A Captured Cherry Blossom

NaruSakuSasu. My first fanfic for Naruto! It's a bit long… Please R&R.

It was a silent and dark night, and Sakura was walking alone on a street.

"Finally! I'm finished with my errands!" she said as she stretched her arms. "Wait—I feel something. Is someone stalking me?" she looked around her, but no one was there. "Oh, maybe it was just my imagination."

She continued to walk home… When she arrived at her house, she slowly opened the door, but when she entered the house, the door suddenly shut behind her.

"What was that?! Is someone there?"

She heard nothing.

"No! Someone's here! Answer me! I can feel you! Show yourself!"

"It's me…" someone whispered.

She instantly recognized that voice. "You! Y—you're Orochimaru!!" She was shocked.

"Yes…it's me…" he said with a hissing voice.

She gasped. "Where are you?! Come out!" Sakura was trembling with fear. What should she do? "Wha—what is he doing here?" She wanted to run away but her feet won't move. She's very scared. "It's Orochimaru, I know he's too strong for me… B—but, I have no choice. I don't want to die without a fight!"

"Sakura…"

"Where are you?! What are you doing here?! What do you need?!" she turned around, trying to look for him but it was too dark and he was obviously hiding from her.

"What do you want from me?!" she shouted.

"My, my…you don't have to yell like that." His voice came from somewhere but Sakura couldn't trace it.

"There's no reason for you to be here! Get out!"

"Don't be scared…"

She was breathing heavily, "You coward! Show yourself!"

"I not a coward!" He suddenly showed in front of Sakura. He pushed her to the wall and covered her mouth. Sakura was surprised. He was very fast, she didn't even notice him.

"You should shut your little mouth if you still want to live!" he said. She tried to take off his hand but he's too strong. She felt dizzy. "Sakura…you better be prepared next time…" he whispered. Then she fainted.

Sakura woke up, she was in her bed. It is early morning. "What happened to me?" She tried to remember what happened as she walked out of her room. "Wait, I remember now! That Orochimaru!" she looked around her, but she saw nothing. "What was he doing here last night? I don't understand! And…why didn't he kill me?"

Sakura fixed herself and started her day like nothing happened. She went to the hospital and did her work.

When she finished her tasks, she was allowed to take her rest for the day. She went to Ino's flower shop to buy some flowers.

"Hi, Ino!"

"Hey, Sakura. Need something?"

"Um, I'm just here to buy some flowers…"

"Oh, okay…" Ino went inside her store and got some fresh lilies and gave it to Sakura, "Here are some lilies, I just thought they'd be good for your gloomy face." Ino teased.

"Oh, thank you…" she handed out her payment.

"No, it's okay, Sakura. It's free."

"But, why?"

"It's a secret!" Ino laughed, "No, really, it's okay…"

She smiled, "Thanks, Ino. See you." Sakura walked away.

"See you! What's with her? Her face is so sad…" Ino noticed that Sakura is different.

Sakura went to the bridge where Team 7 always used to meet. She wanted to be alone so she went there because few people only pass by to that place nowadays. Sakura put the flowers down, leaned on the railing and stared at the stream. She's still thinking about what happened last night.

She sighed, "I really want to know why Orochimaru came to my house… There's no reason for him to…."

"Sakura-chan!" someone called her.

She turned around and saw Naruto. "Hey, Naruto, what are you doing here?"

He walked towards her. "Well, I just felt like going here. I'm surprised I saw you," he smiled, "Why are you here?"

"Nothing, just passing my time…"

"Oh, I see. Hey, Sakura-chan, do you have any problems lately?"

"P—problems? No, nothing. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, just guessing." But actually, Ino saw Naruto earlier and told him what she noticed about Sakura. "You know, Sakura, you can always tell me anything."

"Thank you, Naruto."

"Well then, see you later!" After that, he left.

After walking around town for a few hours, Sakura decided to go home. It's a dark night like yesterday. When she arrived a the front of her house, she saw the front door opened. Sakura became alarmed, the thought that maybe it was Orochimaru came into her mind..

"Oh, no! The door is open. Orochimaru! Is it him again?!!" Sakura was petrified because of fear. Then she noticed that someone is approaching her from the shadows. She dropped the flowers that she was holding.

"Orochimaru!!" she shouted, "It's you again?! W—why are you here?!"

"I'm going to take you…"

Sakura was stunned to hear that from him. "T--take me?? What are you talking about?!"

"You're going to be the best medic-nin if you'll come with me."

"No!!" Sakura wanted to run away but Orochimaru used some kind of jutsu to stop her. "Let me go!!"

"Calm down, you don't have to shout like that." Then he pointed his kunai to her throat, "Be quiet…"

"I—I can't help you whatever you're planning!I'm no use to you!" she discouraged him.

"That's not true…" he looked at her emerald eyes.

"NO! I won't!" she struggled to free herself.

"That's no use," he grinned, "I'll come back to get you…" Then he faded into the dark. Sakura just sat on the floor bewildered. Her whole body was shaking. She was breathing very hard. She didn't know what to do.

"W—why? I—I don't understand," she was sobbing.

