The Story So Far
Genre: Drama/Comfort
Pairing: ItaSaku
Rated: T for swearing and slightly mature themes.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. :(
Summary: Konoha has gone into a depression, unallied with all the other villages and now almost completely wiped out by The Hidden Rock. Sakura has lost everyone close to her, and, not knowing what else to do, she finds herself clinging to someone unexpected while attempting to lead a Resistance.
A/N: This is me writing a fanfiction in the spur of the moment just to write something, so I can keep my fingers moving. I'm going through a very strange time, not upsetting or depressing, but I feel enlightened about almost everything and its kind of scary. I just needed to write something so I can keep my mind preoccupied. If it doesn't turn out well, then I don't really care, but I would enjoy your criticism anyways.
There was no silver lining to Sakura's life those few years. After she turned sixteen, everything started to go downhill.
It started with Orochimaru's death. Sure, it had lightened the load on their shoulders, and by 'their', I mean everyone who was an enemy to the Sannin. But for Sakura, it meant that Naruto would be going on without her, to get stronger, while she stayed behind to help the Hokage. She was happy that their enemy was gone, and she was happy that Naruto was finally gaining control of his life, but she was disappointed that she could sleep in on Saturday mornings and she was upset she wasn't needed anymore. Not that she was ever truly needed, but still.
You may be wondering what happened to Sasuke in this equation. What do you mean she's lost everyone she's cared about? The answer is that he was no longer in that equation. After awhile, the whole 'loving friend' routine gets old when that loving friend keeps trying to kill you and obviously doesn't care about you like you care about them. Sakura was able to move on; she was able to kick Sasuke out of her heart after she fell in love with a dashing Shinobi from Suna, who died after a mission to infiltrate a terrorist group in the Hidden Rock. She was sad for awhile, but she knew he died honorably, and that only made her cope easier. Naruto took longer to forget about Sasuke, but he did. It took him time to realize that there was no friendship, despite what they may have all thought.
So she was stuck with her own life now. She was no longer allowed to remain in Naruto's shadow. But in a way she still wished she could.
But her own life was becoming a burden after she turned seventeen. The death that surrounded her was more than most people could cope with, it was suffocating. First it was Naruto. Because the fire inside him that kept him alive in most instances would eventually become useless. He couldn't survive on pure luck like he had always done for his entire life. In the end, his head-strong nature killed him. And he took with him a piece of his best friend.
Then it was Kakashi and Yamato. The two had always been severe assassin targets due to their reputations, and after awhile, they were finally terminated. Then it was Ino. She had been on a retrieval mission with her team when she was killed and taken by the culprits in order to retrieve the secret to her mind techniques.
Sakura attended each funeral religiously. Each time she was seen by the Hokage's side, because she had nobody else to stand beside. Tsuande eventually gained a Sakura ornament that adorned her wherever she went.
Then the war started when she was twenty. Three years of death was followed by a blow-out war between nearly all the Shinobi villages. Sakura was caught up in the war as the apprentice of the Hokage. She led teams of medical ninja into battle, every time praying to god they would be victorious. Every time she prayed that she wouldn't loose anybody. Every time her prayers were not heard by god. After awhile she lost her faith completely.
And finally, she was given the task of drafting. She accompanied ANBU soldiers as they rounded up everyone from the village to train them in five weeks years of Academy Training in order to fill in the gaps between their enemies and them. She went up to each terrified civilian and checked their charka signals, drafting them into medial units if they seemed reliable and watching little children getting taken to training camps outside the village walls. She didn't like watching the parents cry, because they wouldn't know if they would see their kids again after that. You can smell the desperation in a village after they start sending Genin to fight a war.
She wasn't prepared for the next step.
"Sakura! I need Sakura Haruno!" A messenger Shinobi sent to the invading Hidden Rock attack ducked as a pillar of rock and debris fell from the Hokage Monument onto the battle below. He cringed as he heard the screams and the following sounds of clashing blades and Ninjutsu. The commanding officer he was speaking to lifted her head and gestured wildly towards a medical tent behind her, where new injured Kunoichi were being transferred from the battle. He ran through the tent and ignored the screams from the females as he searched the crowd for a head of pink hair.
