#ill reblog tomorrow morning

One//Two//Three//Four//Five//Six//Seven//Eight//Nine//Ten//Eleven//Twelve//Thirteen//Fourteen//Fifteen//Sixteen//Seventeen//Eighteen//Nineteen//Twenty//Twenty-One//Twenty-Two//Twenty-Three//Twenty-Four//Twenty-Five//Twenty-Six//Twenty-Seven//Twenty-Eight//Twenty-Nine//Thirty//Thirty-One//Thirty-Two//Thirty-Three//Thirty-Four // Thirty-Five (here) 

Chapter Thirty-Five
Happiness is a bullet in the back

A cigarette hung between Kisame’s lips. It burned his lungs on every inhale, the acidic taste tainting his tongue and filling his nose. He pinched the end between his teeth as he meandered down the street, his hands in his pockets. On the corner, he paused at the red crosswalk sign and glanced both ways before hurrying through the intersection.

This time of morning, there were few cars out and even fewer people. Those that had stayed out partying all night had already slipped off to bed and rush hour was still an hour off, leaving the streets bare. A hush had fallen over the normally busy city. A ghost town. At least before the walking dead of the working class crawled out from their holes.

Slipping his cigarette from his mouth, Kisame exhaled just as his phone pinged in his pocket. With his other hand, he retrieved the device. The message that waited for him made him hiss out a curse.

The shipment was early. And Pein was calling for all members within the States to be dockside to help with distribution. This wasn’t how Kisame was hoping things would go.

Shoving his cell back into his pocket, Kisame continued towards his townhouse at a hurried pace. He paused on his bottom step and rapidly took a few more drags off his smoke before he stomped it out.

Inside his living space, Kisame flipped on his lights as he made his way down the hall and towards the combined kitchen and living room. On the far side was his den, and he made a beeline towards it when a voice suddenly spoke.

“You know, smoking is bad for you. Might kill you some day.”

Kisame nearly jumped out of his skin. He spun around to find none other than Sakura lounging in the loveseat near the front window. From the height off the city street he wouldn’t have seen her, but she certainly would have seen him come home.

He looked her up once, half-annoyed that she looked so comfortable there like she owned the place. In her dark jeans and leather jacket she looked more like an assassin than an international arms dealer.

He resisted his glare. “Why do I get the feeling it won’t be the cigarettes that do me in, little viper.”

Sakura’s didn’t reply, but he thought he saw her smirk briefly. His eyes briefly flickered over the room.

“Where’s Itachi?” he asked.

“Not here.”

It seemed his assumption wasn’t off the mark. “I see. You come to kill me then?”

Sakura ran her hand through her ponytail before she settled her arm against the armrest. “I’m undecided, but I’m pleased you’re not against the option should it come to that.”

Kisame’s eyes narrowed at the small, fleeting smirk upon Sakura’s face. Perhaps she was being sarcastic, but he wouldn’t put it past her to shoot him anyway.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

He could tell she was resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “Why do you think? The shipment is here earlier than you said, Kisame. I wonder why that is.”

His brow arched in surprise. “How do you know about it?”

“I have eyes on every single port in this state and the next. I know about it,” she said, her tone cool.

Kisame’s mouth pressed into a thin line. It suddenly made sense why she was so threatening tonight. “I know what you’re thinking, but I didn’t betray you,” he told her, slipping his hands out of his pockets in a show of good faith. His hands were empty. He wasn’t looking for a fight.

Sakura returned the gesture with a flat look.

“The information I provided you was the same info given to me,” Kisame continued. “I had no intention of giving you false information. I wasn’t trying to screw you over. The shipment arrived early. I only found out a few minutes ago myself.”

“Convenient,” Sakura said patronizingly. Then her voice hardened. “But I don’t believe you. You Mossad Operatives are all the same.”

“That’s a pretty close-minded opinion,” Kisame said, a hint of disdain in his tone. He crossed his arms then, making him appear twice as broad and certainly more threatening, but Sakura merely sat and watched him like she was watching a particularly uninteresting movie.

“Is it?” she replied. “I don’t know your full history with Itachi, but there is very little you or he can say to make me believe you weren’t using your working relationship with him to take me down.”

From across the room, Sakura saw the muscles in Kisame’s jaw tighten. Without a doubt, she knew she had him cornered, but it gave her no satisfaction.

