminded him: the world was still at war against Madara, but it hadn't felt much like it this summer. It seemed he was so intent upon stealing his eye back from Sakura that he'd focused much more upon his chase with her than on battles against anyone else; Konoha and its citizens lived each day like everything was already at peace, barely affected by strife but the news and rumours that sifted through the ranks.
It was objectively good, but it was also concerning when it came to someone like Madara who held enough power that he could smite the village with a glance. What was he planning throughout this downtime? How was it that Sakura was able to keep him this distracted? Had she sacrificed that many clones?
Sasuke sighed, tired of his own questions and resenting that he'd let his mind linger upon her this long. Never mind Sakura and her inexplicable moods. If Naruto with his accurate instincts didn't suspect anything was wrong with her, then he could trust that, in the least.
At least for now. He didn't like the way Sakura had a secretive lift to the edges of her smile as she looked up at the breezy sky, looking more fulfilled than he'd ever seen her. Even he had noticed how she'd been making more concerted efforts with her appearance, the hale flush of her skin and the curves of her figure accentuated by her new fitted red qipao and hints of subtle but flattering makeup. She had always been attractive, but now she'd taken it further, looking older than she was by several years.
She had to be hiding something, innocent or not, and now that he'd decided to let both her and Naruto back into his life, Sasuke found that he did care enough that he wanted to know. He needed to make sure that neither of them was doing something stupid that might get them all in danger again.
Sasuke slid a mildly tolerant glance to Naruto to appease him in his newest stream of chatter now about one of their old missions as a team, but his mind retreated back to Sakura and her mysteries, his frown a constant mark of discontent upon his face.
He'd figure out their little secret. He had a feeling it wouldn't take long.
The three of them arrived at the Konoha gates a short time later, making their way towards where Kakashi and Obito awaited them. Walking in the middle between Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto nudged them both with barely-contained excitement, nearly bouncing where he stood.
Kakashi gave them a nonchalant wave, his Icha Icha book taking the rest of his attention as he read while leaning against the open door of the tall gate. Silver hair drifted over his headband in the breeze, his matching dark eyes scanning the text. Beside him stood Obito, his arms folded and his expression slightly pinched as he watched the rest of the reunited Team Seven's approach. He wore his newly-minted hitai-ate the same way that Sasuke did, his missing right eye covered; his single dark iris scanned over them, his choppy hair nearly just as dark with only a few hints of silver remaining from his brief time as the Ten-Tails jinchuriki. "Good, you've all arrived," he greeted them. "Did you bring everything?"
Sakura patted her bag with a smile. Sasuke gestured at his own, a plain black pack slung over his shoulder. Naruto looked between them both with a barely-masked panic. "Uh — I!"
"I've got Naruto's stuff, too," Sasuke sighed before Obito could comment. Naruto slumped with relief, clapping a grateful hand on Sasuke's shoulder that he shrugged off with a snort. "I knew you'd forget, idiot. You always do."
"Thanks, Sasuke. You're the best!" Naruto was beaming, and his blue eyes were sparkling as he looked between Sakura, Sasuke, Obito, and Kakashi. His face tightened, and he sniffed, causing all their faces to go blank for a second as he became emotional. "You guys… we're all together again. Captain Obito, you're all right. I'm — I'm so happy."
Sakura's soft laugh rose above their heads and got lost in the whispering of the forest canopy; she subtly wiped at the corners of her eyes, pretending Naruto's teary proclamation hadn't affected her. Sasuke rolled his eyes, Kakashi clearing his throat uncomfortably, though there was a warmth within his charcoal eyes matching among the five of them. If there was one wavelength they were all on, it was the anticipation of being one team again for a high-level mission, Obito a powerful addition to their close-knit group.
Obito was the one to interrupt the brief moment of quiet, folding his arms with a gruff, down-to-business tone. "If we're all equipped properly, then we'll leave early in case we're interrupted." Flickers of subtle stress rippled across all faces but Sakura's as the most likely interruption crossed their minds in a flash of white Six-Paths robes.
"Where are we going?" Naruto said behind his hand in a hush to Sakura. She passed him an offended look in turn; Obito had caught Naruto's question, his dark eye narrowing. "Naruto… you didn't read the missive?"
"I mean, I did," Naruto tried, "I just don't really remember every detail…"
Sasuke was already pulling a scroll from his pack, running a hand over his face while handing it to him. With Naruto and Obito's twinned sighs of relief, the whole of the new Team Seven began to make their way forward down the road into the forest, their first mission together on each of their minds but for one.
Sakura lingered at the tail of the group, the only one to look back at Konoha. The sunniness faded from her face in favour of a pensive pinch between her brows, her green eyes holding the village's image. She wondered, perhaps foolishly, if he was watching her from somewhere in the tangle of rooftops.
"Are you all right?" came Kakashi's quiet question beside her, and Sakura jerked her attention over to him guiltily like she'd been caught doing something she shouldn't. "Hey, sensei. Yes. Sorry."
"You've seemed better lately." She glanced over at him as they walked at the back of the group. Silver flickered over Kakashi's headband in the breeze, his dark eyes remaining intent upon his novel as he slouched over it beside her, flicking occasionally to the next worn page. "Yes," Sakura gave him her tentative answer, watching him carefully. "Much."
She avoided Kakashi's gaze as he turned his head, looking forward with a focused expression, dreading that he might question her as Sasuke had.
She felt Kakashi's observant attention sweep over her once before he looked back down into his book, brushing a stray leaf from where it had settled lightly upon the open pages. He didn't ask, and Sakura was grateful, relaxing slightly as they continued onwards down the sunny dirt path.
Obito and Naruto were leading the way ahead, swapping chatter. Sasuke walked in the middle of the group, Sakura's gaze straying inevitably to the Uchiha symbol on his back. It bothered her, and she wasn't sure why it did, her gaze switching from his symbol to the same one that burned in red and white high upon Obito's dark robes. Neither he nor Kakashi had bothered with the standard flak jackets, wearing their own favoured basic dark-clad gear instead.
"It'll be interesting," Kakashi commented, bringing Sakura's mind back to the present moment, "putting Naruto in a palanquin again." They both easily recalled Naruto's violent nausea the last time he'd had to be transported in one many missions ago, now. Sakura hid a smile behind her hand, knowing Kakashi was inferring that Naruto was likely to repeat how he had spewed all over their team captain at the time.
Sakura smirked. "Poor Captain Yamato."
"Dibs on the one he's not in."
She poked Kakashi in the arm with a soft gasp. "Not fair. We should draw straws."