"Sir?"
He turned and found her with her hair tied up with her bandana. Blood covered her gloved hands, and he vaguely noticed her apparel, a snug red tank top and a pair of standard ANBU slacks. Her sandals were wrapped in soiled bandages, and her face was covered with a white mask that had a red tint. She had her arms up in front of her and she was turned away from a makeshift surgery.
She grew impatient quickly. "If you intend to stand there all day please put on gloves and a mask. He shook his shock away quickly. He had never seen Sakura before, and he didn't know of her youth. He had thought she was much older.
"The Hokage has been murdered." He said stiffly. "I'm here to give you word that you are in command of the village." His face was blank and pained. Behind her mask, her mouth hung open slightly. Her green eyes widened and she couldn't break the stare with the messenger. After a few moments, a female medic started to shake Sakura's shoulder.
"Sakura!" She snapped. "We're out of antibiotics, and the younger medics are starting to loose charka."
The shocked medic nodded her head, and then shook it as if she had corrected her own thoughts. She turned around and grabbed the Kunoichi's shoulders firmly, smearing blood over her exposed skin.
"Go to the commanding officer and tell her to surrender. We are backing down. Go with this messenger and get it done now!" She rounded on the messenger with deep authority in her voice. "Give the commanding officer my orders with this Kunoichi, and then retreat into the village. I want you to tell as many Shinobi as you can to hide out in the Interrogation Chambers below the village until I come to find you."
The messenger was surprised at her quick orders, but he guessed she must have rehearsed the situation in her mind over and over again. He nodded and squeezed her shoulder. "I hope you know what you're doing." He and the medic left seconds later, and she sat down on a bench and put her hands over her face and slouched onto her knees. The other Kunoichi medics were all silent in the tent and gave her confused looks. One of them touched her shoulder.
"Sakura? What do you want us to do?"
She sighed. "Take these patients to the hospital and then come back for the rest. We're surrendering."
With an unsure nod, the medics started to get to work.
The Hidden Rock Commanding Officer stood at the front of his victorious Militia. The remaining Militia of Konoha watched as Sakura walked out into the street to speak with him. She walked as if she was incredibly tired, which she was, and she pulled off her gloves and mask as she neared the man. He was indescribably taller than her, and she had to strain her neck when she reached him.
He chuckled at her appearance. "How can someone so young be next in command after a Hokage dies?"
"I'm her apprentice." Sakura stated simply.
"Some leader they have now. A young girl soiled in the blood of her people rather than her own." He paused and grinned maliciously. His teeth were straight and discolored. "And with pink hair."
"I apologize for not trying to kill, and instead trying to heal. I think there are a few of your Shinobi in our medical tents if you want to go find them. But for now we have much to discuss."
"Yes, we do." He nodded towards his Shinobi body guards, and two of them grabbed her arms, pulling her away towards the Hokage tower. They were probably taking her hostage. She went with them quietly, to drained of her charka to fight back.
The Hidden Rock Shinobi took total control over Konoha that day. They released Sakura from her temporary command and let her go to join the other Shinobi and civilians. They appointed their own leader, their Commanding Officer, and stationed Shinobi in every province of the village. Though she felt rage and despair burn inside her, she managed to escape down towards the Interrogation Chambers below the village, an area that was never revealed to normal civilians and that was hidden from other villages. When she reached it, she was greeted by Ibiki.
"Sakura, we have one hundred Shinobi beneath the village." He clarified for her. That was more than she had hoped for.
"I can't give commands anymore; they took me out of power and hour ago." She said, slowly feeling useless like she always had. For awhile there she felt like maybe she'd be able to do something about this god damned war. Or at least about Konoha.
Ibiki, however, gave a scary grin that she hoped was supposed to be comforting. "We were hoping you could lead the resistance we've been planning with Tsuande, or at least appoint us a leader." Sakura nodded. She wanted to help them out, but the idea of the scared Konoha Militia going against a perfect Hidden Rock "army" was hard to imagine.