“I know Mossad. And I know you want me,” she continued darkly.

A brief but strained silence passed before the muscles in Kisame’s arms released their tension. “Be that as it may, I told you before that Akatsuki is our primary target.”

“That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s your only one.”

Her expression was like moonlight reflecting off ice. Beautiful. But deadly. As if she could watch on without feeling if he were to shiver and slowly freeze to death on a cold tundra before she slipped away over the horizon.

Then her expression cleared and she shrugged faintly. “But I’m not here to discuss your grievancesagainst me.”

Confusion flickered across Kisame’s expression, only to deepen as he understood her meaning. “You think I betrayed Itachi? Why would I do that?”

“That’s the very question I want answered.”

“I’ve been working with Itachi for over five years,” he said, his voice hard with offense.

“And I’ve seen assassins stalk their prey for decades before making a move,” Sakura countered. Then she reached into her jacket and withdrew her weapon before she aimed the barrel directly at him. “So, convince me.”

Kisame’s eyes lingered on her weapon as the weight of the situation settled around them. The air grew thick, making it hard to breathe as if each breath might be his last. Then, in a flash of movement, he made to withdraw his own gun, but Kakashi was faster. He slipped out of the dark den behind Kisame like Death himself, the blunt end of his weapon pressing into the back of Kisame’s skull, stilling his movements.

Kisame’s gaze flickered to Kakashi before finding Sakura again. An odd mix of anger and frustration crossed his face.

“You really are a heartless bitch,” he spat.

She was unfazed by his harsh words. “I just want the truth, Kisame.”

“I’ve told you the truth,” he retorted, his tone giving away his exasperation. “I have told you everything Pein has told me. I didn’t know Madara was involved and I certainly didn’t know Akatsuki was regrouping at the old port in Newark. Pein has always been like this. He gives us basic information and when he’s ready to move, he summons us. I know you’ve done enough transports by now to know that ships don’t always arrive the day they’re scheduled due to weather. If I was going to kill you, I would have done it long before now.”

His last statement sounded more malicious than defensive, but Sakura supposed she couldn’t really blame him. If he truly hadn’t wanted to kill her before now, he very likely wanted to now. She was balancing his life in her hands now. Just one trigger-pull from ending him. Permanently.

He was a Mossad Operative. And a close, personal informant of Itachi’s. If she was wrong and he was telling the truth, his murder could have dangerous consequences for her. She needed to consider this carefully.

That’s when Sakura’s phone rang.

It interrupted the tense silence sharply, the standard ringtone echoing throughout the room. She didn’t reach for it, instead letting it go to voicemail in her jacket pocket before she began to ponder where this situation would go next.

Then her phone immediately rang again.

A muscle in Kisame’s jaw twitched. “You going to answer that?” he asked dryly, only well aware of the gun still pressed to the back of his head.

Over his shoulder, Kakashi shot her a look of confusion that bordered on concern. Sakura kept her face a complete mask as she withdrew her phone, her weapon never wavering from Kisame. Shikamaru’s name was on the caller ID. He hardly ever called her. And never back-to-back unless it was an emergency, but she didn’t let her curiosity show.

Sakura swiped her finger across the screen. “Go,” she answered.

“Izuna is heading towards Newark. He didn’t take the bait,” Shikamaru told her in one breath.

She made sure to keep her expression neutral as she replied, “You’re sure?”

“I just pinged his phone location. He’s just left his penthouse. He’s headed south.”

Sakura’s brows furrowed minutely. Why would he do that? He knew she would be in Brooklyn, so why would he go to Newark?

A memory of the night Madara cornered her popped into her head then. The night he had approached her in that Five-Star restaurant with pictures of her with Itachi in Egypt.

“You appear rather close, do you not?” Madara had murmured. His voice so factual, so darkly promising.

It was all suddenly so clear. Sakura had consistently antagonized Izuna, pushed his anger and threatened everything he had worked for. And now Izuna wanted revenge. For what she had done to Madara. What she had done to him.

Izuna wanted Itachi. Dead.

“Intercept him,” Sakura suddenly demanded.

“I can’t. Both Tenten and Tobirama are tied up with the other Akatsuki members, and Izuna’s already ahead of me,” Shikamaru said.  

