Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifice ❯ Recalled to Life ( Chapter 14 )

Chapter Fourteen: Recalled to Life

 

Sasuke was starting to wear out. He would've thought it was impossible, but after traveling for tens of miles on end, his legs began to ache. His muscles begged him to stop, but he knew that if he did, he would just be sorer and he would have less of a chance of finding Sakura in time. But three miles later, he gave in and slowed down, finally coming to a stop outside a small village. As he walked through the streets, his stomach growled uncomfortably and he sighed, heading for a nearby ramen shop. He ducked his head under the cloth flaps and entered, nodding respectfully to the owner. He was a large, burly man, not fat, but fit, with friendly brown eyes and calloused hands.

“Hello there, stranger, what can I do for you?” The man said, smiling.

“Just a bowl of ramen with vegetables and meat, please.” Sasuke said wearily, sitting down on a stool.

“Sure thing.” The man jerked his head at a young girl in the doorway behind the counter and she hurried off to alert the cook. The man settled down on one elbow and looked at Sasuke curiously. “Well, young man, you look like you've had some rough travel.”

He tensed warily. “Yeah, I've been on the road for a bit.” He shifted uneasily on his chair, checking for potential threats out of the corners of his eyes. “How much will the ramen be?”

The man grinned. “It's on the house, boy.” He leaned in closer and winked. “Looks like you've got a broken heart and a black soul.” He smiled sadly, almost wistfully. “I'll let you go easy.”

Sasuke blinked, surprised. “Oh, no, I can't let you do that…”

The man laughed gaily, eyes twinkling. “Oh, the regular gentleman, eh? All right, boy, as you say. What's your name?”

He contemplated whether or not to tell the truth, but, somehow, Sasuke felt strangely at ease with this man. Maybe it was because he was older, because he was around the age his father should have been, maybe not, but whatever it was, something spurred him to say, “Sasuke Uchiha.”

The man raised his eyebrows. “Well! A Uchiha.” He held out his large, tanned hand. “Tohru Kaneeda, at your service.” He smiled at Sasuke's bemused expression. “Oh, yes, I fit my name quite well. Haha…well, then, Sasuke, tell me a story in exchange for a bowl of ramen. It's not every day a celebrity waltzes into my shop. In fact, business has been a bit slow lately…” He frowned and stroked his chin worriedly. “To think of it, perhaps something's gone wrong somewhere. People have been leaving left and right in this place. Seem to think a war's starting! A war!” He shook his head. “Well. Wouldn't you know it! A little war, right here, wouldn't that be something? So tell me a story, Sasuke, my boy, while we wait for the ramen. I can promise you it'd be worth it.” He beamed proudly. “My wife cooks. She's the best cook around! This shop is all family run. Tell me a story, my boy.”

Once again, Sasuke found himself spilling out the reason he was here, and answering the man's questions, and for once, he felt like he was actually at home.

 

 

Maybe he won't hear me, Sakura thought fervently, not daring to breathe, maybe he won't sense me here…

Kisame sniffed around the trees, his gills opening and closing like a shark's when closing in on prey. He was directly under her tree, but the wind was blowing away from her and he couldn't smell her yet. But sooner or later, the wind would change, and her scent would be right in his face. A sudden thought struck Sakura like a speeding bullet. There was a bottle in her purse…the scent ridding spray! If only she could reach it…she moved her hand millimeters to the right, to where her bag was. The sun glinted off her ring, and a better thought occurred to her. The ring! She had commanded it to do as her thoughts said. This had better work, she thought angrily, and in her mind she said; Goddess, let me make no sound. She didn't feel any strange sensation—in fact, she didn't feel any different at all! But…she needed to do something…she took a risk and used her fist to bang on the tree. There was no reaction at all from Kisame. Sighing in relief, she grabbed her spray bottle and sprayed it in generous portions all over her. She was safe! But she caught her breath again when Kisame suddenly turned his head her way. He didn't look up, but Sakura knew she had to do something. She was a sitting duck here. Counting to three, she bolted out of the tree, jumping to another one behind him. He didn't notice anything, and she almost thought she was safe—almost. In her haste, she hadn't been careful, and a branch broke under her foot, and though it made no sound, it fell—right onto Kisame's head!

He whirled around and looked up, gray lips pulled back in a feral snarl. “You!” He caught sight of her fleeing pink form, heading towards the north, and he growled and pursued her angrily.