"Rock-paper-scissors," he countered with a glint in his eye, making Sakura scowl. "No, you always win that."
"Whomever is fastest," Sasuke contributed, glancing backwards, and Sakura beamed at his somewhat better humour while Kakashi hummed. "Fine with me."
"Well, I guess I'm in Naruto's palanquin then," Sakura huffed. "I'm not faster than either of you."
"Use your medic skills to stop his queasiness," Obito had added, aiming a brief grin backwards.
Naruto paused in his long-winded story few had paid attention to to look quizzically between the rest of his teammates, blinking in consternation. "What now?"
"You must not have been listening… again," Sasuke replied to him with a sigh. "We're going to be leaving by palanquin to the cult's event location once we reach Sakura's contact in the next village. And… we're arguing over who has to be stuck with you in yours."
Naruto's protesting groan echoed loudly enough through the trees, quickly hushed by his teammates.
Sakura watched with satisfaction as Naruto's paltry green shade lessened, now green only from the glow of her hand along his stomach. He swallowed, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Thanks, Sakura."
"Obito's suggestion was a good one." She let go of him, bouncing slightly in the sway of the old-style Norimono palanquin around them, unbothered by the movement. Sitting back on a small cushion, she adjusted the rolled woven screen over one of the covered windows so that she could look outside, filling the box-shaped little cabin with a shaft of sunlight and fresh leaf-litter scented air.
"I hope they're just as sick as I was," Naruto grumbled. He plucked at his formal dark robes with a sigh. "I hate dressing all fancy, you know? It's uncomfortable."
"Hm." Sakura wrapped her shawl a little tighter around her shoulders, feeling somewhat self-conscious even though her own formalwear wasn't yet visible to anyone else. She felt the slightest twinge of pride for her carefully-planned outfit, feeling almost royal enough at least in appearance to merit the mode of transportation they were taking. "It can be."
Naruto hummed with a little knowing smile. "Don't tell me…" He leaned forward, blue eyes shining. "You got something extra fancy thinking he would be there. I've seen how much more you've cared about your appearance lately for him to admire."
Sakura flushed red before hunching forward with a hiss. "Shut up, Naruto, for gods' sake. You can't talk like that. These walls are thin."
Naruto was unfazed, sitting back on his cushion with a grin over folded arms. "You're not denying it. So is that why you went to that store—"
"I'll kill you here and now," Sakura growled with fists brandished. Even as Naruto ceased his teasing, the playful look remained in his eyes, and she let out a sigh, shaking her head. "I need to look the part for tonight. That's all."
"What will you do if he does show up, Sakura?" Naruto asked then, seriousness shadowing his expression, and she frowned, looking away. "Then we follow Obito's plan." She quickly changed the subject. "So, how's your stomach? No more nausea still?"
"I'm fine," Naruto sighed. "But this is so slow. Slower than running, maybe even walking… This is gonna take forever."
"It's how all the most respected Union members are going, and we have to fit in, so put up with it," Sakura rolled her eyes as Naruto continued to whine. "But we could get there even at a brisk jog in like half the time. This feels so outdated. So slow."
"That's the rich upper class for you," Sakura replied, tapping her fingers along her arms. She gestured out the small square window where green hills rolled out beyond the trees, the sun filtering out through patchy clouds to dapple the landscape. "Watch the scenery going by if you're impatient. It's beautiful! We're pretty deep into the country now. Do you see the rice fields?"
Naruto was pouting. "I don't care about rice fields…"
"Okay, then think about ramen. There's definitely going to be some."
Naruto's face lit up as Sakura went on with a tolerant sigh. "Sit there and count how many bowls you think you could eat of it. We'll be there in no time by then."
To Sakura's pleasant surprise, Naruto did just that, sitting back with a dreamy look against the engraved wood of the palanquin's inner wall.
Sakura bit into her smile. Deciding to take her own advice, she cast her gaze back out into the landscape; though soon her mind made its swift return to Konoha, far past the rolling fields and distant forests faster than any method of travel could.
She reflected on home, first. Her parents, whom she'd spent more and more time with these past few months, making time to visit them every week or two and always with a story in hand about her latest escapades. She had been careful not to mention names, but it had been fun telling them about her experiences, sharing her stories of swamp fights and forests cut in half, of discordant cult songs and alleyway chases. She knew tonight would garner more tales to tell, hopefully in good humour.
Sakura didn't notice her own hand pressed lightly over her smile, her eyes shut as many memories warmed her mind's eye. With the difficulties of it set aside, all in all… it had been the most wild, unforgettable and ultimately fun summer of her life. She looked forward to all the new memories to come.
Still uplifted by her earlier talk with Naruto back at the training grounds, Sakura was filled with hope as she continued to let her thoughts drift, warm with ideas of where she wanted things to go. Sweet and savoury images spun futures she wanted to taste. Excitement lingered across her tongue for all she had come to prefer and all that she couldn't wait to try. Sakura was entirely unsurprised as the intrusive thought that had become her default one strode into the center of her head, taking hold of her attention with a steel fist.
She let him linger a moment, smug like he would be in reality, well-aware he was her mind's favourite subject no matter the tone of her thoughts. There had been a time that he was nothing but a pain, and how she thought of him often within contexts of how she might make her next damaging attack better; how she might pull off another clone-heist victory and taste the thrill of his fury again — but now her thoughts of Madara settled within alarmingly affectionate contexts, increasingly favourable, surrounded by a multitude of experiences that had long cast him into warmer hues of light rather than the cold dark from before.
Sakura inclined her head, shutting her eyes. It was a sobering thought that she could never escape Madara even within her own mind. He had imprinted upon her too deeply, at first with hate and now with the opposite; he'd made his mark upon her as how a river shapes the earth, leaving a winding scar through drought or season's swell.
It was frightening. Sakura lifted her head, concerned for herself for a moment as she tried to understand how she felt more clearly. It was as if she was a projectile thrown at full speed, and she wasn't sure anymore where she'd land, the consequences of impact growing heavier and heavier the further onwards she and Madara soared.
She rubbed at her cheeks with a sigh, finding now that when she shut her eyes she tasted the memories of his breath on her skin, the lethal heat in his eyes. She had never felt like this about anyone, and she was reasonably certain it was the same for him, somehow. Her former interest in Sasuke paled so much in comparison that it didn't surprise her anymore how little he affected her now. Her electric connection with Madara she'd formed in weeks had long outshone what tense, difficult bond she'd tried to form with Sasuke across years.