But Izuna wasn’t ahead of her. Kisame’s apartment was only a few miles from Newark. If Izuna was coming from his apartment in Midtown, she might have just enough time to get to Itachi first. But she would have to leave now.

Her gun was still drawn but her gaze was distant as Sakura hung up her phone and slipped it back into her jacket. Her mind was racing but she was forced out of her thoughts when Kisame suddenly spoke.

“So, are you going to kill me, or are you going to save him?”

She didn’t know how he had read her thoughts so easily, but she said nothing. Merely sent Kakashi a single look as she stood and re-holstered her weapon in one fluid movement. She didn’t see Kakashi’s strike, but she heard the heavy thump as Kisame’s body crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

Only once they were in the car and on the highway did Sakura explain what was going on. Kakashi listened silently, only letting out a single, long exhale once she had finished.

“This isn’t what we had planned,” he told her.

With her gaze still forward, she nodded. “I know.”

“The CIA is already in position to raid the shipping yard. You’ll have to sneak past not only Akatsuki and Izuna, but the CIA as well. It’s going to be difficult.”

“I know,” she repeated. After a moment, she added more quietly. “But I have to. I made Itachi go.”

Kakashi glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, but she wasn’t looking at him. There was an odd expression on her face, one he had never seen before. One of worry and regret.

He said nothing else, casting them into silence as he took the exit. Only once they were a block away did Kakashi pull into a dark alley beside an abandoned house. He killed the engine and stepped out before making his way to the trunk.

“I thought something like this might happen,” Kakashi told her. “Which is why I got these.”

Confused, Sakura stepped forward as Kakashi popped the back open. Inside were Kevlar vests like the ones police and federal agents used. They were already packed with guns and extra rounds, and on the back in big capital letters was the abbreviation: C.I.A. It was a perfect disguise. They would blend right in.

“Where did you get these?” Sakura asked. She grabbed the smaller one and held it against herself, finding it was her size.

The other fit Kakashi. He stripped his jacket and guns off until he was down to his undershirt before he pulled the vest on and adjusted the straps until it was snug around his form.

“Don’t ask,” he told her.

Then he took her vest and helped her slip into it, adjusting it until it protected her center. He grabbed a hat out of the trunk and passed it to her to conceal her hair before he gave her a onceover to ensure she looked like every other agent that would be out there.

Satisfied, Kakashi nodded. “Now let’s go find your boy toy.”

Sakura glared in response. “He’s not my boy toy-.”

“Whatever.”

xx

Three streets down, the Akatsuki warehouse was full of activity. At the port, a large cargo ship was being offloaded by a towering crane. There was no sign of any special agents yet, but men with guns were running around, barking orders at one another as they unloaded wooden crates from the metal carriers. Definitely illegal arms and drugs.

From a dark corner on the other side of a chain link fence, Sakura and Kakashi watched in silence. They crouched there for a few minutes, taking everything in. Trying to identify where the CIA would infiltrate from.

“Do you see Itachi or anyone?” Sakura murmured.

Without removing his binoculars, Kakashi hummed a negative. “No, and I don’t see Izuna either.”

She didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, but she remained silent as she continued to watch the activity in front of them. Fortunately, she didn’t have to wait long before Kakashi spoke again.

“Over there,” he said. “The CIA is getting ready to move in. We can slip in now while they’re distracted with getting into position.”

After securing his binoculars in his vest, Kakashi pulled up the bottom of the fence where age and corrosion had weakened it at the base, leaving enough room for Sakura to crawl under. She held it up to let Kakashi through behind her before they raced across the dark corners of the shipping yard to slip into rank with the quietly moving CIA agents.

The group they joined paused behind a large shipping container on the outskirts before they broke up into teams and continued to surround the working Akatsuki criminals. Sakura followed behind Kakashi, her eyes searching for Itachi and Izuna. The very moment she spotted Izuna she was going to kill him, consequences be damned.

However, that thought went out her head when Kakashi nudged her. “There,” he nodded.

Across the shipping yard, near the warehouse was Itachi. He was decked out in black tactical gear same as everyone else, but Kakashi was right. She would recognize the shape of his shoulders and curve of his jawline anywhere.  

“We need to get to him,” Sakura murmured back.

Kakashi gave a single nod. “Stay close and stay low,” he told her.

