[Gala day 3] In which shit happens. [Sachiko, Sakurai, Tobi, etc]

[redeyedavenger]

continued from here

Ibiki and Asuka were not to be easily found, Sachiko quickly realized as she and Sakurai scoured the panicked mass. Not good, she reflected. Maybe she ought to have told at least one of the kage bunshin to find Asuka and/or Ibiki before scattering them, but too late now. Especially because the crush of people had pushed

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[pink_medicine]

'Find the Akatsuki?' Sakurai's mind first thought, but by the look on Sachiko's face realized those two phrases hadn't been meant to go together.

"Keep moving to the exits! Don't stop for your coats, I don't care how expensive they were! Go, go!" He turned away from the crowd and back to his teammate. "Akatsuki? After you? Why, I thought they wanted Naruko."

[redeyedavenger]

"Same here," Sachiko replied as she sidestepped a man who wasn't being to particular about who he flattened on his way to the exit. Spotting another about to trip and fall, she moved quickly to grab the woman's arm to keep her upright, then made sure to steer her in the right direction before going back to Sakurai's side. "I don't know why he wants me--but the intent my kage bunshin saw was rather clear: knock me out, sling me over his shoulder. That's all I got before the kage bunshin poofed."

[pink_medicine]

It still didn't make any sense why an Akatsuki member would be seeking Sachiko. ...Unless the plan was to use her as bait or something. Naruko had risked everything coming after her once before...

"Then we need to protect you," he concluded. "...And also probably not be anywhere where there are civilians. I don't think a member of that organization is going to show mercy to anything in its way."

[redeyedavenger]

Sachiko bristled automatically at the mention of being protected, but she agreed. Reluctantly.

"Outside would be the best bet. Gives us a chance to not only see him coming, but room to fight without worrying about civilian casualties." The problem, of course, lay in finding an exit to an area to where said civilians weren't already fleeing to.

But if they could get outside, they could get on the rooftops. Not the best place but certainly better they where they were currently. Sachiko glanced around, searching in vain for windows. But of course there weren't windows, not in here. One of the other rooms, but not the corridor. Sigh.

Though... "Wasn't one of the gardens not too far from here?"

[pink_medicine]

"I think you're right..." The gears in Sakurai's head turned, mapping out the hall and surrounding grounds, not from any charts he read or created, but from having been there or seen it. From memory, even idle glances coming back and weaving together in his mind quickly, quickly, quickly.

"That way!" He didn't spend much time pointing, instead leaping from the crowd, chakra flowing to his feet without thought and adhering himself to the wall. There was no point fighting their way through a crowd when this was obviously the fastest way. Sakurai glanced back to make sure Sachiko was following before leading the way. "Come on!"

[redeyedavenger]

Keeping up was easy. So was adhering to the walls. Slipping through a relatively low doorway without knocking someone in the head? Not so easy, but doable.

Only once they were outside in the somewhat cooler air did she breathe something of a sigh of relief. Too many people packed together made her itchy, and seeing the pre-images of so many peoples' chaotic intents was beginning to give her a headache. Another reason of preferring shinobi to civilians: shinobi were much more orderly in their thoughts and actions. Civilians just flailed and wailed and prayed the managed to do the right thing at the right time.

Sachiko scrambled up onto the roof, eyes darting around as she tried to see as much as possible. She had decent night vision with the sharingan, but right now nothing she saw was anything she could use.