Sakura let her eyes remain closed as she lingered on the taste of heat she'd recalled, letting it bloom like unfolding spice down to pool in her stomach. She was lucky things had turned out this way, where she and Madara had ended up now. She had tempered him, prevented deadly battles, and saved her own skin; only at the cost of healing him, of giving him so much of her daily attention and interest. Had he not been receptive to her interest, or her to his, this all would have ended up so much more difficult, with so much more darkness and death.
Sakura nodded to herself, allowing her gratefulness to extend beyond her situation with Madara to those who had supported her along the way. Team Seven, making their sacrifices in the beginning. Her unexpected surrogate team that was once Sasuke's, taking Sakura under their wing and adopting her into their group — even Orochimaru, siding with Sakura and becoming her silent benefactor as well as research partner. Her own parents, who had unknowingly been there for her through all her stories, whether they were venting sessions or happy purges of recent mischievous adventures. She'd had so much support, without which she was certain she would have failed.
Sakura was eternally glad Madara was no longer her enemy… but she had a feeling that she would have found a way to sway him somehow, no matter how else their chase could have gone. She looked forward to their next encounter, excited to find him again.
Sakura's hand had shifted from her quiet smile to press over her heart, the warmth spreading slow through her veins. She was grateful for him; she was grateful for them all.
She startled out of her reverie with the bump-bump of the palanquin shifting, the quiet grunts of the men carrying it as they lowered it. She leaned forward, prodding Naruto who had fallen asleep, his head slumped and a pearl of drool beside his mouth. He blinked groggily awake, offering her a sleepy smile. They had arrived.
Naruto had doubted this event could possibly provide the amount of bowls of ramen he'd determined he could eat before falling asleep — until he stepped out of the palanquin at long last, blinking around at the sight laid before him. He was rarely impressed by extravagance; it was a pleasant surprise to find that this event was already something of an exception. And he could smell the ramen, somewhere far up ahead.
He chose to return his attention to Sakura behind him first, turning and offering her a hand. As she slid her fingers over his palm, she shed her shawl, rising demurely to her feet. He blinked a few times, disarmed by her newly-added disguise that melted over her appearance as she emerged.
Obito, Kakashi and Sasuke's stares were drawn to her just like Naruto's, followed by the eyes of the palanquin-holders and guards that stood in evenly-spaced lines along the circled dropoff they'd been transported to. Rising to her feet, Sakura dipped her head shyly, feeling the combined attention of everyone around her.
She was nothing short of stunning. Her dark cheongsam was sleek, fitted in all the right places, hugging her slender curves. Customised accents in Rinnegan-shade lavender drew swirling lines down the long slope of her figure, contrasting with the deep midnight black of the cheongsam's fabric. It was silken as a kimono, and what he could see of its inner expanse was white. The final touches of the dress were finished with little symbols subtly reminiscent of Six Paths robes along the collar, additionally stitched in along the sharp split of the fabric where it climbed up to reveal a hint of pale, toned thighs.
Almost in spite of her formal and traditional cheongsam dress, Sakura wore open-toed black boots that climbed up just beneath her knees, subtly decorated and sleek enough to pass as formal but also quietly practical, their tough soles and sturdy construction beneath their stylish appearance not dissimilar to shinobi sandals. Naruto smirked to himself; Sakura just couldn't help sneaking in a little bit of her favourite shinobi-gear.
Even without the addition of her formal-wear, Sakura was still hauntingly lovely. Her hair was easily three times its usual length, falling in pale, somewhat wavy tresses down her shoulders and back. Several locks were pinned back behind her head in a neat bun, held in place by decorative criss-crossed kanzashi hair sticks painted dark with the Union's symbol and finished with curling patterns of cherry-tree branches. Charcoal-dark makeup accentuated her green eyes and thick black lashes, a hint of lavender sparkling along her eyelids in eyeshadow tasteful but not dramatic.
Sakura looked twenty-five rather than eighteen like Naruto and Sasuke, and she looked every bit like the beautiful older woman she had come to this event as, her beauty making it impossible not to look at her. Other women arriving in palanquins with recently-arrived groups gaped just as much as the men as Sakura cleared her throat, glancing among the wide-eyed stares around her with a flush across her cheeks. "Let's go, guys. Please… don't stare."
She led the way to a set of open gates guarded by several formally-dressed guards and a tall, slim attendant, who eyed Sakura with a wooden expression. Her dark robes were adorned with pins bragging of the Rinnegan-inspired Union symbol; gilded threads and heavy embroidery showed off the ryo spent upon her robes. "Your invitation, please."
Sakura procured it from the small bag she carried, handing the heavy, glossily-embossed invitation over. As Obito walked up beside her, she exchanged glances with him, nodding slightly. His hair was brown rather than its usual peppered, choppy black. Behind him, Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke had also subtly shifted their appearances during their journeys in the palanquins, well aware that they were all much too recognisable otherwise.
The attendant nodded, setting the invitation in a nearby neat stack. She nodded to Obito, but then noticed Sasuke, Kakashi and Naruto who had stopped beside Sakura as well.
"It's plus one," the attendant clarified, eyeing Sakura oddly beneath waves of dark hair. "Not four…?"
The flash of red in Obito's single eye was subtle and quick enough that the attendant's reaction was almost seamless, interrupted only by a sharp inhale and a blink before she nodded with a haze behind her formerly sharp stare. "Of course," she said flatly. "I made a mistake." She waved dismissively at the set of guards around the gate, her expression wooden once more.
As a group, Sakura and her team strode forward confidently, backs tall and formal robes swishing quietly. Each ignored the guards, whose stares shifted boredly from them to the other people lined up at the gates to be let in, the attendant waving over the next set of guests that had arrived from their own carved palanquins.
Sakura gazed around with wide eyes as more of the grounds came into view the further they walked, an amused indent at the corner of her lips upon hearing Obito's muttered grumbling beside her. The path she and her team followed cut through a vast, manicured landscape speckled with decor, splashed with colour and life in every direction. Manicured and enormous, the Japanese gardens made up all of the surrounding acreage, easily larger than the size of all of Konoha's training grounds and then some. Koi ponds lush with blooming lilypads and other aquatic flora stretched beneath beautifully-crafted painted bridges and shrines, leading through abundant flower gardens and trees bright with unfolding blooms. Lavender and violet colours were present everywhere, whether in the types of flowers or in the shades of paint, and what she knew Obito was irritated with was how everything that could be themed for the Rinnegan, was.
