(Naruto) Ghost XII
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Mission 11:
The Take
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It's almost blinding, the room. The dark and the bright contrast too much, her eyes are barely able to adjust to the jumps.
This time she ignores the guy behind her, instead leaning to a wall curiously. Her fingers sink into the code, brushing through layers upon layers of numbers. So much work, just for a wall? It astounds her. She can feel the harsh edges of the code, the softness of the murky space between. Even in this, there is a contrast.
Moving to the window, she notices the differences in the code. The 1s and 0s appear in a different order here, perhaps to make the glass different from the walls.
If she opens the window, maybe she would be able to see more of the world. Maybe she could spot the intricacies and the--
I wouldn't do that if I were you.
She stops, startled by his voice. It's calmer than she expected.
-x-
She isn't waking up, he notes when he gently shakes her shoulders. Maybe her wounds were more serious than he thought.
Something in him panics, ramming angrily against his doubt, and Sasuke tries again, frowning. No, he couldn't have been wrong. Another shake, harder and more desperate than the last.
This time, she jerks out of his arms, eyes wide. "Wait," she pleads, before realizing her surroundings. "Oh....Sasuke, what are you..."
He checks her carefully for a moment, glancing at her shirt, her head, to see if any blood is seeping out. Nothing appears, no danger signs, and he relaxes.
"I'm going to be gone for the night," he informs her, moving away from her back to his bed. On it lies an unfolded map and on this he neatly writes out a few notes.
Carefully, Sakura stretches her legs on the bed. Feeling no jabs of pain, she starts the first stage of her plan. "When do you plan on going, again?"
"In three days."
"Soon, but not soon enough."
He doesn't say anything but stops moving, glancing up at her. Sasuke's giving her his undivided attention and Sakura quickly makes use of it.
"You really should go today. Or tomorrow, but no later." She watches him frown, his eyes narrowing and his lips twisting into a grim line. It probably wounds his pride to hear her give him advice.
"We're not ready," he replies, cool as a cucumber. Sakura can see, though, the embers sparking. He always had a temper problem and now, after repressing it for so long, it manifests in the smallest of things. His closed fist, his tense voice, signs he doesn't even realize he's giving.
"We might not be, but they are. We were only given a week or two for a reason. They are almost done their device and they won't keep it long."
"..." He remains silent and she knows that he's seeing her point.
She continues to reason with him. "Besides, they won't miss Kiba for too long."
He almost sighs, nodding. "True. " He doesn't say much else and she can tell he still thinks they need more time.
"So, are we leaving today?"
"I will be leaving tomorrow." He doesn't look at her as he says this.
"What?" She stares at him, not understanding. "I'm going too!"
"Sakura, no." His voice sounds final, the argument over, but she doesn't stop.
"Why not?" She stares at him, willing him to look at her. "Why can't I go?"
He ignores her, folding the map once more. "You're not healed enough. You'll only get in the way."
"But--"
"No."
"Sasuke!"
"Sakura, this is annoying. You're wounded. We only have one uniform. You can't go in anyways." With that, he gets up, donning his coat. "I am getting some supplies." Then he disappears from her sight.
He still thinks she's weak. If he were the one lying here, he would still go. Sasuke wouldn't allow anything to stop him.
Besides, even if he has a point, she has to go anyways. There is a reason she's on this mission--there is a part that only she can do. To leave her behind would be to blow the mission.
Outside the window, the snow piled up and her eyes flickered there for a moment before she tried to roll out of bed. Her limbs throb to a dull pain, not half as bad as the first day but not good enough either. Sakura reaches down once more to take another pill, sighing.
In a few days, this is all going to come back to haunt her. Tsunade's pills haven't been perfected yet. The healing is small and most of it is temporary.
Good enough to walk with, at least. She changes and leaves the room. She has fish to fry.
-x-
"(Let's hurry.)"
She grins at his impatient tone. "(Ready to leave them?)"
"(We have a mission to finish,)" he replies curtly, walking even faster.
"(Aw, Neji, can't admit that you're happy to meet them again? That you loved their hugs?)" she continues, even though she knows it's the exact opposite. Ignoring his annoyed expression, she adds "(Someone can't--)"
He switches to English, blatantly glaring at her. "Tenten, hurry up."
