Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Interrogation ( Chapter 5 )

Chapter Five: Discovery

 

When Sakura woke up, an extremely horrible rock band was playing within a foot of her ear—or at least, that's what it felt like. It was literally like someone was pounding on her head with an anvil. For a few minutes, Sakura couldn't even lift her head just because it hurt so much. When she finally opened her eyes, she found herself under the scrutinizing gaze of none other than Itachi himself.

Sakura's eyes widened in horror. Her mouth desperately sought words, but her voice seemed to have been left behind with her friends. “Ita—Itachi…you…”

Itachi lowered himself from his throne. His voice was soft and lilting, but mockingly amused as well. “Yes. I am here. I believe you were looking for me?” He thrust his face closer to hers, his red eyes gleaming in the half darkness. “Well. Consider me found.”

Explosive laughter from behind him told Sakura that there were others in the room as well. A sideways glance from Itachi rewarded Sakura with the horror of realizing that the presence had moved, and rather quickly, too. The person was now crouching at Sakura's side. It was Kisame. He leered at her, the gills on his face twitching, his lips peeled back to expose sharp, murderous teeth. Sakura tried to back away, and with increasing despair, realized that she couldn't.

Kisame saw her flailing limbs and, with lightening speed, grasped her wrist. Sakura cried out in pain. Kisame just laughed. “It should be known…the hunter could easily become the hunted. As it is in your case, cherry blossom.” His voice grated against her ears like nails on a chalkboard, but she could not move her hands to shield her ears. “So, my sweet, what brings you to our lovely little cave?”

Sakura was having an extremely bad day. She'd always been told to look at her surroundings, look at what environment she was in, use it to her advantage. Not only had she failed to detect her enemies' presence, but where she was as well. All that had cost her a bruised wrist, if not broken. But her spirit was nowhere in the state of her hand. She glared at Kisame with as much venom as she could muster. “Get away from me, you bastard. I will kill you.”

But her bravado had not been enough. Kisame simply squeezed harder, and Sakura could almost hear the bone splintering. Kisame uttered a hollow laugh, his gills flapping like dying fish. “Little girl, you are lucky I've already had my kill today.” His eyes, like onyx beetles, squirmed in their sockets, as if they too wanted part of the bloodlust sure to come. He let go of her wrist, his fingers trailing across her pale skin almost lovingly. He narrowed his cruel eyes. “I'll leave you along for a bit, my dear…but don't expect me stay away. I'll have my fun before long.”

Sakura was left gasping on the floor as Itachi bound her wrists together with shackles, the cold, unforgiving metal clamping down on her injured skin. Her ankles were forced together the same way, but she was spared the agony of having a collar wrapped around her neck. As Itachi and Kisame left, the steel door clanged behind them, leaving Sakura utterly, hopelessly alone.

 

 

Sasuke had driven himself into a furious frenzy. He couldn't believe that Sakura had disappeared so easily. More so, he couldn't understand how it happened. He was positive that Sakura had been behind him the whole time, and the Sand Chounin were always in front of him. How could they have gotten their hands on her? All of a sudden, a light bulb went off over his head. He hurried back to the spot where he'd last seen Sakura. He could still see her footsteps. As he followed them, they were suddenly nonexistent under a large, leafless tree by a large boulder. As Sasuke replayed the scene in his mind, he gasped and immediately leaped to the highest limb of the tree. As he looked down, he saw that one of the smaller branches was nearly broken. This struck him odd. He'd never known an assassin or ninja to be so careless. But that didn't matter anymore. Someone had been here, someone had taken Sakura, and for some reason, it was enough to set Sasuke's blood to a boil. The girl stared at him from below the tree. She had been following his every movement and still hadn't understood most of what he'd done.

“Hey. You. Did you see anything while I was fighting those creeps?”

The girl blinked, startled. “What?”

Sasuke rested his head in his hand and sighed. He was quickly losing his temper to this strange, clueless girl. “I don't know your name.”

“Oh!” She laughed. “My name's Ikimono.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Ikimono, remember when I was fighting those goons?”

“Oh, yes! You did marvelously, but I think I'd suggest—”

“Was there anyone else?”

“Oh, I'm not sure. There was this person under a cloak. The person had the most beautifully frightening eyes! Say, wasn't it strange how horribly dark it was when you were fighting them? It was like the sun was suddenly blocked out. The tree, yes the one you're standing on, was much bigger than it looks now. So strange!”

Sasuke stared at her. When he was fighting, the sun had been glaring down at him, almost burning him. Had the girl gone mad? Completely oblivious, the girl continued. “But it must have been my imagination. I wasn't looking where I was backing up and I tripped and my head hit the boulder. I'm really lucky I was born with a hard head, because—”

Sasuke wasn't even listening. His head was swimming with this new discovery. Ikimono had just been the victim of either genjutsu or a mangekyou sharingan. A sharingan…just like the one he and his brother possessed. He knew not of any surviving Uchiha besides the obvious two, and he obviously hadn't done anything. It must have been Sasuke. But why go after Sakura? Sasuke was puzzled. He hadn't sensed anything, so it would have been a perfect time for Itachi to attack him. So why hadn't he?