Paper lanterns lit their path forward, hanging from high poles and slightly adrift in the gentled late-afternoon breeze. They were a faded shade of purple, and they were painted with black rings, casting rippling patterns of light across the way forward. Banners proclaiming the Union's symbol alongside the Infinite Tsukuyomi's theme hung from lampposts, boasting vivid art of eyes, stretching tree branches, and the moon. They fluttered down the painted wooden bridges, between the lampposts like streamers, and they hung from tall, well-tended trees that billowed like the banners did in the warm late-summer wind.
There were sculptures as well, and Sakura's little smile grew as she noticed they were reasonably well-made likenesses of Madara in his Six-Paths form. They were just as excessively noticeable, too, gilded with dramatic accents and imported snow-white marble she knew was sinfully expensive without approaching. Oh, how she looked forward to swapping jokes with him about those the next time they met up — she could think of too many already, consciously pulling her attention from the statues so she wasn't tempted to steal one and stow it in one of her borrowed scrolls from Tenten.
Distant music could be heard as Sakura and her team made their way deeper into the breadth of the vast, lush event grounds. Her smile subtly grew: she knew those songs, and now they were played with instrumental accompaniments and much better-trained voices, their rise in quality noticeable even in the melodic ripples of faraway sound that breathed across the landscape.
She startled out of her warm recollections of past meetings when Obito took her arm. Sakura glanced sharply at him; he scowled as he walked. "Don't look at me like that. The mission dictates that I'm supposed to be your Union identity's 'plus-one'." He kept his voice down, looking backwards at the other three walking quietly behind himself and Sakura. "Once the main building is in sight, we split up. Does everyone have their ear piece in?"
"Oh, right!" Naruto patted his ear. The resulting static screech between the hidden ear pieces he and the others wore had them all lurching in tandem before reasserting their confident strides. Unanimously, each shot Naruto a dirty look, their ears ringing.
"Naruto, you maxed the volume," Kakashi sighed. He pointed at a tiny dial on its side where it was hidden in his ear beneath drifting hair. "That is the volume dial. Be careful with it. There's the mute button, which mutes both yourself and us; and this part…"
Sakura wasn't paying attention anymore, a hand absentmindedly drifting her own ear piece while Sasuke adjusted his. She squeezed Obito's arm uneasily as the two of them walked, her gaze wandering over the beautifully-decorated grounds with silent admiration while his stare upon each Rinnegan-themed banner and lantern was sizzling with revulsion.
"Give them any more relevant information you can before it's too late," Obito instructed Sakura, and she cleared her wandering mind again, nodding to him before glancing back at Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi. She easily recalled what she meant for them to know, unconsciously prim as she lifted a finger and launched into her explanation. "What we're looking for will be hidden in some kind of library within the building. I've no doubt. The leader Saito's the same as ever, no matter the wealth and popularity of his cult now." She glanced around to be sure there weren't any of said cultists within earshot before going on. "He's still a book-obsessed old curmudgeon, regardless of how much these cultists talk him up. I'd say that even with all these hired guards, and fancy new clothes, and showy meetings, in the end, Saito's still nothing but a weak ignoramus, crazed for knowledge like Orochimaru but without the genius or cunning to back that up. Honestly… he gives bibliophiles a bad name." Sakura waved a firefly away from her face, tucking a lock of long hair behind her ear and clearing her throat in the silence that followed her words.
Sasuke and Kakashi raised their eyebrows while Naruto made a face. "'Ignoramus'? 'Curmudgeon'? What does that even mean?"
Obito gave a weary sigh, pushing a hand through his choppy hair. "An ignoramus is a stupid person. A curmudgeon is similar, but old and bad-tempered instead. I've met quite a few of both in my time."
"You're talking like Madara does now," Sasuke commented as he turned a dark eye back to Sakura, "and so much so that Obito has now had to translate you both." He and Naruto eyed her, their mutual recollections visibly apparent from when Obito explained Madara's motley crew insult months previously.
"There's nothing wrong with an intelligent way of speaking," Sakura defended herself. She flushed angrily, Naruto's smug, knowing smile falling quickly when she lifted a warning fist. She was a little sweaty, embarrassed that she had indeed started picking up some of Madara's mannerisms.
"Anything else?" Kakashi changed the subject. He nodded pointedly towards the path ahead that they were walking together as a group, his silver hair tinged gold and lavender in the high-strung lantern lights.
Sakura nodded, eager to change the subject. "Naruto, you remember the security Saito used to have back at his library before we smashed it up pretty well. Well, it should be a lot better now. It's good you'll have Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke with you. He's hired people who are smarter than him to help secure what you're seeking, but I just know it'll still be within his libraries, whether that's through secret doors or even passageways." Her expression sobered somewhat, her gaze saturated with worry as she looked between them. "Even if this should theoretically be easy for you guys… please, be careful anyway."
Sasuke scoffed. Naruto gave Sakura a solemn nod, followed by Kakashi's calm blink. "You know that we will be." He looked to Obito, his hands in his pockets as he slouched, his attitude relaxed and nonchalant. "You and Sakura will keep us updated on what's going on in the main hall, correct? And let us know if he shows up?"
"Yes." Obito brought his cold, deadly-serious eye between each of them. "I've told all of you this multiple times, but I'm saying it again. If Madara shows up at this event, we immediately leave. It's not worth the potential collateral damage; there are hundreds, perhaps a thousand people here."
"Right," Sakura agreed, glancing out at the decorated gardens distractedly.
"Right!" Naruto piped up. "Now where is the place with the ramen?"
"We can't go eat ramen," Sasuke growled. "In fact — we should get going right around now."
All of them looked forward once more, having progressed almost all the way down the long, winding path deep into the grounds. They each paused as the main building in question rose into view, more grandeur and vast than they'd imagined.
It had all the size and sculpted beauty of a traditional temple, but was twice the typical expanse of one, able to hold an army's worth of people. It rose high into the sky with its multiple levels, its layers of stories already warm with the glow from countless well-lit windows and latticed walkways. It was similar in style to a pagoda, but with the complexities and tangled, wide extensions of a residence, stretching out in a sprawl of the main building and several smaller but just as elegant side-buildings. The lawns that rolled endlessly outwards were dotted with hundreds of lavishly-adorned Union members, weighed down in colourful silky fabrics and fitted robes closely aligned with the lined lavender and tree-symbol themes that extended across the whole of the Tsukuyomi Union event. The light purple of the lantern-lit walkway cast colourful hues against the already golden face of the vast pagoda-like complex.
Smells of savoury cookery warmed the team's noses now, scented further with the lavender bushes that lined the inner paths. The nearby koi ponds sent moist, earthy odours high with the cricket sounds that had just begun to keen in time with the melodic notes of cultist songs, floating out from within the vast building. A pair of banners several stories tall fell in grand, rippling stretches of dark fabric on either side of the front double-doors, holding large, hand-painted Rinnegan eyes; beneath them, armour-clad guards and several attendants awaited newly-arrived guests.
