Mortal Blow: Chapter 2

It had been a ruse.

Sakura sat cradling Kakashi’s head in her lap using her precious chakra reserves to bring him back to consciousness. Pakkun kept nosing his knee in encouragement for the silver-haired man to awaken.

Naruto was out cold with a worried Hinata fretting over him but the fox within him would heal any wounds he’d received. Itachi had lied, but more so, Sasuke lied.

Supposedly, they were the ones he trusted most and yet he’d taken off--again. Sai, Kiba, Shino, and Yamato were on their tail, but she already knew that they were long gone. Sasuke’s new team also had vanished.

A dark, lazy eye opened and stared up at her. “You can stop. Otherwise we’ll have to carry you back to camp.” Kakashi struggled to sit up and Sakura didn’t restrain him. He scratched the back of his head and looked around their remaining group. He half-heartedly patted Pakkun on the head. “Where are the rest of the pack?”

“Shiba is standing by the fox kid. Bull and the others went with the other ninja to help them track those missing nin.”

“Thanks, Pakkun. You can go take a rest now.”

“No way. I’m going to sit right here and watch you,” the pug said sitting his rump down stubbornly next to him.

“Fine.” Kakashi turned to Sakura. “You want to explain what happened?”

“Before or after Itachi put you under?”

“After, I remember the before. Sasuke took off with you and then half an hour later Itachi showed up bloody, but whole.” He gave her an appraising look.

“Yes, I know. I healed a missing nin. I didn’t have much choice.”

“There’s always a choice,” he said quietly. A moment of fear seized Sakura’s heart as her breath caught at her sensei’s tone. Was he implying that she’d just betrayed Konoha? He grinned his eye-crinkling grin. “Just kidding, Sakura-chan.”

“What did Itachi say to Naruto?”

“He told him to stay alive and something about him being Jiraya’s chosen student. Then he focused on putting me under.” Kakashi sighed. “I’d really hoped we would be able to go home tonight.”

“Why is going home tonight any different than going home tomorrow?”

A far-away look took possession of Kakashi’s expression. “Jiraya’s new Icha Icha book came out today.”

“Figures,” Sakura said with a roll of her eyes. She gestured for Pakkun to come toward her and she gave the pug a good rub behind the ears. It might have been embarrassing to learn that they used the same shampoo, but at least that meant he smelled nice.

It wasn’t long before the rest of Kakashi’s pack of dogs and four dejected looking ninja joined them.

“We lost them,” Kiba said sitting down next to Sakura with a heavy thud. His eyes traveled over toward Hinata and Naruto and his jaw tightened visibly. “That traitor and his posse just vanished. We could have found them if we were given more time.” He glared at Yamato.

“Half of our team was left behind and we don’t know their motive. The dangers outweighed our advantage now that the element of surprise had been lost,” Sai answered matter-of-factly. He blinked at the dog in Sakura’s lap. “Can I have a rub down too? My muscles are sore from all this running.”

Sakura’s hand fisted at her side as her eye twitched dangerously at the Root member’s tactless question.

“We’ll set up camp and head out early tomorrow fresh,” Kakashi said interrupting her thoughts. His dark eye locked on Sakura’s eyes. “You and I need to talk though.”

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

Itachi sat lotus-style on the over-hang of a large mountain facing the West as the sun’s last rays disappeared over the horizon. His thoughts were on his brother as they usually were, but this time a certain medic also came to mind.

He now understood why Sasori had lost to the young medic. She was nothing like the annoying, boy-crazy, crybaby he remembered seeing on his brother’s genin team years ago. Of course, his spying on his little brother had been limited at the time as distance was the prerogative.

It was funny, he’d done so much for Konoha and yet the hatred felt for him by the Leaf’s citizens was limitless. He’d been surprised that the hokage’s apprentice had actually healed him, but he’d been right in his gamble that her love for his idiot brother would outweigh her rationale. Or maybe it was a sense of loyalty felt for the young Sasuke that was her former teammate—really it didn’t matter.

She asked if she could fix his eyes. Did she know the extent of his other problem? The true reason that time was of the essence and why he’d agreed to the mission he’d carried out all those years ago?

He still needed to confront Sasuke. He needed to draw out the residual of Orochimaru that lied in waiting within the deep recesses of Sasuke’s mind. His brother had no idea of the monster that dwelled inside. He hadn’t expected Sasuke to stab him, but the boy’s hatred was greater than he’d imagine.

Just a little more time was needed. He had to defeat the snake and somehow get the boy’s heart back towards protecting Konoha from the threat Pein promised to bring. Otherwise the fool would lose those precious bonds permanently that stubbornly kept after him.