As she reached out to grab the handle to the door, he stopped her. "Wait, there's something you should know that we never told you. Tsuande wanted the entire Interrogation and ANBU squads to keep it quiet."
She gave him a strange look. "What it is?"
"Four weeks ago we captured a very dangerous criminal. He's been here under Chakra-devouring poisons. And he hasn't said a word. But you might be shocked, and we didn't want you to know out of the blue."
Once more, she narrowed her eyes. "Who is it?"
"Uchiha Itachi."
Sakura walked down the winding stairs to the Chambers slowly, with Ibiki following behind her. Whenever she passed one of the one-hundred men and women, they called her "Hokage." It was something she would seriously need to get used to, because every time she heard it she wanted to say that the Hokage was dead. But then she remembered that in the course of only a few hours she went from being Tsuande's apprentice to the leader of a resistance that still needed to be organized.
When she passed Genma, he glanced at Ibiki and asked, "Does she know?"
"Yeah."
Sakura opened the high-security Chamber she was led to and stepped in. There was nobody inside except one man, who was slouched over in a chair with his torso bound in a Horse-Hair rope. His hair was weak and hung in his face, and she couldn't see his expression. Sakura took only a few steps and was in front of him in seconds.
"Congradulations on your promotion…" He looked up at her with empty, helpless black eyes. "…Sakura."
She had been planning to punch him as hard as she could without killing him, but now that she actually saw him she was filled with pity. His sarcasm was flat and weak and had no bite. His stare was painful, as if he had gone through extreme torture. He probably had. His head slouched again the second he said her name. For a fleeting moment she was tempted to help him regain his composure, but then she brushed the thought aside quickly.
When he started to realize she wasn't replying, he lifted his head again and tilted it so he could see her more clearly. "When am I going to hear the speech about my brother and how I'm a horrible person?" Sakura bit her lip as she lifted her fist up and acted like she would actually punch him. His eyes narrowed slightly in response, probably a flinch of some sort. Sakura snorted and pulled away, walking towards the door.
"I have nothing against you." She clarified.
The state of Konoha had become drastic. Two weeks had passed since the disappearance of Sakura Haruno and the sudden theft occurring on 'Hidden Rock Territory". Several Shinobi had gone missing, and Hidden Rock was getting nervous. They smelled something fishy.
But the 'Resistance' wasn't going well. Sakura found herself locked in the dark room that viewed Itachi's through a one-way glass, trying to find something to look forward to. When she was around the others, she was strict, listening to what they all had to say and what their plans were, and she chose the ones she thought would work best. But she didn't want the responsibility for long. She wanted to choose a new Hokage as soon as possible, but she hadn't given it much thought.
At the same time she was desperate to find something else to keep on her mind. She didn't want to think of Naruto and how much she wanted him back. She didn't want to think of Tsuande and how she left her hanging with just a handful of Shinobi and a village held hostage. She didn't want to think about a new Hokage yet because she didn't want too much pressure on her. She didn't think about the village and how they must be so frightened being at the feet of the Hidden Rock. She did, however, find herself thinking more about Sasuke, and that brought us to the reason she was staring at Itachi as he lay on his bed after a rough night of questioning.
She was trying to buck up the courage to go in there and talk to him about trying to hear what was going on outside of the gates. What was Sasuke up to? What were the Akatsuki up to? What were the remaining members of Hebi up to? She was too afraid to talk to him though, fearing that looking at his pathetic state would make her loose her nerve.
Finally, she left the room and entered his. The heavy metal door warned him of her entrance, with its rusty hinges, and he sat up before she could say anything.
Sakura closed the door and locked it, leaning up against the metal frame with her arms and legs crossed. It didn't take him long to notice that her eyes were glazed and watery.
"How's Sasuke?" She asked after about a minute of silence and staring.
Itachi kept his face blank, but his stare was more intense than it had been the other day. "He's with Hebi."
She opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it. After a few moments of silence she finally replied. "I don't think I should really care." She seemed like she was talking to herself more than she was to him. "Naruto and I abandoned our search for him while ago..." She paused to see if Itachi would make a comment, he didn't so she just continued. "What about Akatsuki?"