"Now," Obito said under his breath. When Sakura glanced backwards, Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi were already gone.
She swallowed hard as she and Obito approached the front doors, her squeeze around his arm now unconsciously seeking mild comfort. He glanced down at her with a cryptic expression, leading her to the doors and nodding to the attendants.
Sakura lifted her head, her face arranged with a practised smile. "Hey, Nakamura. Hi, Tanaka. How are you doing?"
The guards grinned back at her, already relaxed upon recognising her. The armoured guards beside them had lost interest in Sakura and Obito as soon as she had called out the names of the attendants like they were old friends. "You can call us by our first names, you know?" Tanaka was saying, shaking dusk-coloured hair from his face. "We've seen you enough times that we don't need the formalities. Longtime members like you are an honour to speak with." He glanced curiously at Sakura's company. "But this is an unexpected change. Who's this you brought instead of—"
"Just my friend," Sakura quickly answered, maintaining a false smile. "I'm famished. They cater something good this time?"
"Only the best." Nakamura's dark eyes were shining in a way that reminded her of Naruto. "Saito's sparing no expense. Tonight is a big deal."
"Psh." Sakura's dismissal was lighthearted as the guards hoisted the heavy, carved doors open for them. "I'm just happy to come to such a lavish event."
"I suppose you remember the days we met in dusty old conference rooms," Tanaka chuckled.
"We'll see you later," Obito interjected. He pulled Sakura with him past the open front doors into the front hall; she let out a tense exhale as they left the chatty front doormen behind. They both glanced around at the warmly-lit, well-decorated interior of the less-crowded front entryway before Obito brought his watchful eye back to Sakura. For a moment, they were alone in the large entry room of the building that felt like a cold, spacious lobby, the distant sounds of lively clamour just beyond screened walls and multi-level floors.
Obito's stare narrowed upon Sakura. She glanced away, sweat on the back of her neck beneath her snug collar.
"You're nervous," he commented.
"Of course I am. Wouldn't you be?" She plucked at her fitted dress, shifting from foot to foot. The inside of this building struck her as a combination of a vast residence and something of a temple, the polite urge to take off her boots one she had to ignore, knowing better for this particular big event.
"Hardly." Obito lifted his head, glaring at the paintings of Madara across the paper screens of the walls. "Something seems off with you, like you know something you're not telling me."
Sakura was unsmiling now, her green gaze serious and her voice soft. "It's just that I don't know if he'll show up or not." She cleared her throat, glancing with Obito at the paintings around them. "You know, I did ask… but of course, he wouldn't tell me."
"You can't trust anything he says anyway. Even if Madara had told you he is or isn't attending, I wouldn't put stock in it." Obito offered Sakura his arm again, and she took it hesitantly, looking out towards where they could hear the noise of the main hall deeper into the heart of the vast building. "That isn't why I'm asking you though, Sakura." He slid his gaze to her, frowning. "Have you done this before?"
Sakura blinked at Obito's vague question before realising he was referring to their side-mission. She swallowed thickly. "No. I'm nervous about that too."
"Will you regret it?"
She shot Obito an acidic glare as the two of them stepped forward, her voice barely above a harsh whisper to make sure she stayed out of the earshot of a passing servant who hurried by. "Of course not. I hate Saito just as I hate the cult and its cause."
Obito paused, Sakura's words hanging between them as they passed a pair of matching stairwells and dodged a fluttering banner. Lights danced with shadows as they neared the event hall; even though they couldn't see it through a wall of shut paper screen doors painted with Rinnegans upon ink-black trees, they could hear it, the music and sounds of feet and voices thumping like the vast building's mass heartbeat. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Sakura glanced up at Obito's face in the shadows, curious why he had gone silent.
His dark stare was narrowed, deciding, and upon realising that he was debating her truthfulness, Sakura let out an offended hiss under her breath, careful to be just hushed enough that several hurried servants passing by couldn't hear her. "Just because I've attended every meeting does not mean I've changed my mind about them."
Obito grimaced in response, adjusting the lapels of his dark, red-accented robes. He and Sakura stepped through a smaller set of sliding doors held open by a bowing pair of attendants, striding into the bright, noisy roar of the center hall, the light falling in gold and lavender hues down their tense silk-draped shoulders.
Sakura and Obito were immediately accosted by the heady rush of warm alcohol-scented air and the noise of a thousand excited people. Wide enough to envelop the Hokage building in Konoha, the hall was alive with light, music, and the chattering din of countless crowds of guests. They clung beside pillars, peered out over multi-level balconies, and crowded along the distant stage that appeared to have an extensive set of rooms and halls that went on behind it as well, indicating just how large this building really was.
"There's so many cultists now," Sakura realised uneasily, staring past ribbon-wrapped balconies full of people over the countless heads of the crowd before them. Hanging back, she and Obito stood in the safe shadow of a pillar. Paying them no mind, many other guests strode and swirled around them, each one as just as well-dressed and twice as lively. Beautiful women with flashing smiles strutted beside men swathed in spendy formal robes; ladies lingered in vivacious, noisy cliques, and guards of every colour and gender stared out from their occasional posts along pillars and walls, their watchful attention lingering upon any particularly loud guests. There were multiple bars embedded in each of the far walls, drawing crowds of their own with their clinking cups and backlit racks of high-shelf liquor. Elegant music continued to rise and flow throughout the expansive hall, and the both of them rolled their eyes upon seeing the kabuki play that was going on as background entertainment far ahead upon the stage.
"Found some private offices that are promising," a voice cut through Sakura and Obito's ears at once. They adjusted their hidden ear-pieces in matching motions before exchanging glances. "Turn your volume down again, Naruto," Obito growled quietly.
"We found some seals that indicate layered defenses," Sasuke's calm voice sounded, followed by Kakashi's affirming hum. "We haven't encountered much security in these upper back rooms just yet. They don't seem to be expecting anyone to try and pry into this; all their guards are focused on the event itself."
"That's good," Obito replied, a hand passing over his ear as he hid the little ear piece from view, "we've just reached the main hall. Everything seems fine for now."
