A Rose By Any Other Name (A Sasuke Uchiha Story)

Chapter 20.

“Uragiri…” She whispered, her face turning into a scowl and a glare a moment later.

Instantly her anger flared up inside of her. So long she had dreamed of being able to go out and find him and get the revenge she had always desperately wanted—now he had come to her. Part of her was glad; ironically happy at the idea he had made his own way here—but another was hesitant. He was an idiot, she knew, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think that she wouldn’t want revenge for what he did. He knew that she wanted him dead more than anything in the world. So he wouldn’t have come here for just any reason. It wasn’t just a casual passing through the village—and even if it was, he would have most likely avoided her for the most part, to dodge her presence and not have to deal with her coming after him. So that left only one explanation.

He was here to see her.

But why? What more did he want from her? She immediately tensed up, ready for battle, having to force herself to hold back from just lunging at him and tearing him to pieces. He had killed her father and destroyed a huge area of the village. She wouldn’t give him any advantage that would allow him to gain the upper hand and defeat her; she wouldn’t allow him to kill her as well as her father. So for the moment, she remained silent, analyzing his body language, the scowl and glare never leaving her face. He was as arrogant and as smug as ever, smirking over at her knowing how much she hated him and wanted him dead. Showing no signs of wariness, he finally decided to speak up, greeting mockingly,

“Hello, sweetheart. Long time, no see. But my, my, you have grown. You’re a woman now, I see.”

Growling lowly at his words and how his eyes ran over her body, she still said nothing, waiting as he then continued, as casual as anything,

“I also noticed you’re training again. I don’t know what you’re thinking by doing so, but it’s certainly a mistake on your part.”

“Why are you here, Uragiri? Clearly it’s not to give me advice on my job. So why don’t you just skip the small talk and get to the point,” she snapped back, clenching her fists before moving automatically, not even noticing what her body was doing until the metal between their two kunai had clashed and he was close to her, his eyes staring straight back into her gaze.

Holding him back with relative ease, she noted features of his methods and began figuring out the pattern of his thoughts, trying to remember the way he had worked when he had been training with her father. Though it was possible he could have changed over the years, she very much doubted it. He was to up himself to ever think that he needed to alter the way he fought—in his eyes, it was perfect, and therefore there was no point changing it. She would only use it to her advantage, once again moving as he attacked once more, their weapons clashing again and again, with her blocking each one as it came. Still her mind worked as she figured out everything about the way he fought, ready to react with her own attack when the time was right.

But she was still wary. Uragiri was sly and malicious; nothing was out of bounds in his eyes. He would do whatever it took to make sure she was hurt, and so she hesitated in doing too much to begin with. What if he had something up his sleeve—something she hadn’t been expecting in the slightest and would catch her off guard if she wasn’t careful? It seemed like something he would do. Make her die a slow and painful death—maybe that was the reason he was here.  It wouldn’t surprise her. By killing her, it would tie up any loose ends he had left in his past. He wouldn’t have to worry about anyone knowing things about him—about how he had been refused the power by Tatsujin no Kakusareta. Perhaps it was why he didn’t like the idea of her training again; she was able to tell them all about him that way. Though she shook her head a moment later to dispel those thoughts. It didn’t matter if he was there to kill her—there was no way she was going to let that happen. Things only changed when suddenly she sensed another presence, and everything that had happened over the last few days came rushing back to her.

Sasuke.

Cursing mentally, she saw him out of the corner of eye as he narrowed his eyes in concern and surprise, having not expected to find her caught in the middle of a battle. But not wanting her to get injured, he automatically reached for his chokuto, ready to help out, when she snapped her head round to face him. Taken back by the fierce look in her eyes, Sasuke paused as she growled,

“No! Stay out of this! This is my fight!”

A part if him rebelled at this, just about ready to tell her no and help her out anyway, not liking the idea of being told what to do in such a forceful way. So he cared about her—he wasn’t about to stand on the sidelines and watch while she fought, as if he was weak and couldn’t handle it. He was more than capable of helping her out, and he needed as much battle experience as he could get for when he fought Itachi—only it was this thought that made him step back and allow her to continue alone. When he fought Itachi, he wanted to do it on his own; he didn’t want anyone helping him, relying only on his own abilities and his own power to win the fight. With the way she was acting and from the look in her eyes, it was clear she felt the same kind of way towards this guy; she wanted to defeat him on her own. As such, he allowed her to do so, knowing he wouldn’t want her to do the same if he was fighting Itachi.

But how did she know him? Evidently they had a history if she was getting this determined about killing him. Sasuke's curiosity was only heightened by the events unfolding in front of him. He had begun to think she had a dark past—that something had happened to her when she was young that had made her the way she was and would connect her to him. Was he included in that story? Sasuke couldn’t tell, but clearly he had some connection to her—and clearly she wanted revenge. He knew exactly what she was doing; holding back, not using her full power as she fought. Waiting for the right moment in order to keep him from holding an advantage over her—it was precisely what he was planning on doing when he face Itachi. This battle was about revenge; and therefore Sasuke was willing—though it was hard to do so—to stand back and let her continue alone.

Uragiri still wasn’t happy about the idea, however.

She had told him not to interfere, true, but there was still the matter of him being there in general. How did he know he wouldn’t step in at one point—if he injured her, then the kid might not be so willing to stay away anymore; it was obvious he considered her a friend, even if she was supposed to be training him. Scowling to himself at the way things were turning out, not wanting to have to face this guy as well as her, Uragiri began to think things through. She was stubborn as anything, and wouldn’t give up without a fight—from the looks of things, he probably shared the same trait, and that meant he’d be wasting more time than necessary, and more than he wanted to waste. He’d wanted it to be a private affair, just between the two of them—he had nothing to do with this; it was none of his business.

So realizing this, he decided he’d have to move past the teasing and just get on with his plan, and so quickly lunged in. She instantly braced herself for this killing stroke, knowing she’d be able to block it and easily react in return. If he thought this would be able to finish her, he was dead wrong—so it was to her surprise as he abruptly changed course, turning and grabbing her hands, swiftly tying them behind her back. Twisting to look at him, she frowned in utter bewilderment at what he was doing. If he was going to kill her, why bother with this kind of thing? But at the look in his eyes—the stupid smirk on his face—she knew she’d got it entirely wrong. And as he slammed a hand into her neck, her vision swirling into blackness, she realised the truth.

He was going to kidnap her.