Faery Tale - Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve:  Decisions





Sakura had to get away from the Uchiha as fast as she could, there was no other choice. This guy was bad news. Any doubt that remained was immediately wiped out. One look in his eyes revealed an anger that chilled her more than the fever setting into her bones. Wind and heavy rain she could deal with, but a strong and fearsome captor was beyond her abilities at the moment. She couldn't even pull a decent "shove and run".



I just had to get out of the house, she shook her head in regret, I couldn't just take my frustration out on the furniture or even a pillow…



Her crawl from the shelter tree was painful; every single rock, pebble and fallen branch scratched against her arms and body. Her palms stung and her injured foot was hurting like hell, but she had to keep moving. She thanked her stars that her captor seemed to appreciate his rest more than he wanted to stop her. He simply eyed her progress across the muddy ground with a weary look. With a pang of guilt, she saw the symptoms of fever creeping over his face too, his complexion was eerily pallid and his eyes were begging for rest. He wouldn't be under the angry heavens shivering with cold if it weren't for her stupid antics.



"Where's the closest shelter?" She asked in a barely controlled voice.



"There's an abandoned cottage five minutes away," He replied calmly, "but our best chance is my house," He closed his eyes with a sigh, "Forty minutes walk, more or less, unless you'd rather die of a fever and twisted ankle."



The rain was hammering still and the wind strong enough to shake trees. With her soaked clothes and injuries she might not last the night. They needed a shelter, food, medicine, a fresh change of clothes and a strong heat source. Going back to Middle Town was out of the question, it was too far a distance to travel in their current condition. There was no use discussing what ifs.



"Promise me one thing and I'll come with you," She couldn't believe what she was suggesting, and in return he raised an eyebrow as if saying "like you have a choice" .



"I might or might not answer any questions you have, depending," She continued with a dead serious voice, "but you will not hurt me nor anyone involved in my situation."



He smiled in mockery and opened his mouth to give a reply, but she went on, "I know you found me through Ino, it's the only way I can think of. She works at your house and you must have followed her one day after work," Sakura took a deep breath then continued, "They are not part of this---this stupid stunt I pulled at the palace."



"Is that so? Why did you curse Ino's map?" His retort cut through her, and her eyes widened, "What, you don't remember? My memory was hazy for a while but I remembered when I saw you talk to her today at the doorway."


Sakura was at loss for words, she didn't even recall blaming Ino. Her name must have slipped in frustration, and what was that about bad memory?



"You lost your memory?"



"Concussion, impact knocked me out for three days straight," He gave a bitter laugh, "You should be impressed with yourself,"



She was snapped out of her regret festival by heavy drops of rain falling on her face, "Just promise me, yes or no?"



"Will it make you stop acting stupid?"



"I'm not being stupid, I just want a guarantee, just one word,"



"You're crawling under the rain and god knows what injuries you have, if that's not stupid I don't know what is," he stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts, Sakura felt like screaming or even throwing a stone at him to remove the accusation from his voice.


"I don't wa- "


He raised a hand as if to quiet her and the rain at once, "Nonetheless, I give you my word. I just want some answers, nothing more," He gave her a nod and she saw that there was still some strength in him, "c'mon let's go," and he edged closer to where she was sitting now.



"I want to walk," She ordered, "I'm not a sack of vegetables, I can lean on you," She did just that. She took his arm for support and together they set toward the Uchiha Estate. Sasuke offered his cloak, and she agreed to share it.


The walk upward was almost impossible in their condition; the more they moved, the steeper the climb became. She tripped a few hundred times, but he respected her wish to walk, or limp, all the way. They bore their burdens in silence, but every once in a while he would say "careful" "tree root," or "Almost there" or "Walk faster", as if she could, but the small talk distracted her from the pain.



At one point, the sky cleared and the rain became light drizzle but the wind was still howling. Sakura felt her eyes close involuntarily, she strained to keep them open for a while, even biting her lower lip didn't help. She would blink and then reopen her eyes to find that they're in a different place, or that the rain had stopped altogether. There was no way of telling how long she dozed off.



When, at last, her legs stopped moving and she was lifted off the ground, she didn't feel like resisting at all and just closed her eyes for a much needed rest.
    

---

She woke to the voices of people bickering. There two men, one of them was most definitely Sasuke, and he was the one yelling.



"No!"



"Let me explain, there's not much time, Sasuke please," The other voice pleaded, "The sun is almost up,"



"So you can snitch on me?  There's a catch, there's always a catch with you, Itachi," Sasuke's voice scared her witless, he was probably going to kill somebody, either the other man or herself.


