He could not believe it. He was alive. But he rather be dead.
It was all Chiyo's fault. It always is. He hit the ground hard with all the strength he had left. Wincing he yelled out in agony as the pain rushed through his red knuckles.
"Damn it, damn it!" the red head swore loudly. When Chiyo revived the pathetic Sand leader and she herself had died, she must have let out a piece of his soulin the process. Yes, yes, she is to blame. Damn woman, good she's dead. That made him happier for a moment.
Then he remembered his… death.
That idiotic pink haired no-good leaf. Oh she will pay, she will pay.
The red-haired smirked thinking of the silent tortures he would put her through. He got up to his feet when he heard a heartbeat. He spun around looking everywhere his eyes adjusting to the darkness by reflex. No one there, I must be going paranoid. The cave had been deserted for years, only the abandoned puppets to keep his dead body company.
Then he realized something.
He was human.
BuzzBuzzBuzz
"Ugh," the pink haired kounochi groaned feeling her hand for the alarm clock until she finally found it. Hitting it, it shut up.
Sakura sat up rubbing her head. Slowly getting up she went to the bathroom and looked at the mirror.
Sighing she said to herself," It's 'kay… Everything will be 'kay Sakura. Just breathe and don't bite your lip too much." She smiled at herself and went to take a shower.
Today Sakura was officially an ANBU and Tracker. She still helped out at the Hospital when she had free time. If it weren't for Tsunade pushing her to be someone bigger than a Hospital worker she might have still been back at the Hospital.
Sakura put on her white jacket and walked out into the Spring morning.
"Sakuraa-chaaan!" the familiar yell of a blonde came from below. Sakura rolled her eyes grinning. She ran down the stairs that led to her apartment to the blonde she knew like a brother.
"Are you ready? It's your first day! You're going to get your maasskkk!" the blonde piped up excitedly.
"Oh Naruto, shut up," she said in good nature. They started to walk to the direction of the town, "I only wish I realized this earlier…" she trailed off when she felt the presence of someone else walking net to them.
Of course it was her old Sensei, Hatake Kakashi. And of course reading his romantic (as he called it) 'book'.
"Eh, Kakashi-sensei, G'morning," Naruto grinned at the silver haired teacher.
Sakura simply smiled and nodded at him, "Hello Sensei."
"I still don't understand why you call me Sensei, you are about the same rank as me, even if I'm strong than you two," he chuckled his eyes still on the book. Naruto glared at him whilst Sakura laughed. They continued walking in silence.
The morning was nice. The spring breeze was blowing along calmly. Village people opened their businesses starting their usual day routine. Others out walking for their morning walk. No one was out this early in Konoha. Everything was at peace.
Finally they arrived at the building. It was the same building where the Hokage's office was at.
Sakura breathed in heavily.
"It'll be fine," Kakashi patted her shoulder finally looking at his pink-haired student.
"I know it will be…" she smiled back as they entered the building.
Sasori was traveling for days. Getting used to this pathetic new human body wasn't so good. He wasn't used to it. This was Chiyo's punishment. He let out a hiss at this thought. Being a puppet most of his life didn't help. Also hibernating in the dull cave for five years while his body… rebirthed, didn't help the aching either. Now he could get fat, get hurt, have feelings, also feel things, and get old.
Sasori didn't want any of that.
Of course he could turn himself puppet again and be… immortal. But to get a new 'heart' was going to be a pain. And Sasori doesn't like waiting.
He looked different too. His hair was longer and a deeper color red than as it was when he was wooden. He resumed his usual height a bit shorter than he was. Worst of all, he was powerless.
No poison, no puppets, no weapons.
He had to start from scrap right? Well he couldn't just pop into the Akastuki all of a sudden. They all thought he was killed by a child. So going back there was a bad idea. For now anyway.
Going back to his village was a bad idea too. Everyone, mostly everyone knew what he looked like. The elders that knew him as a child probably described his face to the people to watch out. So that was a very bad idea.
Other villages for instance were easy to get into. He wasn't an Akastuki anymore. He was supposed to be dead. And none know what he looked like. So that would work very well.
He decided to stop by a nearby village first before… before getting into Konoha and getting his revenge. No one would believe the girl. Only she knew what he looked like.
"Sakura Haruno!" a hard voice called her name. She slowly got up and walked up into the dark room swiftly looking back at all the other people in the room.
"Present," she said as she entered the wide room. It had a desk with a wide window at the back. Two sofas on each side and flowers on the side tables. There were two people in the room. A tall man and a middle-height woman. Her hair was a night-like black tied tightly into a ponytail. She had a mask over her face. She stood like a statue.
"Good, we are very happy to have you on our team, having a Hokage trained student is most pleasing" the tall man said enthusiastically was completely in black. He has muscely and looked pretty scary. He was wearing a mask with blue patterns on it. Holding out a hand he seemed like he was smiling under the mask. His attitude didn't suit his body at all.
Sakura shook his hand, smiling a bit. He turned to the woman, "Emi-san, would you please get the mask now?"
The woman called Emi took a beautifully decorated mask from behind her, she passed it to the man.
He pulled the top open and showed the mask to Sakura. It looked porcelain and fragile, it had red patterns and had two eyeholes.
Sakura gasped. Behind the mask the man smiled. Closing the box, he gave it to her, "Here, you are to continue with your daily life, tell no one that you are part of the ANBU, except for you know," he waved his had dismissively, meaning of course Naruto, Kakashi and Tsunade, "You are to report in a month. Mean while you may work in the Hospital."
Sakura nodded, understanding the strict rules. She took the box and bowed. Emi and the man bowed back. She left the room with the soft click of the door.