"Hey!" Both his and Sakura's heads turned as a pair of ladies strode towards them. Sakura bit back a muffled curse, drawing Obito's sharp attention; she stepped back, but like sharks honing in, her Union acquaintences locked on to her with painted nails digging in along her arm and excited voices loud even through the noise around them. "This is such a surprise!" one of them piped up, her painted face matching that of her friend in colourful, vivid hues of red and purple painted along her eyes. Her friend clung greedily to Obito beside Sakura while Sakura was waving her hands placatingly, her dread and dislike barely veiled behind her flat smile. "Hey, sisters. How are you both…"
"We knew we'd see you, you've never missed a day," the second of the sisters cut in, ignoring Sakura's half-uttered question she had interrupted. She patted at her carefully-woven black hair and beamed up at Obito. "But who's this?"
Sakura gave a sigh as Obito recoiled from the sisters' obviously interested attention, subtly swatting painted nails away from his own sleeve. Taking a deep breath, Sakura prepared her explanation, tired from the conversation already. "Well, he's here as my invited guest to join us at this lovely event. His name's um, Tobi, and he's just my—"
"Tobi!" the first sister squealed. She stepped up to him with exaggerated grace, primping her flowery tree-themed kimono and aiming her red-lipped smile at him. "Such a handsome name, and so fitting. But," she said, sliding a questioning glance at Sakura as sharp as a blade, "where in the world is your husband instead?"
Sakura's arms were folded. She was doing her best to remain patient with their steamrolling interruptions, but the word husband cut through her focus, frazzling her instantly. She blinked at them with a blank expression. "My…?"
"He and this Tobi look related!" Both sisters were circling him now, Obito glaring at whichever met his stare with an unimpressed look on his face. Dramatic black lashes fluttered over the second sister's smile as she peered curiously up into his scowling expression. "I mean that in the best way," she purred, "your usual date is quite the one to behold, too."
Sakura was quick to avoid Obito's cutting, questioning gaze. She waved at the sisters again, fanning at her heated cheeks. "Well, yes, he and my friend here are um, distantly related." Wincing at her accidental truth, Sakura tried not to blunder further, already mortified by this encounter with the cultist sisters she usually managed to evade each meeting. "My usual date couldn't make it here tonight, so this is his cousin accompanying me instead." She cleared her throat, her ears as red as her face.
Temporarily distracted by Sakura, the pair of twinned ladies hummed in understanding. "A shame. You and your husband are such a sweet couple. Always attached at the hip." Their grins matched as they watched Sakura, hungry for more of her reactions. "When do you two plan on having children?"
Obito managed to catch Sakura's eye before she could sink further into the floor. He was holding an impressively apathetic look on his face, disallowing the sisters from drawing reactions from him, but she could see the fury and line of questioning forming behind his daggered glare, promising an unpleasant future interview about her "husband".
"I'm not married. I'm not," Sakura quickly blurted. She pressed her hands over her face, exhaling from between her fingers while the sisters giggled at her mortification. "But you act like newlyweds," the first sister teased, leaning in towards Sakura, her voice saccharine-sweet. "The way you two are at every meeting all these months, it's so adorable to watch. It's so nice to see people in love…"
The second sister leaned over next to Obito, speaking in a hush to him behind her hand. "But I wouldn't sit in their chairs afterwards." He glanced at her with a brief look of horror.
Sakura was scowling as the first sister put her hands on her hips, her brightly-painted fingers with eye symbols drawn on tapping along the frills of her dress and the embroidered tree-branch designs of her expensive obi. "Where is he, anyway? What could possibly be more important than tonight's event? Especially for such dedicated members as yourselves. Oh…" Her gaze widened dramatically within the bright slashes of coloured paint around her eyes. "Did you two break up?"
"Does that mean he's single?" the other sister pitched in delightedly. "You've no chance," her sibling shot back to her with an acid-laced backwards glance.
"We're done talking now," Obito growled, brushing past the sister that had been attempting to cling along his elbow and swiping past the second, pulling Sakura roughly by the arm back into shadows and well away from the awful pair behind them. The jilted sisters soon shrugged off the conversation's loss, turning their alligator-attention towards other subjects and disappearing into the colours and vibrance of the shifting, excitable crowd.
Obito turned on Sakura as soon as they were both safely out of earshot in a corner, his face mottled with red. Sakura belatedly noticed he had used subtle henge to mask the grooves on his features as well make it appear that he had his missing eye back as he glowered down at her. "You're in a relationship with a cultist and didn't report it to us?"
"I'm not… he isn't…" Sakura sighed, running a hand over her face. "It's not serious. I didn't think it was worth reporting."
"Of course it is! It's a major conflict of interest." Obito gestured frustratedly at Sakura. "Do you not understand how dangerous that is? You told me you're not on their side — but it's a serious breach of trust to hide such a vital detail from us."
Sakura clenched her fists, green eyes flashing. "I'm using him for information. Dating a cultist more thoroughly embedded me in Union. It made them see me as part of them more easily. Don't you see? I have things in control."
"For now," Obito growled, pausing until a nearby servant walked back out of hearing range, his angry attention centered upon Sakura unwaveringly. "You're not escaping this subject. We'll be discussing this more later, and it will not be pleasant."
"I didn't do anything that bad," Sakura grumbled, causing Obito to wrench her by the arm into the shadow of a tall pillar supporting the upper balconies. She jerked her gaze back up to his, finding that his red stare was aglow, his voice deep and threatening. "What if this mission goes wrong and it becomes a fight, Sakura? There are nearly a thousand of your fellow Union members around us, and they will all be against you, myself, and your teammates."
Sweat pearled along her neck, and Obito loomed over her, his low growl only just audible to her ears beneath the noise of the crowds and music. "Will you side with us… or your 'usual date'?"
"He's not here and it won't come to that anyway." Sakura shook off Obito's grip, her tight-lipped attention shifting out to the crowds within the heart of the main hall. "We should be paying more attention to what's going on. Let's go."
"I knew you were hiding something," came Sasuke's quiet scoff into their ears, causing them both to scowl once more.
"So… according to the event schedule," Sakura changed the subject, her ears reddening over her ill-humoured scowl, "once the kabuki play is done, Saito's making his appearance and giving what I don't doubt will be a flowery, awful speech. Then he's announcing the very thing our team's on the hunt for…" She tilted her head up with a finger tapping along her chin. "Then it's banquet time and dancing, probably more showy things on stage from entertainers, and that's the whole thing."
Obito leaned back against a pillar with his arms folded. Sakura held his dark stare, somewhat disarmed by how he'd used henge to fake a modified version of his face; two eyes instead of one, the grooves in his face gone, his dark hair a little longer but just as choppy. He looked different enough not to be recognised, and unexpectedly younger. His image now struck her again with how he was an Uchiha, and visibly related to Madara, if distantly.