"There's no catch here, Little brother, I only want to help you and your friend,"



She heard Sasuke snort, she wasn't sure for what.



"Think about it," Itachi, argued, "you just recovered from a serious concussion and now you can barely stand straight from the fever. How will you explain this to Father?"



Sasuke opened his mouth to retaliate, but nothing came out.


"You found your thief, but you're not in any condition to talk. I can help," Itachi reasonably continued.


Sakura lifted her head at the mention of "thief", and saw another pair of onyx eyes stare into hers. The similarity was uncanny. Itachi looked like a more polished version of Sasuke, with glossy dark hair tied neatly in a band and very handsome features. That didn't shock her, the Uchiha brothers were known far and wide for their beauty, but the fact that he knew about her mission was unsettling. She was sure that he didn't hear it from Sasuke.



"What thief, I don't know what you're talking about," Sasuke's lie was a bit too quick, a bit too emotional. As soon as she heard it, Sakura realized that his older brother would not believe him.



"Sasuke, I know. I was not at the ball that night but I know what was stolen and I know that you tried to stop her."



At that, Sasuke stepped back as if slapped by invisible hands. His knees folded and he sat down on the damp cellar floor, his silky bangs concealing his eyes. A realization came over Sakura; her mission went roughly, but in the end a combined effort from her and Naruto resulted in success. Whereas Sasuke let them slip from his hands, he was the one who failed after all, and he even got a serious injury for his efforts. That was the reason he was so adamant to jump into the river after her, that was why he carried her carefully so far. It wasn't simply to ask a few questions and get back what he lost. It was revenge.


"Damn," She cursed softly under her breath and two dark heads instantly turned her way. As if on cue, the older Uchiha stepped slowly toward her with hands held high as if calming a wounded deer.


"I'm sorry Miss, my brother is rash and very emotional at times, but he means you no harm," Sakura was surprised to hear so much kindness in his voice, "and neither do I."



"Does this mean that you'll let me go if I answer your questions?" She felt an immediate trust towards Itachi.


"Yes, after your fever and injuries have been dealt with. It's a very bad weather outside, don't you think?" He smiled warmly and she smiled back, he completely contradicted Ino's description of the spoiled heir.



"No!" Sasuke's angry protest broke the spell, and Sakura's eyes snapped to him. His face was flushed with anger and fever; he almost blended with the darkness of the cellar if it weren't for his pale skin. "No, you can't just let her go," He waved his right hand violently.



"Your promise….it was all a lie?" Sakura's eyes narrowed, not wanting to believe that she willingly walked into a trap.



"Don't worry miss, Sasuke might be lacking in manners but he does not go back on his word," Itachi's soothing voice broke the tension in the air, "This is just a reaction to my presence," He looked at Sasuke, and went on, "you see… our family dynamics are special."



"Special!" Sasuke spat with a mockery, "Why are you here? You never do anything useful and what's with this serious behavior? It doesn't suit you Itachi," Sasuke got to his feet in a flash and moved closer to his brother in defiance.



Sakura looked back and forth between brothers, not sure how she should act, or who she could believe; the seemingly gentle older brother who was a complete stranger or the emotional young one who saved her from a cold death underwater.



"Enough!" The last thing she needed was to witness a fight among brothers, she tried to get up but a bout of painful coughs racked her chest. She sat back down and sensed someone crouch next to her.



"What was I thinking? I should have sent you both to rest long ago, sorry about that," Itachi said as he carefully took her arms and raised her up, "The passages are dark and dirty but they're warmer than this room," He made sure she was good to go and turned to his brother, "not now Sasuke, I'll explain later, trust me,"



She saw Sasuke glare at his brother, and then follow behind. The small grouped walked across the dank underground room to a set of shallow steps. The steps opened to a new room with three doors on each side, Itachi opened one on the right and led them on. There was a very long flight of stairs to climb.



Sakura struggled to keep herself from slipping, and just as she was near the top she felt the ground vanish beneath her. Sasuke was too slow to catch her, but Itachi was on alert, he reached for arms with blinding speed. She regained her balance and thanked him. Sakura looked back at the long staircase and felt dizzy, if she had fallen she could have easily broke her neck.



With a sigh of relief, she turned around to face the two men behind her. Itachi's sleeve was torn, probably from saving Sakura from her fall of death, revealing a tattooed symbol of two half whirlwinds intertwining.



The very same on Naruto's forearm.