Why he’d reject the son of the fourth hokage, apprentice of the fifth hokage, and the son of the White Fang instead of the rabble he did travel with made no sense. Two of the three were certified geniuses and the other had the strength of the strongest beast sealed within his every fiber.

He began to pick at the dark chipped polish of his fingernails as he pondered what life would have been like for him had he been given such a team. Would they have found a different way of dealing with the Uchiha incident? What if Minato Namikaze had been the hokage at the time? Itachi reached into the inner folds of his long coat and pulled out a canteen full of the bitter herbal medicine he drank daily to sooth his ailment. Maybe he’d see if that pink-haired medic could do something for it the next time they met.

“Here you are,” Kisame said stepping next to the Sharingan user and leaning on his sword. “Did you do what you were supposed to do?”

Itachi shrugged while inconspicuously hiding his tonic. “The nine-tailed beast escaped once more.”

Kisame clucked his tongue. “Sometimes I think you’re not even trying to capture that loud-mouthed brat. The sooner you catch him the sooner we’ll be done with all this running around.”

Itachi looked over at his companion with a bored expression. “And then what?”

“World domination of course!” Kisame said with a laugh before sheathing his sword and then stretching wide. “Ah, I guess it would be pretty boring then. No one would bother fighting with us. Those Konoha ninjas seems the only challenge left.”

“Exactly why I’m taking my time,” Itachi answered returning his attention back to the setting sun.

“Sometimes, I wonder exactly where your loyalty lies,” Kisame said quietly. He chuckled nervously when Itachi glanced up at him. “But I know I’d rather be on your side than against you!”

Itachi rose to his feet and started walking away. Kisame followed suite and the two began the long trek to their next destination. What Kisame didn’t know were the detours his silent partner intended to take.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

“Sasuke-kun!”

Sasuke cringed at the fan-girl tone Karin used to address him. It was much worse than when Sakura did it when they were twelve. At least that behavior could be blamed on immaturity and girly silliness. Karin was older than him and the nick-name was more obsessive than innocent little girl crush.

It was also a frank reminder that when he did see his former teammate she’d addressed him with no such honorific.

“Sasuke-kun, slow down, please!” Karin called out running to catch up to him. He didn’t spare her a look. Apparently, this was unacceptable as she latched onto his shoulder and attempted to force him to look at her. He gave her a glower that would wilt any recipient and she quickly withdrew her hand. “Sasuke-kun, it’s been a long day. Do you think we can camp yet?”

“Don’t call me that,” he growled.

Karin blinked owlishly at him behind her glasses. “Don’t call you what, Sasuke-kun?”

“That. Just address me as leader if you must, but stop adding the kun to my name.”

“She’s just being affectionate,” Jugo said in her defense.

“Calm down. Let’s rest so I don’t melt, yeah?” Suigetsu whined plopping himself down on the ground and pouring his canteen of water over his head. “It’s freaking hot, Sasuke-kun,” he said in imitation of Karin.

The red-head shook her fist angrily at Suigetsu seeming to have forgotten about Sasuke for the moment. “Why you arrogant fish! Don’t be so disrespectful to our leader!”

Sasuke raised a brow at her statement and caught Jugo’s sigh of exacerbation at their teammates’ antics.

Jugo cleared his throat and focused on Sasuke. “What did happen today?”

“Too many reunions from my past,” he muttered. Sasuke rolled back his shoulders. “Alright, we’ll camp here. Suigetsu make yourself useful and get some firewood.”

Suigetsu’s mouth dropped open. “What? I’ve almost melted to nothing and you want me to go out and do the grunt work?”

“I’ll help,” Jugo said quickly before any fighting could escalate. Their leader was too violent to provoke and he really didn’t want to clean up the mess.

Sasuke sat glumly upon the fallen log he intended to center their camp around. Thoughts were too heavy on his mind to keep up their travel. If he couldn’t focus he’d be of no use should there be an attack.

“So,” Karin said sitting beside him. She seemed to enjoy taking advantage of any time they might be alone. She scooted closer toward him. “Who was that girl you ran off with?”

Sasuke knew that Karin could be dangerous when jealous and he didn’t feel like giving Sakura someone else to worry about. “A medic. I needed her to heal someone.”

Karin nodded sagely. “Your brother, right. I saw him. He’s a bit of a coward. That shark man was there too. He really demoralized Suigetsu when they faced off. The moron is lucky to be alive.”

Sasuke’s hand closed into a tight fist at her words having stopped hearing her after calling his brother a coward. Was he? Was Itachi a coward? He was rather good at running away. Or was he simply biding his time. One of the things he could remember about Itachi—that wasn’t marred with hatred—was his brother’s patience.