"(That's not fair!)" It's her turn to feel irritated. "(You know English is my worst language!)"
"I wonder why." He doesn't continue, just walks toward the doors closest to her right. "(You need to be good at both English and French this time.)"
She tries to hold down a hiss. Those are both her worst languages. Just once, couldn't they go to Germany or Egypt, or some other country where she could speak without worry?
-x-
She isn't in the room when he returns. Something rises in him, something he can't identify. It's violent and calm at once, something akin to worry but stronger--there is no point in further analyzing.
The window is shut, the room shows no sign of struggle, and the door was locked when he returned. Either Sakura left on her own--she was too hurt for him to believe this--or a professional was hired.
Sasuke starts inspecting the room more thoroughly, carefully looking at everything. Even the most professional hitman leaves some sort of trail, something small but still useable. Her bed is messy, the way it normally is when she gets out of it, and her shoes are missing. So is her coat and--
It looks more and more like she left on her own but he is still inclined to doubt it. She was too wounded to do so. Anything she needed was in the room, so she wouldn't have a reason either.
It had to have been a professional.
He starts to look carefully around her bed, almost opening the drawers in her table when he hears a sound.
When the door opens a second later, he immediately turns, a weapon in his hand.
"(Sasuke-kun?)" In her surprise, Sakura reverted to Japanese but he doesn't reprimand her this time. Instead he quickly approaches her, eyeing her with suspicion as he holds the knife quickly.
"(Code. )"
"Koori." She pauses, seeing him about to ask her another question. "(Your Uchiha's coat of nobility involves fire and I've known you since I was eight. Naruto is your best friend, even though you don't see him as much anymore, and you love tomatoes. You also have the worst mother/brother complex in the world.)"
"....hn." He takes this as confirmation, frowning at the last comment, before starting his interrogation. "Where were you?"
"....Sasuke, you know you can't leave me behind." She's avoiding his question and he gives an irritated growl.
"Sakura, answer the question." Narrowing his eyes when she doesn't respond, he repeats himself.
"I am. You can't leave me behind." She interrupts him when he tries again. "Our mission requires my skills in hacking. You are not as good as me in that and they are pretty good at security, so you can't do it."
"..." She is right but he won't admit it. "I will just have to make do. How are you walking?"
"You won't be able to hack in. You haven't done any hacking in years and I know you have never made a virus--I know that you trained separately for those three years, but I also know that you didn't practice any of these information techniques, Sasuke. You don't consider them useful enough to practice thoroughly in. "
While that is not completely accurate (he did practice somewhat in those fields, he would have to be an idiot to not see how technology is useful and he is anything but that), Sasuke doesn't argue there. She probably is needed.
"I have another guard suit," Sakura adds, seeing her chance. "I was thinking ahead when I managed to get Kiba the other day. He was guard number two, the one that was supposed to give me information."
Sasuke doesn't respond. He really shouldn't be bringing her with him but either way his mission is at risk. She has to do the actual destruction of the codes, otherwise there is no point in retrieving the device.
Yet, she also will be a danger, not able to react fast enough when they have to fight. He'll have to protect her, something he has not done in a while, and she will be stubborn enough to think she can fight when she's this wounded.
If he had the time, he would call for back-up. The only problem is that the response he received made today the only day they can carry out the operation.
Shit.
He looks at her, watching her walk to the bed. He doesn't know how, but she is somehow able to move there without wincing. "...you will have to remain behind me. Run at the first sign of danger and do not disobey my orders."
She nods, another suspicious sign. Ever since he returned four years ago, he's seen her confident and brash. Never one to take an order standing down. It's unusual to see her this compliant.
Against his instincts, he takes this as a part of her desire to come with him and ignores it.
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A/N: On time! Though I've cut out nearly all of the spy words I could have put in, I'm leaving the titles, at least, still as spy words.
Anyways, thanks to a review, I've tried to make Sasuke seem a bit more caring toward Sakura. Not sure if I succeeded considering how I thought I was doing already...(I am the master of subtle, apparently)
...I failed again, I just know it.
On the other hand, I can't wait till Wednesday. GO SPAIN.
CHAPTER TWELVE