Like a single shadow, she and Kakashi separated from the other CIA agents. They slipped behind the teams moving into position, not drawing their attention or the criminals working only a few meters beyond.

Sakura did her best to keep track of Itachi. He was with a group of agents, but as she closed the distance, he got the rest of his team in position until he was the closest one taking cover behind the edge of the shipping container near the warehouse.

Kakashi and Sakura took cover behind the next container over and with Kakashi at her back, Sakura slipped as close as she could to the edge before she whispered sharply to get his attention. “Psst, Itachi.”

With his gaze trained down the sights of his rifle, it took another attempt or two before he finally lifted his attention in her direction. His response was immediate. His eyes widened and his mouth went slack before his expression sharpened.

‘What are you doing here?’ he mouthed, his anger visible.

Sakura shot him a silent look that said they needed to talk. Now.

His expression could only be described as annoyed incredulity.

When Sakura remained firm, Itachi let out an aggravated sigh before he turned to the agent beside him and murmured orders she couldn’t hear. Then he checked the coast was clear before he crossed the short aisle separating their containers to join her.

Shouldering his weapon, Itachi grasped her upper arm tightly. Almost to the point of pain. He searched her face briefly before he glanced over at Kakashi. When he turned back to her, she opened her mouth but he quickly silenced her.

“Not here,” he murmured.

Itachi seemed to search their surroundings a moment before his gaze landed on the warehouse behind them. Then he grabbed her hand and pulled her the few yards into the open loading dock.

As soon as they were around the corner, he knelt down, pulling her into a darkened corner with him.

“What are you doing here?” he snapped, his hands tightening around her upper arms. “If the CIA-”

“Izuna is looking for you,” she interrupted.

Itachi’s irritation gave way to confusion. “What? Why?”

“Because Madara isn’t here,” she said quickly. “Izuna knows I chased him from the country. He’s coming after you to get back at me. We have to leave before he finds you. He wants you dead.”

"Get back at you?” he repeated. “How does he know…wait, what do you mean you chased Madara out of the country?”

Sakura’s lips parted but no words came out. Because how did she tell Itachi she had knowingly deceived him? Ever since their first official introduction, he had only ever been straight with her, and now she had just told him she had betrayed his trust. The thing she held most dear.

Sakura saw the moment realization dawned on his face, like she had just slapped him. Her chest tightened uncomfortably as his expression gave way to a mix of anger and dejection, but she never found the words to explain. For their strained silence was interrupted by footsteps up on the upper rafters above where they were crouched.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Sakura’s head snapped up just as one of Akatsuki’s men drew a weapon from inside his jacket. In the same second, she shoved Itachi behind a wooden crate, taking cover after him as bullets peppered the concrete floor where they had been crouched only a moment earlier.

Sakura didn’t know if the noise had caused a stir or if the CIA had finally given the order to move, but shouts erupted outside at the same moment before gunfire filled the air both in the shipping yard and the warehouse.

Together, she and Itachi returned fire. She wasn’t sure who delivered the killing blow, but it didn’t matter for three more men took his place. In the metal warehouse, the rain of gunshots was deafening. Adrenaline rushed through Sakura’s veins, but it was her training that kept her sharp. She fired round after round, fully aware how thin the wooden box they were taking cover behind was against a rifle. For the most part, it protected them against the handguns these attackers were using, but anything bigger, she and Itachi would be in serious trouble.

Forcing herself to inhale, Sakura tightened the grouping of her bullets, striking and killing one man before hitting another. Itachi took out the third, causing the barrage of noise to cut off abruptly inside the warehouse.

Still, Sakura didn’t relax her stance as her eyes quickly scanned the rest of the floor for more men. Only once she was sure they weren’t any more incoming for the time being did she minutely relax her grip and glance at Itachi.

“We need to leave,” she told him.

“And go where?” he countered. Even in the wake of their brief firefight, she could hear the anger in his voice. The bitterness. The heartbreak. “Even if Madara is not here, the CIA is already in the middle of a raid. I cannot just leave my team.”

“But Izuna-.”

“No, Sakura,” Itachi snapped.

The harshness of that single retort made her still. In that moment, she would have given anything to make him look at her like he had only a few hours ago back when they had been in his apartment. Back when his fingers had traced over the keys of the piano, his hands attempting to play her song. Anything was better than the grief and hurt and betrayal that filled his gaze now. She swallowed thickly, trying to push down the emotion that swelled painfully in her chest.