Sakura was terrified. She thought she'd killed him once, but here he was again! He couldn't possibly have survived it. And even if he did, he'd have been at least scarred or hurt. This Kisame was as flawless as a spirit's blade, and unmarked like a newborn baby. It was impossible! How could she possibly fight against something that never died, and hope to win? The ring around her finger had a pulse so fast it was like a second heart. Her real heart was almost beating as quick the ring, and her pulse was racing so that she felt dizzy.

“I see you!” He hissed behind her, and, with a fleeting glance behind her, she realized he was almost catching up, snapping at her heels like an irritated guard dog. Desperately, she willed her ring to make her invisible. And so she was, and for a moment, Kisame slowed in confusion. But somehow, impossibly, he was still following her, even with her turning off in another direction. She was making no sound! What was going on?

And then, as she rounded a corner, she glimpsed down, and, horrified, saw her own silhouette, clear as day, on the ground. He must have gotten smarter in his resurrection, and his eyesight keener. He was following her shadow!

She willed her shadow to disappear, but somehow, it couldn't. Cursing in her head, she turned off back into the forest. It was dark there, and the shadows would not show on the ground. But there, Kisame had an advantage. His eyes were made for seeing in the dark. Sakura would be like a fish out of water in there. She willed herself night vision and plunged into the darkness. She heard Kisame's howl of fury behind her, and his claws cut in the air behind her, but he had missed her.

“I'll get you, you bitch!” He screamed, his voice echoing in the hollow trees. “I'll find a way, and I'll KILL you!”

Her breath choked in her throat, and she kept on going, but Kisame was still tailing her. Was it because of the leaves? Was she making the leaves fall? She fumbled at her belt and pulled out a kunai. She threw it in front of her with all the force she could manage, then stopped abruptly and hid behind a tree. Satisfied, she watched Kisame follow the kunai into the dark thickness. She gasped, trying to catch her breath, and was careful not to disturb any more leaves or thin branches. She leaned her weary head against the tree trunk, listening carefully for any sign that Kisame was back. There was no sign, at least for the time being, and she closed her eyes, and before she could help it, the exhaustion and excitement of the past few days caught up with her, and she dozed off.

 

 

“A beast now too?” Naruto was beside himself in fury. “Oh, sure, I wouldn't mind that he's a beast. But `too'? I'm not a beast! I—I just happen to have one inside me!” He huffed angrily, crossing his arms.

Shikamaru winced and stuck his pinky in his ear. “Any louder and I'll go deaf, baka.” He said indifferently, and Naruto looked like he wanted to strange him, but Hinata cut him off.

“Uhm, Naruto-kun…” She whispered tentatively, playing nervously with her fingers, “Please don't yell…we're going to be discovered. And…you're scaring me…” She averted her eyes and turned bright pink. Normally, when he was in this state, Naruto would have told her off, but the blatant fear in her voice triggered something in his brain, and his face went from lobster red to a slight pink.

“Sorry, Hinata.” He mumbled, scratching his bright blond hair. “It's just…a beast…how could that have happened? Usually it's only in my…my situation.” He scowled. “And Shikamaru, you could've told me in better words. I mean, honestly. `Too'? How could I NOT respond to that?”

“Sorry, Naruto. There was no other way to say it.” Shikamaru said irritably. “Besides, it was a tense situation. It was the easiest way to get you people to understand.”

Temari paced, her hand still groping the air at her back where her fan should have been. “We should have brought our weapons. Maybe we could've taken him.”

Naruto shook his head fervently. “No! We would've died, for sure. We weren't prepared, and besides, there was something really wrong. I don't know what it was, but he was just so much more dangerous than usual.”

“Well then, what could we have done?” Temari fumed, stopping and glaring at Naruto. He scowled back at her, but said nothing, choosing instead to stare vacantly at the grass, his brow slightly creased.

“There is something we could have done.” Shikamaru said, sitting back down.

“Yeah, and what was that?” She said, looking at him curiously.

“Run. And we did it, so we're fine.” He leaned back against the tree trunk. “We weren't expecting him, after all.”

Hinata spoke up, playing with a blade of grass. “But…but then, why was he there?”

“I don't know.” Temari resumed pacing. “I still don't think he could've heard us from that far away. We really weren't that loud.” Shikamaru sweat-dropped in the background, but she ignored him. “He wouldn't have heard us from that far away.”

“He didn't know we were coming.” Shikamaru said, steepling his long, thin fingers. “It's impossible. Only the Hokage and Ino knew we were going. And even then, they didn't know where we were going to be. We didn't even know until we got a trail. Even then, it was hard.”