Naruto was walking towards Sakura's house when she saw her. "Sakura-chan!!" He was shocked to see her like that. There is definitely something wrong. He instantly ran to check her.

He sat in front of her. "Sakura-chan!! What happened?? Are you alright??"

Sakura suddenly leaned on him and cried.

"Sa—Sakura-chan? What happened to you?"

She wasn't answering, she just continued to cry. Naruto noticed that Sakura didn't want to talk about that.

"Sakura-chan, it's okay, I'm here now," he caressed her, "Don't worry, I'll stay with you." He sat beside her and let her lean on his shoulder.

"Thank you, Naruto," she whispered. That was all she could say, and she fell asleep.

Naruto carried Sakura to her room and laid her in her bed. When he was going to leave the room, he heard Sakura's voice, "Naruto, don't leave me…please…"

Of course, Naruto couldn't just ignore her.He was extremely worried. So he just decided to sleep in the couch next to her bed.

The next morning, Sakura woke up. She sat in her bed. Last night's incident started to enter her mind. She just froze, "I—I'm scared…" She stood up and looked for Naruto.

"Naruto! Naruto! Are you still here?"

"I'm here, Sakura-chan!" She heard his answer outside. She went to him.

"Naruto…I thought you already left!"

"I said I won't leave you, right?"

She smiled, "Thank you, Naruto."

"By the way, what happened to you last night? You were very scared."

She looked down.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"No, it's okay. But, Naruto, I can't tell you now."

"I understand. Please tell me when you're ready."

"I'm glad he understands…" she thought.

"Sakura, do you want to take a walk? Morning sunshine will help you feel better."

"Okay…"

When Naruto and Sakura were walking along the street, he noticed that she was really quiet.

"Hey, Sakura."

"Why?"

"You're too quiet. I'm not used that you're like that."

"Oh! I'm sorry… I'm just thinking about last night…"

"Oh…"

Then someone called, "Uzumaki Naruto!! Uzumaki Naruto"

"Huh? Shizune-neechan?"

It was Shizune. She greeted the two and said, "Hey, Naruto, Tsunade-sama wants to see you!"

"What's the matter?"

"It's important! Go to her now! This is urgent!"

"Urgent? That Tsunade baa-chan is really a disturbance."

Sakura laughed a bit, "It's okay, Naruto. I'll see you later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah… I'll be fine. Tsunade-sama needs you, she'll be mad if you won't go."

"Okay, see you later, Sakura-chan!"

Then Shizune and Naruto hurried.

When they arrived at her office, "Hey, Tsunade-sama, what's the problem?"

"I have something to tell you Naruto, and IT'S very important."

"Huh?"

"We have information that Orochimaru was in Konoha for the past few days," Shizune started.

"WHAT?!"

"Yes, that's true Naruto," said Tsunade, "Some reports say that he's setting up a new plan."

"Plan??"

"Naruto—" started Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama, Shikamaru and Temari are here," interrupts Shizune.

"Shikamaru? Temari?" Naruto looked at Tsunade, "Why are they here?"

"They are the ones who will join you on this mission."

"Finally! I have a mission!" said Naruto.

"Don't be so glad, you shrimp," teased Temari.

"Yeah, you won't be happy about this," added Shikamaru.

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Naruto, puzzled.

"This is about Orochimaru…" started Tsunade.

"If it's Orochimaru, then I'll like it."

"…and Sakura."

His eyes widened, "Sakura-chan?! Why her?!"

Tsunade continued, "He wants Sakura because of her strength and excellent chakra control"

"WHAT?!?!"

"Sakura could be better than Kabuto, she just needs to be trained well. She has the potential to be the greatest medic-nin, she could even surpass me someday. And Orochimaru needs that kind of strength."

"NO! I won't let him!" Naruto was starting to get mad.

"That's why I've given you this mission, I know you won't let Orochimaru," Tsunade paused, "But there's a rumor that Orochimaru already confronted her. But we're still not sure of that."

Then Naruto suddenly remembered, "No! Maybe that's true." He was surprised himself that he didn't even thought of it earlier.

"How could you say that?"

"B—because, I saw her last night…" then Naruto told them what happened, "Maybe she already encountered him! That's why she's acting differently."

"If it really happened... Let's end this conversation, you should find her now and protect her," Tsunade continued, "Naruto, Shikamaru, Temari, it's Orochimaru you're dealing with, be careful, this is a Class-S mission!"

"Yes, understood," said the three.

The three of them hurried out to find Sakura.

"Sakura-chan… Where are you now? I know you won't come with him…" then Sasuke came into Naruto's mind, "No! She won't come just because of Sasuke! Sakura won't cooperate with Orochimaru!" Naruto tried to calm himself.

"Naruto, do you have any idea where Sakura is?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yeah, maybe at her house."

They went to Sakura's house quickly. Temari knocked at the door, but no one's answering, so they opened it. They were surprised to see that her things were messed up, as if there had been an intense fight.

They searched her chaotic house for some clues while Naruto looked for Sakura.

"Sakura-chan!! Sakura-chan!! Where are you?"

"It's useless, Naruto, she's not here," said Temari.