"Your team already got that out of me."
"It'd be better if I heard it from you."
"…I'm the only surviving member." His stare was too much for her, so she broke eye contact with him and looked to the ceramic floor. This information should have made her happy, but she felt devoid, and she hated herself for it. Once again she felt that familiar emptiness, as if she still wanted the organization out and around trying to see their plans into action. At least then she would have something to do other than worry about Hidden Rock.
"In a way, I'm disappointed. I was hoping they were all still alive and plotting a deceiving plan so I could start thinking about that instead of this stupid resistance." She looked at his eyes again. He had kept his stare the entire time, but she felt like it has eased up on the tension. The feeling of pity she had for him returned. The grand and mighty Itachi was now poisoned and imprisoned in a Konoha Interrogation Cell speaking to Sakura Haruno.
"Why are you leading them if you don't want to?" He asked.
She gave out a short, bitter laugh. "I have to. The order of command after a Hokage dies goes to the council. The council is dead; they were killed off by Hidden Rock Assassins. If that be the case the command automatically goes to the assistant, who had access to all files and orders. After Shizune died, though, Tsuande didn't have anymore secretaries. I was the only one left, her apprentice. The choice was me, obviously, but I don't want the position."
"You can choose another leader." Itachi told her, as if she didn't know already.
"Duh." She scowled. "I'm not going to choose just anyone." She shook her head as if he were an idiot.
From Itachi's point of view, he could tell she was a wreck. But not like him, not with a broken dignity, but with a total lack of position in life. Her hair was messy and unkempt, falling to her shoulders in shaggy folds that, in all honesty, looked good on her. He saw here eyes were cold, and didn't like looking at things for too long. Her face and overall complexion was pale, and she looked weak. The last time he saw her she wore such inappropriate clothes, like a bright pink top and a white skirt. Now she wore a dark red top that was snug on her and a pair of black ANBU slacks and sandals. To him, she had gone from being a girl, to being a woman.
She looked at him again. "When was the last time you ate?"
"Two days ago." He answered without even a blink of curiosity.
She nodded, and stood up, opening the door and then closing it with a slam.
An hour later he was brought a tray of his usual cruddy food by an Interrogation Member.
Shikamaru Nara came to Sakura that afternoon with news of an old friend.
"We've found Sai." He was out of breath, because he had been running all over the place trying to find her. It was rare to see him run. "He was almost dead in the woods, but we've prolonged it. We brought him into Itachi's cell."
She was stunned. Sai had gone on a mission to infiltrate Hidden Rock and had gone missing a year earlier. She was about to race to see him when she stopped and turned to Shikamaru. She and him were the only two surviving members of the Rookie Nine, other than Sasuke.
"Where is Itachi?"
"We moved him to a low-security cell with a guard."
Relieved, she dashed through the winding chambers until she reached the familiar heavy metal door, which was flung open and had smeared blood across the floor. Sai's blood. The table was surrounded by ANBU and stealth Shinobi who were usually around the village or in the village at night, spying or stealing supplies. One of them was an old ROOT member, who was also trained in medical Ninjutsu. He was attempting to keep him alive. Sakura could tell just by looking at him that there was no use.
"Sai…" She whispered his name as she leaned over his body. His shirt had been taken off and he was so white that she looked tan compared to him. His eyes were dark, but dark around the edges. He must not have been fed well, or allowed to move around wile he was with them, because he was scrawnier, with less muscle and more bone. The source of his dying, according to Shikamaru, was not any of his external injuries, but a broken leg that had split an artery. Things like that took too much time for Medics to heal.
His dark eyes looked at her. No emotion, only a wince of pain. "I got into Hidden Rock. I learned too much, and they captured me." She kept her face as blank as possible, trying to be strong in this situation. It was hard for her to imagine a year of torture. But even his scars couldn't sum it all up for her.
"What did you learn?" She asked.
"They have more Shinobi than our entire population, and they are training the citizens and quick. They plan to attack Konoha immediately if they even sense a threat from the Resistance." So they knew what they were up to. "They have orders to attack the children and citizens too, because they know you're trying to train them."
