Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Compensation ( Chapter 6 )

Chapter Six: Compensation

 

Sasuke, where are you? Sakura was scared to death. All of her initial bravado was gone. Now all she wanted was to see Sasuke, to escape and forget this had ever happened. She ultimately regretted begging Sasuke to let her come. She closed her eyes and sighed. Please, please, Sasuke…hurry and come! She filled her thoughts with him, a half smile tugging at her lips. For a moment, she could see him before her, his eyes on her, strong and handsome like he always had been. A pang of loneliness hit her. Where were they? Why weren't they here yet? The cold made it no better. She could see her breath in the air, a small cloud floating in the air, only to evaporate seconds later.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud clang as the door opened. She lifted her head hopefully, then looked away in disgust. He said her name, stressing every syllable with scorn. “Sakura.”

She refused to lift her eyes from the floor and returned the favor. “Kabuto. What a surprise. What are you doing here?”

He crouched in front of her, cool reproach emanating from him like light from the sun. “My, my. Look where your faith in your beloved Sasuke has taken you.” But he didn't answer her question.

That got a response out of her. Her head snapped up, eyes flashing with rage. “Don't you dare speak his name! You betrayed us all! You're lucky I'm tied up, or your head would be a foot from the rest of you!”

He laughed, rocking back on his heels. “Funny, funny. Such hot words, and I see that I need not remind you where you are.” He leaned forward, leering at her. “You're the one tied up, as you said. And see?” Kabuto showed her his wrists. “I'm not. But soon you'll have company, dear Sakura.”

Sakura's eyes widened in horror. “What do you mean?”

Kabuto's eyes narrowed. “Oh, it won't be long till they join you. Then you'll see.” He turned away. “Of course, if one of them dies on their way here, I'll bring him here so you can stare at his body…if you'd like.”

Sakura lashed out at him, only to be restrained by her chains. “Kabuto!” She screamed. “You will pay for this! You traitor!”

But he was no longer listening. Another figure had entered. Once again, it was Itachi. “Kabuto.” He said, his voice soft but dangerous. “I did not give you permission to socialize with our prisoners.”

Kabuto frowned. “Permission? I need permission to say a word to a prisoner?”

Itachi smirked. “I am surprised Orochimaru let such insolence pass in his rule. No wonder he is dead.”

Sakura saw Kabuto's hands clench into fists. “Of course, my Lord. I…beg your forgiveness.”

Itachi nodded curtly. “Since you…exhibit such…interest in this girl, I appoint you to her charge.” Kabuto opened his mouth as if to speak, but Itachi cut him off with a wave of his hand. “I have better use of my time than to such duties.”

And then he swept from the room like a phantom, leaving two figures in the room feeling doubly cold as they did before. Kabuto was the first to speak. “So. Now I have to stay here. Wonderful.” He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. Sakura was on her knees, feeling numb. That was the effect Itachi had on her. For some reason, his pale features reminded her of death, a cold death, freezing, clawing at her insides, twisting her heart…a whimper escaped her lips. Kabuto opened an eye and stared at her for a moment.

“He scares you?” He asked, his eyes still closed.

She glanced at him. “What do you care?” she mumbled, looking away. “You're a creep just like him.”

“I just work for him. Let's just say that we have a common interest.”

“Destroying the Leaf Village?”

“It didn't work so well last time. No…I have something far better in mind.”

It was humanly impossible for Sakura's eyes get any bigger. “What is it?” she whispered, as if out of breath.

Kabuto lowered himself to her level. He reached for her face, found it. He stroked her cheek, almost lovingly. And, consumed by her fear, Sakura didn't flinch. Her eyes held a steady gaze, horror and curiosity written all over her face. He leaned in closer, his lips next to her ear. “I want to kill Sasuke. I will kill him. I will not fail. And Itachi will help me. And I will get what I want. Everything.”

And as if on cue, thunder blasted in the sky, shaking the building. And Sakura sank to her knees, trembling. But it wasn't the thunder or the storm raging outside. She'd gone momentarily deaf. In fact, she was momentarily blind, too. Sakura had just fainted.

 

 

It had begun to rain. But the two figures in the street couldn't have cared less. Sasuke stood still, staring at Ikimono. If he weren't such a practiced person, he would have exploded with questions, betraying his composure. He allowed himself to raise an eyebrow.

“I don't understand.”

Something flickered in her eyes. She smiled, a little girl again. “Oh come on, silly! We're going to get wet! My house is right down there!” She pointed in a vague direction and skipped off.

Sasuke kept silent. He stayed where he was. He was at the top of his class, in all subjects academic as well as others. But this girl was beyond understanding. And if she did know about Kira, then there was no way he was going to give up. He would get everything out of her that he could. He walked forward slowly, following the girl, thousands of thoughts running through his troubled mind.

When they finally reached their destination, they were both sopping wet. The minute he'd walked through the door, she'd thrown a towel in his face. He dried his face, but when he was about to remove the towel from his face, she forced the towel back into his face and led him up a flight of stairs. When they reached the top, she pushed him into a room and left him alone in the room, puzzled. When he came out, he saw that she had put a screen in front of the stairs. The stairs were peculiarly set, with either side blocked by tall bamboo, growing so closely that it was nearly impossible to see into the second floor. He walked towards the screen, meaning to move it aside. Ikimono immediately barred his way.