“Sasuke-kun?” Ikimono was looking at him in concern. “Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?”

Sasuke scowled. “Nothing. We might as well get going.”

“But where's Sakura?”

Sasuke's lips twitched in irritation. The stupid girl hadn't even understood what was going on. Oh well, no need to alarm her, he thought. “She's gone ahead. We'll catch up later.”

For a second it seemed like Ikimono doubted him, but it was immediately gone, and she smiled. “Sure, Sasuke-kun!”

As Sasuke watched her skip down the streets, he was reminded of his childhood friend, Kira. She was two years his elder. She wasn't really a Uchiha. Her mother was a pureblooded Uchiha, but her father was not. As a result, her sharingan tended to fail her at times. Her parents were often ridiculed, and she was teased and bullied by others, calling her impure and mixed child. However, she was still always happy and content with her life. She was always the first to volunteer to help him with his training when Itachi was too busy. Her skills were the most admirable out of his entire class, and when she demonstrated her power by flipping her teacher, who was twice her size and exceeded her weight, the bullying had immediately stopped. She was very outgoing and fun. They were almost like best friends.

Sasuke burned holes in the ground as he walked. Something had happened though. Her parents were murdered and hung outside her bedroom window. It was horrible sight to wake up to. There were rumors that one of the higher class Uchiha's had committed the murder, but they, too, were hushed up. In fact, even Sasuke himself didn't know much about her. No one wanted to mess with the rich and ruthless. He could still remember everything she'd told him that night, the night before she left. She had just turned ten, and she was ready to avenge her parents. He still remembered her words…

“Sasuke…I'm leaving tonight.” Her eyes had been far away, and he could see the pain in her tightly drawn face.

“But Kira!” His voice had been small, afraid. “Kira, you'll get hurt! You'll get killed! You're too young! These people are adults. You're just a girl, Kira!”

Kira had turned and smiled at him. “Don't worry about me, Sasuke. I'll be fine. I'm not just any little girl, Sasuke.” She had broken into a wide smile at these words and stood up straight. She was very tall. She could have passed for a teenager. “I'm a Uchiha!”

Sasuke hadn't bothered to correct her. His heart ached, wanting him to say more. Even at the age of eight, he knew love. He'd always matured more than his parents would have liked. Perhaps it was because of his brother's influence. “Kira…”

“Yes?”

“Kira, you have to promise to come back. You have to promise to see me again. Please…” And much to his embarrassment, he'd cried. And much to his surprise, Kira did not contradict him. Instead, she had hugged him. “Kira?”

She had smiled down at him. “Don't worry, squirt. I'll be back, I promise. And you know what?” She looked at the stars and pointed to the brightest. “See that star? Wish for me every day after I'm gone, okay? I promise, I'll be back.” Then she'd kissed his cheek and left, as swiftly as the night breeze and the effect was just as chilling.

A smile tugged at Sasuke's lips. And so he had, every night for three years. Then he'd realized it was hopeless. After she'd left, he heard rumors of her death, and sure enough, she hadn't made an appearance in more than five years. He'd given up hope after a while, and for the past year or two he'd forgotten all about her. He gazed at the sky then looked at the girl skipping in front of him. All of a sudden he could see their similarities. The same bounce in their step, the same glossy black hair, the same twinkle in their eyes. An overwhelming and almost sickening wave of memories flooded over him. He had to ask her.

“Hey…uh, Ikimono.”

She turned around, her ebony hair sweeping around like a model. She smiled. “Yes?”

He blinked. “Uh. How old are you?”

She laughed and turned back around. “Guess!”

He could feel himself turning red. He wasn't accustomed to any girl being this forward. “Twelve?”

She stopped and turned around. Her eyes were serious and troubled. “Oh, really?”

“Yes. How old are you really?”

“I would swear that I was older than you. Aren't you fifteen or something?”

“Sure. Something like that.”

“Oh well then. That's strange. I'm seventeen.” She caught his disbelieving gaze. “I know, I'm kind of short for my age. Maybe I'm too happy. But…I don't feel young.” She closed her eyes, clasped her hands behind her back, and tilted her face towards the sun. Her ebony hair cascaded down her shoulders like a waterfall. “I've gone through a lot.” She opened her eyes a bit, and with a jolt, Sasuke realized that they, too, were green. Just like Kira's. She had long eyelashes that curled slightly towards the sky. “So have you, right?” She closed her eyes again and laughed. It wasn't really a laugh…just a soft chuckle somewhere in her throat. “What am I saying? I know you have. I was there…always watching.”

Sasuke couldn't stop himself. “Kira?”

She turned around, and he found himself captured in her mystical eyes. “Kira's gone. Now it's just Ikimono.”

 

 

 

<Kira is mine! Ikimono is mine!! No one can ever steal them! =] Okay yeah…this must be so confusing, right? But hey, at least I got the chapter length right! Reviews pleaseee!>