She let out a deep breath she didn't know she was holing in. Had a year of torture taught him manors or something? She wanted desperately to be called a Hag again; she wanted him to call her ugly, and to tease her without even knowing it. She wanted to have an excuse to punch him. She whispered without expecting a reply; "Oh, Sai…"
He was still a dumb ass. "What?"
He died a second later. She felt the inside of her chest twist as she felt shock rush through her body as if it were an orgasm. A tear rolled down her cheek and she clasped her hands to her mouth to hold whatever it was inside. Someone in the crowded room placed a hand on her shoulder. Sakura was starting to hate that gesture.
Soon she started to feel angry. How many more people were going to die? The words she was trying to hold back exploded as she smashed her fist down onto the bed frame.
"Fuck!" She screamed. Everyone in the room flinched. It echoed loudly in the large cell and nobody had expected it. "Fucking idiot!"
Someone whispered; "Get her out of the cell."
Sakura felt a pair of large hands grab her arms and pull her away. It was obvious that it was Ibiki, because nobody had hands that scarred up. She didn't fight back either, she felt her body start to go limp as she sobbed into thin air. She started to cry harder, and his grasp, she think, turned into a hug.
Sakura barged into the cell loudly, the flimsy wooden door crashing into the tiled wall with a crack because she was so used to opening a heavier, metal one. She had spent several days visiting Itachi, and until Sai died, the visits had been to keep her mind off the war. She ordered the guard to get out, using vile language that sent a shiver down both his and Itachi's spine. He left. She locked the door.
Instead of the war, she wanted to forget all the people she had seen die, and all the friends she couldn't do anything about. Everyone who made her life enjoyable, now all gone for good. She had people who were loyal to her, but now she wanted, more than anything, a loyal friend. But she wasn't here to make one out of Itachi. She wasn't that desperate.
He didn't let his expression change as she tried to furiously wipe away her tears. She walked up to him and collapsed in front of him, resting her forehead on his knee and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. He stared at her as she sobbed into his leg, and soon she looked up at him with a stuttering sob.
"Please, j-just talk to me…" She pleaded. He gave her a blank stare and she broke eye contact with him after a moment of silence. She couldn't handle the intensity of his eyes. A few minutes later, he felt the pity she felt for him.
"My leader was killed by your Sannin." She gave him a look of complete and honest thanks. "They died at the same time, that was the reason we split up. Soon all the members were killed."
She wiped her eyes and breathed in with closed eyes. She opened them again and looked at him. "Except you?" He gave her a small nod. She nodded and crossed her legs, not touching him anymore. "I'm so fucking crazy." The last part she added to herself. She was crazy, because she realized that she was going to start clinging to this inmate. A split second ago she was trying to forget Sai's death by crying on his lap. When Itachi started to talk, Sakura realized how pitiful she must look, and it was embarrassing.
"Do you usually try to find comfort in previous enemies?" He asked, giving her a quizzical glance. She let out a bitter laugh, but it wasn't as bitter as it should have been.
"Only when I've lost anyone I can turn to for comfort." Sakura glanced down at her feet awkwardly. She felt her cheeks redden in reaction to her embarrassment. Plus, his unfailing ability to stare her down was starting to unnerve her. In fact, she looked back up at him and scowled. "Why do you always stare?"
"I don't like talking." He said.
"Well I can see that." She said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"Why is it that you have nothing against me, when I purposively destroyed Sasuke's life?"
She chuckled. "Naruto and I don't care about Sasuke anymore. Childhood friends don't really matter that much anymore after several attempts at murder and you realize they don't care about you. We decided to finally let him go."
"Smart."
"What?"
"That was smart?"
"What was smart?"
"Letting Sasuke go."
"How is that smart?"
Itachi continued to stare at her. She felt awkward again. "Because you were trying to hold him back."
Sakura nodded and looked at her feet again. "I guess people can hate you for that." She vaguely remembered how she sometimes hated Naruto for getting more training than she did.