“Oh, no, Sasuke! You don't want to go there. It's very messy. I cleaned up the guest room just for you! You should look around the second floor first!” She was smiling, but Sasuke was well learned in seeing past deception. She was hiding something, but he might as well play along and make his move at night.

“Sure, Ikimono. What did you mean when you said Kira's gone?”

Ikimono looked at him curiously. “What? When did I say that?”

“Just a few minutes ago. When we were outside.”

“Don't be silly! I've never even said anything about Kira! You must have heard wrong.” And Sasuke could tell that she wasn't lying this time. His head whirled. What was going on?

“Are you sure?”

“Of course! You're so silly, Sasuke-kun!” She laughed, spinning around in circles. “Aren't you hungry? Come sit in the dining room.” As he headed towards the screen, she stopped him. “Oh no, Sasuke-kun. See, the dining room is right here.” She pointed to the room at the end of the hall to her right. He followed her to it. The door was open, showing off a set round wooden table with two plush mats on either side. He sat on one and looked around. There were lanterns everywhere. Even though the set-up was simple, there was an elegant air to it. “I've got some onigiri, if you'd like some.”

“Sure, Ikimono.”

She beamed at him and rushed from the hallway, heading to the left hallway and turning at the room at the end. Seconds later, she popped out with a food-laden tray before he could even look at the screen. “I made these myself! This was my sister's technique, see, and I'm sure that she wouldn't mind if—” She suddenly broke off and winced. “Ow.”

“What's wrong?”

“Oh nothing! Enjoy!” She set down the tray, and he could see that there was much more than onigiri on it. There was fried unagi, two bowls of gohan, some tsukemono, kare-age, gyoza, two bowls of tonjiru soup, and sake sashimi. Sasuke stared up at her.

“You made all this?”

Her cheeks glowed red. “Hai, Sasuke-kun. I had a feeling that there would be company today!”

“This is great.” His voice had given away no enthusiasm, but he was delighted. He hadn't had a real home cooked meal since…well, since his family had dropped out of his life. He'd been living on restaurant food and an occasional dessert or dish from a girl, and even though it was good, it just didn't offer the comfort and feeling of a meal from scratch. “You did a good job.”

She smiled at him. “Eat up!”

He inclined his head towards her. “Itadakimasu.”

She laughed. “Hai!”

His face burned. Perhaps he was being too formal? However, it was soon forgotten. The meal was delicious and the atmosphere was quiet but pleasant. When they finished, Sasuke realized with surprise that he was still rather hungry. He hadn't eaten anything for breakfast or lunch, and his stomach had been complaining quietly before Ikimono had found him. She seemed to read his mind. “Wait here.”

She disappeared once again into the room at the end of the hall and returned with another, smaller tray. This one had the usual desserts of green tea ice cream and anpan. But to his surprise and pleasure, there was manju and taiyaki as well. Back in Kohona, it was difficult to find a vender that still sold them. The old pastry-maker had died years ago. Of course, it was too expensive to import, and by the time they were received, they wouldn't be fresh.

“Ikimono…”

“Yes, Sasuke-kun?”

“This is wonderful. Thank you.”

She smiled again. She seemed to be doing this a lot recently. “It's nothing, Sasuke-kun. I'm glad you enjoy it.” Her eyes gazed adoringly into his.

His heart did a strange sort of jump in his ribcage. He was suddenly at a loss for words. “Ah, yes. Thank you.”

Once again, they lapsed into an enjoyable silence while enjoying the desserts. The manju was wonderfully rich and warm, giving Sasuke a feeling of satisfaction. He would have liked nothing better than to fall asleep right then and there. The mat was soft and stuffed like a pillow, almost like a cloud. He could feel his eyelids dragging down. It had been a strenuous day, in both physical and mental terms. The exhaustion was finally getting to him. He felt a cool hand on his arm.

“Sasuke-kun?” Ikimono looked at him, worried. “Sasuke-kun, you've had a hard day. You should go to sleep now. I have your bed prepared for you already.”

She reached for his hand and helped him up. She brought him to the door. Just as his foot touched the ground on the other side of the door, some inner instinct kicked in. “Gochiso-sama deshita.” He mumbled, bowing slightly.

Ikimono smiled, her laughter sounding like music to his ears. “Domo arigatou, Sasuke-kun.”

She led him to his room, a candle burning brightly. He hadn't realized how dark it was. The lanterns in the dining room had been bright and had flooded even the darkest corners with light. The lone candle has a lot to live up to, thought Sasuke numbly. Moments later, he asked himself why he'd thought of such a thing. But his brain was too muddled and tired to think about it. He more or less collapsed on his bed. The mattress was soft and his head sank gratefully into the pillow.

Ikimono stroked his cheek gently. “Yoi yume o.” She whispered softly, floating towards the door. “Watashi no ai.” She murmured the last part, and the words followed Sasuke into his dreams, sweetening his memories and thoughts.

When she started to close the door, Sasuke opened his eyes a fraction and whispered, “Oyasumi, Ikimono-chan.”

But she hadn't heard. She was already gone. That night, he slept soundly, without a single nightmare to poison his sleep. That night, he slept peacefully for the first time in almost eight years. That night, he forgot about Sakura. That night, he forgot he wouldn't fall in love. That night, he forgot everything and remembered how to live.

 

 

 

<All you Sakura fans do not come and murder me! >.<”Reviews…please =]>