“We even placed a memory charm on the people we interrogated.” Temari plopped down on the ground by Shikamaru. “That's the thing I don't understand. We left no trail. We were completely clean.”

“Maybe he was on a routine check up. Is it possible Itachi's hideout is near here?” Hinata offered, twisting and turning the grass in her hands.

Shikamaru shook his head, looking a bit doubtful. “No, I'm pretty sure it's more to the south. All of our sources pointed us in the same direction. We can check it out, but from that location to the hideout would be a good five hundred or so miles, maybe even a couple hundred acres. This can't be Itachi's territory. It's way too far to be routine.”

“And there aren't any new enemies or anything.” Temari added. “We've checked it all out.”

“Then what could it be?” Hinata said, looking troubled. “What if he's hunting someone down?”

“And who could that possibly be? He's got no interest in individuals. And Kisame isn't strong enough to take on a skilled group. Even Kisame knows that.” Shikamaru retorted, frowning.

“He sent Kisame only then. He couldn't be after Sasuke. Sasuke is too clever, too strong.” Temari's eyes widened. “Oh, no…then that means…”

And it was Naruto, who hadn't spoken in a while, Naruto, who had been in pensive silence while the others brainstormed, Naruto, who was brave and daring and hadn't cried in years, Naruto, who now spoke softly, in a cracked voice, spoke the truth no one wanted to hear, “He's after Sakura.”

 

 

She was sitting in her house; in a room in part of the restricted section she hadn't allowed Sasuke to go in, the part that seemed out of place in her old, rickety house. There were mirrors everywhere, and there were stacks and stacks of papers and charms and books and explosives and armor and scrolls and little handheld things and weapons—a criminal's dream arsenal. And in the middle of it all sat Kira, suiting herself up and preparing scrolls and bags and checking, every so often, a small, flashing tube-like thing on the floor. Suddenly, a handheld communicator clasped onto her belt started beeping. Startled, she dropped the kunai she had been holding, and fumbled at the catch at her waist.

“Yeah?” Even breathless her voice was demanding and annoyed. “What is it now?”

The voice on the other line was muffled and distant. “We've got a trace on the girl.”

Kira's eyes sparkled maliciously. “Wonderful. Simply wonderful. I daresay that it was Kisame who did it?”

There was a slight pause. “Somewhat. Kisame died.”

She froze. “He what?”

The person on the other line kept a tense silence. “Maybe Kabuto could explain it to you—hold on…”

Kira waited impatiently, tapping her foot, glaring at her reflection in a mirror. A moment later, a sleek, silky voice came on the line. “Hello there, Kira my dear.”

She couldn't help smiling at the sound of his over eager voice. “Kabuto! How nice to hear from you.”

He laughed breezily and she could almost see his grin. “As it is to hear from you, my dear, but I don't think this is a pleasure call, now, is it?”

“Straight to the point, aren't you? Would you mind clearing this up for me? I was told that Kisame died. That can't be true. Who killed him?”

“The bitch killed him, to be precise. But he's alive again, or at least, just barely.”

“That pink haired joke killed HIM? No way.” Her eyes were narrow slits in her pale face.

“It was a matter of luck and timing. Kisame was bloodthirsty and…reckless.”

“Ah.” She said. She'd seen him once, when he was like that. He was dangerous but vulnerable. Not a good state to be in.

“We've developed a new jutsu, and he was my test subject. Thankfully, it worked, and though there are some minor flaws, all can be fixed. For now, he is a beast, and a beast he shall stay, until his purpose is served and we can focus on him.”

“Interesting. You must tell me this jutsu, Kabuto dearest.”

“The next time I see you I will, Kira my love. Till then I'll keep you updated.”

“Many thanks, Kabuto.”

“Not a problem. I'm awaiting the day I can see you again.”

“And I you.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

The moment Kira was sure Kabuto had hung up and the communicator was muted, she made a face at her reflection in the mirror. She hurled a kunai at the mirror and watched her image shatter into a million pieces. That Kabuto was so trying! But at least he was useful. The moment his purpose was done, she would rid herself of him and find her true love, Sasuke. But then again, if there were any complications, Itachi wasn't such a bad catch either. She smirked malevolently. Oh, the wonders of being a beautiful girl that everyone wanted. She could get everything she wanted, and then some. Oh yes. What a wonderful thing it is.

 

 

 

 

<Ooh doesn't this chapter make Kira look like a bitch? ;] Of course, I love Kira, but evil has its own benefits! Anyway, seems like there'll be a couple more chapters before the end. I'm having fun with this =3. Well, till later! <3 Cat>