Sakura started to visit Itachi religiously. But she did it secretly. At night when there weren't any raids planned, or the Chambers were peaceful and quiet she would walk to his Cell. She didn't want to seem strange clinging to a prisoner who nobody seemed to care about anymore. The war had taken top priority, and ever since it was recognized that Akatsuki was dead, and split up, Itachi was no more use. But when Ibiki suggested scheduling an execution or release, Sakura quickly told him no and made up a bullshit story about how she was still trying to get information out of him about Sasuke. Ibiki seemed to take it without question and left him up to her.
But he was no longer in a maximum security Cell; those had turned into medical spots to help Shinobi who were injured. He was kept in a smaller cell, with a heavy wooden door and a bed in the corner. When she visited, she locked the door and prayed nobody would come to check up on him. Sometimes he would talk with her, but for the most part, she did all the talking. And other times they wouldn't talk at all, but sit in complete silence. After awhile, she didn't feel awkward about it at all.
"They think I'm crazy."
"Why?"
She sprawled out on the bed, her head resting on his stomach and her feet bent up onto the wall. She was tracing the strange designs carved into the cement wall be previous inmates. "Because I overhear them talking. They say I have insomnia and I'm in shock from everyone dying. I heard Shikamaru telling Ibiki I cry when I sleep and then I disappear."
"To here."
She looked at him. "Where?"
He stared at the ceiling, a rare thing for him to do. "You disappear to here."
She smiled, but it was a sad smile. "Because I'm crazy." She started to trace the designs again. "Anyways, I heard Genma telling Shikamaru not to worry about it, because I'm a good leader."
"Do you think you're a good leader?"
"Yeah. Nobody is dying off the hook because, unlike Tsuande, I'm going with stealth missions."
"You sound scared."
She frowned at the wall where some inmate carved a butterfly. She couldn't hear the tone of her own voice. "The Resistance is planning a series of assainations on Hidden Rock leaders' tomorrow night."
"Why are you frightened?"
"Because I'm going with them." Until now, Sakura had never gone on any of the raids or assassinations. The surrender of Konoha happened three months ago and she had continued to stay cooped up in the Chambers until now. Shikamaru had tried to confirm she was ready to go, but she merely smiled and nodded. Their plan was to get as many Hidden Rock soldiers killed while trying to kill the Commanding Officer, who had taken control of the village. After that they would work quickly to evacuate citizens to the safe points and wait for the Hidden Rock Militia to arrive. Sai's information had been unexplainably helpful, and she was glad he died in such an honorable way to a village he didn't really care about.
But truthfully, she was scared. What if she went with them and witnessed Ibiki, Genma, or Shikamaru die before her eyes? What if that happened and she went into shock again, and got killed by a Hidden Rock Shinobi? Then they wouldn't have a plan because she had decided not to choose another Hokage to replace her. There were so many things that could go wrong, and what made it worse was that there were a handful of children going. They were skilled, but she feared they weren't skilled enough to fight real live enemies that would kill them.
Itachi must have noticed her fretting because he wrapped a hand around her shaking fist.
Sakura was shaking as she joined the group at the front of the secret passage up to the village. She hadn't even gone near the staircase for three months. One of the men standing next to her was the messenger who had told her she was to be the temporary Hokage. Quietly, he leaned over towards her while Genma and Shikamaru were giving instructions and whispered; 'Happy birthday."
Sakura gave him a weird look. "What?"
"Today is your birthday. I read it on Tsunade's calendar. You're twenty-two."
Her eyes widened. Had she forgotten her own birthday? Before she could thank him, Genma told them to get moving. She stayed behind to wait for the other Commanding Officers who had proposed they keep her safer than the others. The group was instead being led by Shikamaru.
"Our target is that Hidden Rock scum.' Genma growled under his breath, pulling out a new senbon and placing it between his teeth. When the bottleneck had dispersed, they followed after them as quietly as possible. The night was cloudy when they got out. She was surprised to see nobody around, not even the wave of Shinobi leaving the Chambers. They moved faster than she thought.
The cloud cover gave them more darkness to work with, and she was grateful for that. Silently, she sneaked through the village with Genma, Raito, and Anko. Over the three months she had been in the Chambers, Genma and her worked closely together. Raito was around only to speak with Genma, because he never spoke to her, and Anko just happened to sign herself to the infiltration, because she had never interacted with Sakura at all.