He regarded her coldly, and she shifted where she stood, prickling with unease. It was bad she'd earned his mistrust and ire. She'd need to speak with him at length after this to try and smooth this over: surely, she could explain in a way he would accept and understand. Right?
Sakura let out a breath, feeling anxiousness constrict her heart. Just as she and her team seemed to be united, there was dissonance again.
She shut her eyes briefly. Was she going to be the reason the team split once more? Had she already messed everything up?
"Focus, Sakura," Obito's voice cut through her haze, and she blinked at him, forgetting to hide the anxiety from her expression. Obito paused, some of the shadows in his scowl fading as he read her face.
He sighed. "Stop stressing yourself out over it. I didn't say I'm going to condemn you; and I do believe you that you mean well." His dark eyes narrowed, but his presence was a little less oppressive, the edge in his tone gentled as he spoke. "Just stick to the plan, listen to what Kakashi and I tell you, and everything should be fine."
Sakura smiled, just a little. She'd almost forgotten; Obito had a heart buried beneath his gruff demeanour. "All right."
"After his speech would be the best time," he said then, and Sakura nodded, wringing her hands together with sweat between her palms. She had been truthful earlier; she wouldn't regret how she and Obito would be taking Saito out tonight. She hated him even more now than she had back when he'd attempted to torture her at his old library. But assassinations were something she wasn't experienced with, nor particularly comfortable doing, regardless. She hoped it would be as quick and as clean as possible.
How would it change future meetings, she wondered? Would the entire Union collapse without his rule?
That was certainly the idea. Saito hadn't established a hierarchy, and there was no one recognised or respected enough within the Union that Sakura could easily see taking his place. This whole thing was his show.
Or perhaps more like his charade. Sakura's gaze wandered across the lavish decor, her ears warmed continually with the music that flowed throughout the vast hall above hundreds of heads. Though the beauty of the event was nothing short of extravagant, she could feel the sheer waste beneath it all, like an itch. All of this wealth, and it was spent on banners and custom lights, alcohol and sumptuous, endless tables and platters of food; live entertainment, marble sculptures, manicured gardens. Sakura couldn't help but to think of all the other much more practical uses there could be for such copious riches.
The host of patrons who funded the Union were all here tonight, their servants in hand. They were easy to spot as they kept themselves separated from the crowds, nestled within the inner hall balconies. They were pampered and protected, fanned by their personal attendants where they perched in gilded chairs, brought platter after platter of expensive appetisers and sushi to engorge themselves with.
They were probably why there were guards posted on every corner. She and Obito swapped glances as they assessed the hall with their mission in mind, and she was already counting silently as the two of them made their way closer to the middle-back of the hall, navigating between couples and crowds of boisterous, chattering Union members dressed to the nines. Ten guards along that wall; one by nearly every pillar. Two at every balcony overlook, watching the rich folk who watched the stage in turn. There were more armed shinobi posted behind sake bars, beside each door, and intermingling with the crowd, and by the time Sakura had thoroughly accounted for every one of them, the number in her head had climbed high into the double-digits.
"So many guards," Obito was growling as he pretended to drink from the cocktail a passing servant had handed him. He acted casual as he glanced at Sakura, who took a demure sip from her own drink, a lavender matcha mix she found herself enjoying. "Why? Does Saito expect trouble? He should."
"He never hires guards. This is new," she answered him. Lifting her head, she glanced at the stage. It had been cleared, the lights centered upon a podium that black-clad production assistants were carefully positioning.
"You think he had a tipoff?"
"No." Savouring her drink a moment, Sakura shut her eyes with a sigh. "I think he's just showing off. An unimpressive display of power and wealth that anyone worthwhile would deem pathetic and weak."
"There you go again…" Obito set his untouched violet-coloured cocktail upon a ledge and peered at Sakura, the glittering lights catching in his searching stare. "...talking just like Madara. How has fighting him let you inherit his way of talking? Do you speak with him much between punches?"
Her lips quirked in a smile. Wiping a drop of matcha from her mouth, Sakura let out a huff, amused at the thought. "Yes, actually. A bit." She looked away from Obito, her attention drawing back to the well-lit stage distant across the hall. "It's a shame he's our enemy," Sakura went on softly, her voice almost lost in the lively beat of songs that thumped from mounted speakers throughout the hall around them.
Before Obito could say anything in return, their ear pieces hummed subtly back to life. "Found the right private library." Kakashi's tone was flat and his words quick, indicating his focus. "Naruto and I had to take down a few of their guards to remain undetected; Sasuke's quick thinking also let us disable several traps. I'm searching the guards now that we've moved them out of sight…"
"Good," Obito commented back. He and Sakura moved in tandem along the shadowed wall beneath pillars and eaves, weaving through the distracted crowd as they made their way carefully around the side towards the front with their eyes on the stage.
"Unremarkable." Kakashi sounded vaguely disappointed. "They seem like generic mercenaries, not from any specific village or group that we can tell. They weren't carrying any helpful information either. Why hire so many guards?"
"They were easy targets, many or not," Sasuke briefly joined in, followed by Naruto's complaint. "This lockpicking stuff is so boring. Hurry up, Sasuke."
"It takes precision. Shut up and let me focus."
"A heavily-reinforced door," Kakashi explained, a slight static following his words before he adjusted his ear piece. "Already took care of several more traps. Things are going well, so far."
"Remember, it's going to be a file of some kind, or a set of files. That's what our intelligence earned from our library mission indicated," Sakura pitched in. "He paid an extraordinary amount for it, so I'm sure it'll be better-guarded than his previous stuff."
She adjusted a thick lock of long hair over her ear piece, making sure it was hidden from view. Setting her empty cup onto a nearby tray, she glanced uneasily at Obito, who was watching her with narrowed eyes again. She tugged free sweat-coiled locks that were caught beneath her cheongsam collar as they slid into the shadow of another pillar, now closer to the middle of the vast hall and with a better view of the stage.
Sakura's unease was triple-fold: Obito's suspicion of her was one, her nerves for their side-mission of taking out Saito was another; but her third, unspoken source of adrenaline-spiked nervousness was her embedded feeling that he was around here somewhere.
She had no doubt. She had been wary the moment Madara told her he was busy tonight, but when he'd not specified further even with her needling, she knew it to her bones. He would be here somewhere in the shadows, and it wasn't unlikely he might snatch her attention for himself at some point.
Sakura's exhale was shaky, her skin already unconsciously flushed. She wanted to doubt that Madara would be so bold as to steal her away while she was in Obito's company, but he'd done similar things before, throwing her over his shoulder in view of the Hokage right in her own office.
