Author: HannahSakura.Pinoy
It was the perfect time
to act. Most of the guests of the inn were either drinking in the bar and
lounge or had already turned in for the night. The servers, too, were similarly
engaged with the high number of customers. Through the curtain that separated the
kitchen from the dining hall, the female took a peak and spotted her target
still enjoying himself with alcohol, boasting loudly to his equally drunk
companions.
Sasuke wiped her damp
palms on her still immaculate apron that came with the drab kimono uniform. Her
long wavy brown wig slightly obscured her face and the right make up made her
look plain. No one would ever guess that she wasn't who she appeared to be. She
looked exactly like an ordinary waitress.
Taking a tray with a
bottle of warm sake on it she emerged from the kitchen, wove her way through
the crowded floor, swerving past grasping hands, and went up the stairs that
led to the guest rooms. The wavering light of the lamps that lined the walls of
the long hallway revealed a dozen identical doors. There were no numbers to
tell the rooms apart and fortunately she had managed earlier to see her target
emerge from his room and so didn't have to check every single one.
Quickly she moved to the
fifth door on the right, listened to confirm no one was inside, and grasped the
knob with her free hand. It was locked. Glancing around, she assured herself
that no one was coming then drew a hairpin from her hair and picked the simple
lock easily. She stepped inside and closed the door, setting the tray on the
low table in the center of the fairly large room and began searching the
drawers and bags. She rummaged through the hanging garments, checked all the
pockets and looked for hidden ones and found nothing of interest.
Behind the bed's
headboard there were several letters and a small pouch of coins. Hastily
scanning each page she found no relevant information.
Another false lead.
When there was no longer
anything left to look through she made a quick survey to ensure that everything
was exactly as she found them and was heading toward the door to leave, then
she heard a key turning the lock. Sasuke cursed under her breath. The man outside
began rattling the key, trying to turn the lock that was already open.
Sasuke made to escape
through the window but it wouldn't open all the way. The knob was being turned.
When the door swung open, Sasuke was by the table with the tray in her hands,
appearing to have been in the middle of leaving sake for the guest, looking up
at him in innocent surprise. Yamashiro Kakuta was larger close up than she
realized.
"What are you doing
here, girl?" he growled in a slurred voice. "How did you get in? My room
was locked."
"It was open,
sir," she said meekly, bowing her head and avoiding his eyes in a polite,
servile way. " I was just delivering the sake you ordered. I'll be on my
way."
"I didn't—. Never
mind."
He appeared to relax
slightly although still annoyed and muttered something about cheap locks. He
closed the door and crossed the room unsteadily. "Don't leave yet. It's a
cold night. I could use a little warmth in my bed.
Sasuke dodged to one
side as he reached for her. "Good night, sir," she said, hiding her
slight alarm and irritation, and darted toward the door.
"Not so fast!"
He grabbed her waist and jerked her to a halt. Pulling away, she fought the
urge to kick him and blow her cover. Despite his flashy attire and seeming lack
of grace, she felt the strong hard muscles in his arms and legs and recognized
the callused hands of one accustomed to weapons. He was definitely a shinobi as
she had suspected. But he had no connection to the one she was looking for.
He pulled her into a
tight embrace as he turned her to face him and she felt something hard strapped
under his wrists, hidden by the sleeves of his coat. Sasuke forced herself to
relax but kept her mouth closed tightly against the invasion of his tongue. One
of his hands moved to her breasts as he took her stillness as compliance. She
broke away as soon as he released his grip, making it to the door and out
halfway into the corridor but he caught her again. "You're faster than you
look."
In their struggle as he
tried to carry her back he was knocked off balance, ending up sprawled on top
of her. As she gasped for breath he roughly pulled open her kimono down her
waist. "Much nicer than I expected."
She watched him look
down at her with drunken desire and decided she had to kill him, before he finds
the kunai strapped to her thigh. While he was distracted with kissing her she
reached for it. And suddenly his heavy weight was gone and she could breathe
again.
"The young lady
doesn't seem interested," said a cool, slightly cocky voice. Sasuke looked
up to the tall, brown-haired man pinning her assailant to the wall seemingly
exerting little pressure but Yamashiro was unable to break free.
"I never want to
see you near her again, got that?" his low, dangerous voice whispered.
Yamashiro grunted in response and was released. It looked like he still wanted
to attempt a final strike but smartly thought better of it. He glared down at
both of them as he stumbled back to his room, banging the door shut loudly.