Sakura landed on the roof of the Hokage tower first. Silently, she raised her finger to her mouth to warn the three of them behind her and then slid herself down a trap door to the attic. Anko followed, but Genma and Raito bid them goodbye. They were there to escort them, but not to stay. They were both going to return to the others and take out as many enemy Shinobi as possible.
The two Kunoichi left the door open in case they needed a stealthy getaway.
"Where to?" Sakura mouthed. She didn't know where the commanding Hidden Rock Shinobi resided in the tower. Anko started to give her directions in sign language, something all Shinobi learned during the academy for missions like this. Down the first corridor, into the second boarding room, and then down through the fourth trap door into the Hokage's Study. That was where he had stationed himself. The Hokage's quarters were demolished from his fight with Tsunade.
For this particular mission Sakura had replaced her red tank top with a snug black one. She had also tied back her bright hair with a black bandana that had no Konoha Hitai-Ate on it. However, when they reached the first corridor and she felt how hard the wood was against her Sandal Boots, she slipped them off her feet and continued on barefoot.
They reached his study without complications. Anko, however, wasn't supposed to go after this one. She bid Sakura goodbye like Genma and Raito and went on to assassinate a crucial officer two floors down. Sakura was on her own this time.
She didn't open the door up too much, the hallways were lit with florescent lights and his room was dark. She cracked it open just enough so she could slide herself through the crack without exposing too much of the light into the room. When she was inside, she closed the door and pulled out something she never used before. They were night-vision goggles that used to belong to Naruto. His foster family gave her a box of items he addressed to her in his Will. In Konoha, all Shinobi were forced to make and update Wills the second they graduated the academy. Naruto left Sakura a box of specific items he said she'd taken an interest in, including the goggles, a book of medical Ninjutsu, and the photos of Team 7 from when they were twelve. He also left her his Hitai-Ate, a photo album, and a journal he kept. She read the journal from start to finish the second she got it.
As of now, all of Sakura's possessions would go to Tsuande. She didn't get a chance to update it since the last Hokage was killed. She didn't even know who to leave them to anymore so she didn't care.
Anyways, she knew the layout of Tsuande's study like the back of her hand, but she didn't know if anything had been changed. Slipping the goggles on her face, she clicked them on and nearly died from shock.
They knew she had been coming for him.
Six fully grown male Shinobi stood in front of her, their arms nearly inches away from her face. She guessed they had been trying to take her quietly. She let out a quick, uncontrollable scream as they grabbed her, and she threw her goggles at the light swiftly and elegantly. The light in the room was sensitive, and it went off the second the goggles smashed into it. The light flooded the large area and she kicked and punched until she was free from their muscular grasps. The Shinobi chased after her as she fled the room, her bare feet slapping against the hard wood floor painfully. Adrenaline shot through her as she raced through the familiar building and into the familiar streets. The sky was lighter now, and she could see in the pale light, though it was a tad bit gray. The ground around her was bloody and strewn with a few bodies, both Resistance Shinobi and Hidden Rock Shinobi.
There was a battle going on in the streets of Konoha.
"Grab the assassin! Kill her!" The men were still pursuing her, but she hit the deck as a kunai came out of nowhere and nearly stuck itself in her skull. The bandana on her head slipped off and the men all hesitated in their pursuit, their faces baffled.
One of them finally realized who they were staring at. "It's her!" he bellowed.
From somewhere came; "get her alive!"
Adrenaline surged through her again as they once more started to chase her. They were almost as fast as she was, and she didn't want to take the time to loose them before she joined the fight. She would get rid of them though, just more directly than sneaking through the woods.
Mixed with adrenaline and as much charka as she had, Sakura felt four months of anger, sadness, and built-up aggression surge through her arm to her fist. Her knuckles hit the ground with so much force and an uncontrollable "HAH!" She felt, for the first time ever, a rebound to her attack. She felt a stab of pain, and was thrown back as the entire block erupted from beneath their feet. There were screams somewhere, and she hoped to god she didn't hurt anyone important to Konoha.