“So how did you know that girl was the medic? She wasn’t doing anything that looked like healing. All I saw her do was destroy some trees. It’s a crude habit, really,” Karin said pushing her glasses up her nose in irritation.

“Itachi asked for her.”

“Still, the fact that you knew which one was her…”

“She’s my old teammate,” Sasuke answered bluntly.

Karin’s jaw dropped dramatically. “You mean…that monstrously powerful kunoichi was your crybaby teammate?”

“Apparently, she’s grown up,” Sasuke murmured thinking about how today’s Sakura differed from the one he’d left on the bench as well as from the one he’d seen at Orochimaru’s base those months ago.

The sound of Suigetsu and Jugo coming back to camp with arms laden with fire wood cut off the jealous tirade threatening to fall from Karin’s lips. Sasuke quickly lit the wood using the fire technique he’d mastered as a young child.

“Any idea where your brother is going to now?” Jugo asked

“I have a feeling he’ll find us if we don’t find him.” Sasuke stared at the flames. Questions about his brother and his former teammates clouding his single-minded determination to destroy Itachi. What if he’d been wrong? What if there was more to the story than he thought. He needed to find out what really happened all those years ago including what role Madara played. He needed someone who had access to the records of the hokage. Someone who was perhaps the apprentice to the current village leader?

A rare smile crossed his lips as he began to plan his next move.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

“What do we do now?” Sakura asked stirring her ramen disinterestedly as the group sat around eating their dinner. Naruto’s eyes lingered on her cup and with a sigh Sakura handed it over to him. “You can have it.”

“Thanks, Sakura-chan!” Naruto grinned widely before inhaling her food as he had his own a few minutes prior.

“The mission hasn’t changed,” Kakashi said as he finished reading the scroll sent from the Fifth in response to his earlier report a few hours ago. The poor hawk carrying it looked half dead from its efforts of a quick response. “We’re to search for Itachi Uchiha and thereby Sasuke Uchiha.”

Sakura waited until later that night when everyone was asleep to approach Kakashi who sat leaning against a tree trunk on the first watch. “What aren’t you telling us?” she asked sitting beside him.

Kakashi grunted. The bad thing about being on watch in the dark was he couldn’t read Icha Icha to help him ignore teammates that refused to sleep.

“Kakashi-sensei, I know good and well that Tsunade-shishou said something more in that letter to you.”

“And as I’m the team leader and you’re the subordinate it’s up to me to decide who needs to know and when,” he answered with a lazy look in her direction.

“Please.”

“Jiraya is missing.” The Copy Ninja looked worriedly in Naruto’s direction. “I can’t say any more than that as it’s all confidential.”

“Should we go looking for him then?” Sakura whispered.

Kakashi shrugged. “It’s not our mission.” He offered one of his trademark smiles. “Besides, it is Jiraya-san, he wouldn’t get himself hurt unless it was by a certain hokage.”

Sakura relaxed. Kakashi was right. It had just been a long day. “Why don’t you go ahead and sleep. You need to recover more and I have the next watch anyway,” Sakura said.

“You need to rest too. You drained yourself of chakra healing everyone else.”

Sakura waved her hand at the notion. “I’m fine, sensei. Who’s the medic here?”

Kakashi looked longingly at his sleeping bag. “Very well, wake me if you get tired though, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

It wasn’t long before the Copy Ninja joined the rest of his teammates in slumber. Sakura watched over her group with a feeling of pride. They might not have captured either of the Uchiha brothers to bring back home, but they’d worked as a team and no one was seriously injured.

As the years passed and Sasuke kept away she couldn’t help but lose hope in her former teammate. Her eyes rested upon the boisterous blond that meant more to her than any other family could. He was the reason she didn’t give up on Sasuke. Not because she had any interest in rekindling her old childhood crush, but because she wanted Naruto to have his brother back. And when all was said and done she did miss her old friend.

She had mixed feelings about what had happened that afternoon in her reunion with the raven-haired young man. She pulled her blanket across her shoulders as a chill seemed to fill the air. It was too late that she realized she was no longer alone as a pair of Sharingan swirled in front of her.

The last thing that crossed her mind before slipping into unconsciousness was a flash of anger that she hadn’t felt him approach until it was too late. And now she could do nothing to protect her teammates.

TBC

Note: I hadn’t intended to continue this story, but as I’ve been reading Naruto fanfiction the past two weeks I had the urge to see this plot deepen. Happy birthday to Sakura on this March 28th! Hope you enjoyed this update. Also, don’t forget to check out my profile for the link on the book I wrote.