“Itachi…” she tried. But he merely turned away from her as he stood, ready to rejoin the agents outside. “Itachi, please-”

She never finished the rest of her sentence as gunfire filled the warehouse once more. She didn’t know which direction the bullet had come from. All she knew was in one instant, Itachi was standing before her and the next, he was on the ground, unmoving.

Fear like nothing Sakura had ever felt before flooded her. It seized her, stopping her heart in her chest and making the rest of the world fall far, far away until all that existed was Itachi in what appeared to be a slowly gathering pool of blood.

“No,” she murmured. Then louder, “No! Itachi.”

Sakura made to reach for him where he lay only a few feet away, but stopped abruptly when bullets struck the concrete inches in front of her. She dove back behind her cover, glancing across the room towards a second entrance where the shots had come from.

“I warned you the last time we spoke that it would not be our last meeting,” a voice said after the echoing gunfire had faded.

Immediately Sakura stilled, recognizing none other than Izuna. She sat frozen, not daring to move a muscle, with her back pressed against the wooden crate, her rifle held to her chest and her breath bated as she listened to his footsteps echo across the room.

“What, nothing to say? Where’s all that talk you used to have? Or was it just that? Just talk.” Then his footsteps stopped. “I told you you had a pretty mouth, but I guess that’s all you are. Maybe if your little play thing had known that, he wouldn’t be here now.”

Automatically, Sakura’s gaze returned to Itachi. He remained motionless, his blood creeping into the cracks of the concrete around his middle. The bullet must have struck just under his vest. Which meant he likely wasn’t dead. But he would be soon if he didn’t get immediate medical attention.

Anger like no other replaced the fear gripping her heart. “You fucker, I’m going to kill you!”

Izuna’s quiet chuckle reached her ears. “Only one of us will die tonight-”

Pinpointing his voice, Sakura peeked out from around her cover and unloaded her entire magazine in Izuna’s direction. She fired until her weapon was empty before she discarded it and dove for Itachi. She grabbed his vest by the shoulders and tried to drag him to another crate nearby.

She made it two feet before more shots filled the air. Something hard struck her in the shoulder, like a hard punch, knocking her off her feet and onto her back. It kicked the breath from her lungs, leaving her staring dazed at the ceiling and gasping for air like a fish out of water.

It took a moment for the pain to catch up. Then it was everywhere. Icy hot fire erupted in her shoulder and she pressed a hand to it only for her fingers to come away red. She had been shot. Her vision doubled but she forced herself to blink into focus as a shadow appeared above her.

Izuna looked down at her. Even against her darkening sight, she saw the sinister smirk curling in the corners of his mouth. “I am going to enjoy this.”

Then he raised his gun and pointed the barrel directly at her head before a single gunshot filled the air.

Sakura snapped her eyes closed.

A second passed. Then another and another before she realized she was still alive.

Confused, Sakura picked her head up only to find Izuna laying a few feet away, blood bubbling out of his throat. She didn’t understand what had happened until a new set of footsteps reached her ears. Clearing her swimming vision again, she turned her head just as Kakashi lowered his rifle and hurried into the warehouse. He marched straight up to Izuna and pulled his Glock from his hip before he unloaded two rounds directly into Izuna’s head.

Relieved, Sakura let her head fall back to the dusty floor. Then Kakashi was by her side. He pressed his hand into the wound in her shoulder, causing her to hiss out a pained noise between clenched teeth.

“Fuck,” he cursed. “You’re losing too much blood. You need a hospital.”

Without waiting for a response, Kakashi hoisted her to her feet. The movement gave her another glimpse of Itachi and automatically she reached for him.

“Itachi,” she gasped between pained breaths.

To her incredible dismay, Kakashi dragged her away. “We have to go,” he told her. “There’s nothing you can do for him now.”

Sakura fought against him. “No! Itachi! We can’t just leave him.”

Kakashi didn’t reply. Instead, he stopped just long enough to hoist her weakening body into his arms before he exited the warehouse the direction they had come, shouting to someone outside about an injured agent.

Her last sight was of Itachi’s bleeding body before her world faded and went black.

tbc…