Her rescuer turned
around and grinned down at her and Sasuke stiffened in recognition. He was the
referee during the Chuunin final exams. She didn't doubt it even though he wore
plain clothes. Between his lips was a toothpick instead of a senbon needle
Genma watched the young
girl staring up at him with wide blue eyes, probably still in shock. Her face
seemed very plain, her hair dull, but her body was pleasing. Very
lovely, he thought as he fought to keep his gaze on her face and not on her
exposed breasts. He offered her a hand and she almost cringed away but accepted
it hesitantly and let him pull her to her feet. She turned away to fix her
clothes.
Sasuke still couldn't
relax even though he did not seem to recognize her at all. She knew she was
being paranoid. He couldn't possibly put her twelve-year old face and her
disguised one together. Taking a deep breath, she relaxed visibly, although
inside there was a chaotic flurry of alarm bells ringing.
"Thank you very
much for helping me, sir." She couldn't stick around any longer, and had
no reason to either. It was also dangerous to stay because if one Konoha
shinobi was here, there were probably others in town with him. Immediately, she
hurried down the rest of hallway toward the stairway.
"Wait!" Genma
called out, grabbing her wrist. "What's your name?"
His grip only tightened
when he tried to pull away. "Aya," she said automatically, hiding her
face with her long hair.
He bent down to her
height and watched her, amused with her timidity and found it cute. Reverting
to an air of polite detachment, he said, "Get a good sleep then, Aya, and
forget about tonight."
"Yes sir."
Relieved that she could
go and wasn't even suspected, she sighed and hurried away. Finally, she
thought and then bumped into someone as she rounded the corner. Again Sasuke
cursed herself for being clumsy and careless, apologizing to the person
automatically.
"No, it's my
fault." He said, and then their eyes met.
Oh no. Not again.
Hyuuga Neji's eyes
narrowed as he peered down at her. He was one of the worst people that could
have seen her. They stared at each other for a long minute before she became
aware of her expression. Her eyes had become so wide with surprise and her
forehead creased with worry. She ducked her head immediately upon realizing
this and struggled to neutralize her expression, telling herself that he
couldn't possibly recognize her after, not after three years, not under all
these layers of disguise.
After what seemed like
an eternity he finally moved around her and walked towards Genma. She scurried
away, acting frightened, exactly how she supposed a girl who was almost raped
would act.
"Take care,
Aya-chan!" Genma called out, watching the frightened girl run away.
Turning to his seventeen-year old companion, he raised his eyebrow at his
thoughtful expression. "What is it?"
"It's
nothing," he answered, even though Neji though there was something unusual
about that girl just now. She looked like any ordinary girl, but somehow there
was something familiar about her. He couldn't erase the expression she wore
when their eyes met. It seemed at first that she recognized him too, but
apparently he was mistaken. "Did you find anything?"
"There was a little
incident just before I could get to that." Genma recounted what had
occurred minutes before his arrival and Neji decided the girl was just
frightened of a repeat episode.
Putting the girl away
from his mind, the young jounin looked at his captain who read his thoughts and
turned towards Yamashiro's. He cracked his knuckles and smirked as he broke
through the door, shocking the man awake.
"You again! What
are—!" Genma's fist silenced him while the Hyuuga searched the room for
any evidence linking him to Akatsuki. They found the letters hidden behind the
headboard but it contained only correspondence with a drug dealer about certain
safe locations to meet buyers. There was nothing else remotely relevant in the
room. They had followed a useless lead.
After they confirmed the
sighting two weeks ago their team had been made a temporary reconnaissance
group focusing on the whereabouts of the notorious fugitive group. So far the
following three leads, including tonight's, were false, and if it continues
then the group will cease operating. Not that Genma minded seeing as Akatsuki
hadn't been very active for the last few years.
The two Konoha shinobi
reported Yamashiro to the police before they left to go back their camp in the
forest, having decided earlier to sleep outdoors that night since they hadn't
received their group allowance yet.
Sasuke watched them as
they left the inn. Tonight wasn't the first time she had encountered a Leaf-nin
and so decided to ignore the foreboding feeling that crept into her heart.
She waited for them downstairs,
of course still disguised and hidden within shadows, having suspected that they
might be after something or someone in town. Apparently it wasn't her as she'd
initially feared and declared to herself that they must have already
disregarded the existence of 'Aya' from their minds. Their purpose here was the
same as hers and as they both found out it was a futile chase which she was
frustrated with. If she'd gone upstairs earlier she probably wouldn't have
crossed paths with either Yamashiro or those two but anyway in the end it all
went quite well. As she left the town, she decided it was coincidental that
they followed the same false lead, also believing she would never encounter
them anymore.
She found out how wrong
she was three days later.
Courtesy: http://www.fanfiction.net
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