His possessive nature also had her nervous, and even though Obito was only pretending to be her date for the sake of the mission, Sakura dreaded Madara's potential rankling reaction should he see her arm-in-arm with him. It felt like cheating…
Sakura pushed a hand through her hair with a puff of hot air. She had lost her mind. She wasn't cheating. She wasn't in any kind of relationship with anyone, and this was all mission pretenses, anyway. She wasn't dating anyone, no matter all that had happened between her and Madara, and it would be just fine if she could stop her mind from gallivanting down such idiotic paths of thought.
Seeing her reflection in the glassy surface of a tall, gilded painting of Madara nearby, Sakura let out a soft curse. She pushed and prodded at her mussed hair, trying to fix the neat bun at the back of her head and adjusting her hair sticks. Obito rolled his eyes next to her, accepting another drink offered to him by a servant as she frantically fixed how she looked.
"Don't be so high-strung," he commented, eyeing his drink with a sniff before taking a measured, careful sip. He watched as Sakura adjusted her dress and checked her makeup. "We're just information-gathering until after speeches are finished; that's when we need to get into backstage and execute our mission. And you don't need to look pretty for that."
Sakura shot Obito a glare. "I want to."
"Who are you trying to impress?" Obito's gaze flicked over her once. "With your custom Rinnegan-themed dress — your Union boyfriend?"
Sakura flushed, folding her arms tightly over her chest. His eyebrows rose as she looked away without denying it. "Yeah, maybe a little." She bit her lip. "I didn't spend a lot on it, okay? I'm friends of a sort with a Union member who's this old tailor. She was more than happy to make it, and I even got a discount…"
"We're through," Sasuke's voice sounded in their ears. Obito and Sakura sobered, standing taller, and she pointed as she stepped closer to him, heart pounding a little harder. "And there's Saito on the stage. He's about to speak."
A hush began to settle over the crowd as Saito tapped the mic, leaning over it with a sloppy grin. A thousand heads turned as the whole of the very crowded hall looked down at the brightly-lit stage.
Obito's growl was hushed as well as he spoke into his hidden ear-piece. "Keep us updated, but we can't answer while Saito's making his speech, or we'll be overheard now. Have you found anything yet?"
Sakura's gaze was straying as Obito and the voices of her teammates continued to buzz through her ears. She'd spotted someone dark-haired and tall behind the nearby bar — could it be?
"A lot of files. Records," Kakashi was saying. "More traps," Naruto grumbled, and Sasuke finished their exchange with a scoff. "Another door. This one, we can just destroy. Naruto—"
Obito turned down the volume on his ear piece in time, but Sakura was staring hard at the dark stranger, her heart pounding hard. Saito was talking now, and neither of them paid him much attention as he launched into a grandiose announcement of this incredible extraordinary occasion, Sakura nearly jumping out of her skin as there was a low boom through the ear piece. Hissed curses; Obito making a face as Kakashi scolded Naruto for obliterating that door quite so loudly.
But all of the crowds' faces were still upturned towards the stage. Obito sighed, tapping his ear piece. "Idiots. You'll get caught."
"It's a room with a safe. We've found it."
"I'll take care of these guys," Naruto was saying, the distant shouts of unfamiliar voices just audible through their ear pieces. Obito was scowling again, his eyes back on the stage, and Sakura had ripped her attention from the bar, having realised that particular stranger definitely wasn't Madara. But she could feel that familiar sensation, the prickling across her arms, the tingling down her back that he elicited from her just by being nearby.
"Obito," Sakura said softly, but her voice was drowned out in both their ears by Sasuke talking with Kakashi. "Is this really what we're looking for?"
"Without a doubt. Look at the seal on it. This is the one."
"Well, then. We should make sure it isn't a false copy, in case the real thing is hidden deeper."
"Careful opening it…"
"Obito." She nudged at his arm, and he glanced at her, shaking his head. "Pay attention, Sakura. We need to hear both Saito and what your teammates are doing. This is the most vital time — we can talk later."
"No, it's not that," she tried, and Saito's voice rose as he lifted his arms in the air jubilantly, his face illuminated by the spotlights. "It is my greatest pleasure to announce… the very reason we are all gathered here today!"
Noise from the crowd — clapping hands, cheers and whistles, even the bartenders clapping before pouring out more drinks, and neither Sakura or Obito could hear their ear pieces, both of them with a hand at their ears as they turned up the volume, their glaring eyes on the stage. The clapping went on and on, Saito bowing and beaming out at the countless faces, soaking up the attention before actually making his announcement.
"Say it again, Sasuke," Obito hissed. He turned up the dial again. "We couldn't hear you. What is it?"
Sakura froze as Kakashi was the one to answer. "Ocular research."
"Research?"
Crack-crack-crack: fireworks, exploding out over the vast crowd in lavender-white sparks, earning adoring gasps and more applause from the multitudes of Union members. Saito was still waving his arms, extending the hype of his announcement with several more strings of flowery sentences, nearly bouncing upon the stage behind the podium. His cries of joy rose with the crowd's building anticipation.
Sakura had slunk back into a shadow a few steps away from Obito, hissing into her ear piece. "Ocular? What do you mean?"
"This is bad," Sasuke was talking with Kakashi. Naruto had rejoined them, his tone full of worry. "Guys, I took care of those guards, but I think there's more coming. We need to get out of here before the whole place knows we're here."
"This is extensive. The amount of detail; it's so thorough. There's even this serial number here, 78983, as if it's one of multiple files. Does this mean there's more research like this around here?"
"Tell me what you mean by ocular," Sakura tried again, and she was sinking back against the pillar with dread pulling her down to the floor. She hadn't noticed how Obito had gone perfectly still as well, his head lifted with a frozen look on his face; she didn't hear the silence of the crowd, unanimous, spreading. She hadn't heard Saito's announcement he'd finally declared: only the awful, awful word Sasuke had spoken into her ear. "Rinnegan," he repeated. "Rinnegan research. This whole file is on how to artificially create one, including extensive studies on their nature and inner workings."
"No," she whispered back.
"Did you know about this, Sakura?"
"Let's take it and go, guys."
"Who made it?" she asked, but she already knew, hanging her head, and she didn't notice Obito backing up slowly, his wide dark eyes flicking to her while he mouthed we need to leave now going unnoticed in her sinking emotions. She barely heard Sasuke's words as Obito wrenched her to her feet, her gaze finally returning to the stage only to widen as she went very still. "For a ridiculous sum of ryo, and what appears to be a contract for silence," Sasuke said through their earpieces with the sound of ruffling pages, "Orochimaru."
— END OF PART ONE OF TWO —