But Sakura couldn't get herself up. She had used so much charka for that one hit that she could barely breathe correctly. Her wrist was sprained, her knuckles were bleeding, and the sharp pain she felt happened to be a katana stuck through her shoulder. Her green eyes opened to see smoke, dust, and a man standing over her with a smug grin on his face.
"At least," he said to her in a mocking voice, "you're covered in your own blood this time."
Sakura was being held hostage. The Hidden Rock Shinobi who were waiting in the Study took her back to the Hokage tower while the Resitance fought Hidden Rock in the streets outside. By this point, the sun had risen, and the clouds had disappeared. The Shinobi who had her were all men, and some were asking the Commanding Officer if they could do more than just hold her hostage. And by "more" they wanted to have a little fun.
"Pigs…" Sakura insulted through a mouthful of blood. Her back tooth was loose after one of the men had punched her hard in the face, and the blood tasted nice, even after she had spit most of it out. Her lower lip was swollen and there was a bruise on the corner of her mouth.
"No rape. We're Shinobi, not animals." The Officer said, though he too had eyed her chest for a moment before glancing out the window. "We have your Resitance outnumbered you know, and we could easily destroy your citizens if you don't cooperate." He glanced at her with dark, threatening eyes. "Where are the rest of your fighters?"
"Those are it. That's my Resitance." Sakura lied through her teeth, but she didn't have the strength to put up a good façade.
"You're telling me twenty-six Shinobi were able to steal and assassinate my men in the past three months?"
"You're village doesn't have an intelligent reputation, or a strong one at that." Her eyes remained uncooperative, though she was seriously beaten to a pulp. She had no charka signals left except just enough to keep her alive, and the men had kicked her hard all over when she was previously sprawled on the floor.
The Officer took a step towards her and lifted his sheathed katana, bringing it down hard on her back. She cried out in pain and buckled over with her hands tied behind her back and her forehead to the floor.
"Hidden Rock is stronger than you fucking Konoha Shinobi!" He yelled. "Where is the rest of your fucking Resitance?!"
"Suna." She lied again.
"We're allied with Suna." He growled, raising his katana again.
Sakura snorted. Temari had visited the Chambers last month to see Shikamaru and to bring news about the war outside of Konoha. She told them that Suna was secretly aiding all the villages, but claimed to be on Hidden Rock's side.
"As far as you know you dumb fuck." Sakura whispered. He heard her. The second blow didn't hurt as bad as the first.
Konoha had lost the unplanned battle. Nine out of the twenty-six were bound and guarded by towering Hidden Rock Shinobi. It was then that Sakura finally noticed that there were no Kunoichi on their side. She wanted to find an opening to suggest they were gay, but she couldn't speak. Her mouth was swollen and bloody from more kicks and punches. She could hardly move without feeling pain.
In the crowd she couldn't make out any familiar faces, until she noticed a girl she knew from her first Chunnin Exam. Ten-ten. Sakura hadn't seen her in a long time, but she had heard she was sent up by the Resistance as a spy. Her hair was much longer now, in two long black pigtails, and her hip was crowded with a bundle of pouches that were probably the resting place of a few weapons she didn't keep in the scroll on her back.
The nine captured Konoha Shinobi were Shikamaru, Genma, The Messenger, and six others she didn't really know personally. One was a small girl, whose hair was frayed and matted to her face with red blood. Her eyes were wide and frightened, and watery. Sakura couldn't tell if the potential tears were from fear or pain.
"You nine are members of the secret Konoha Resistance we've known about for the past month. This girl-" The Commanding Officer tapped Sakura's temple with the tip of his sheathed katana. Her vision blurred slightly before returning to normal. "-Is your leader. You all care about her, and you will all be set free if you just tell us where the others are."
Nobody answered. Shikamaru closed his eyes and didn't open them.
The Officer attempted sympathy this time. "We don't want to do this. We wanted peace at first but your Hokage, Tsunade, wouldn't hear of it. If you cooperate now, you can keep your lives, and the other Resitance members will be forgiven if your treasons against the Hidden Rock village stop. This is the story so far, you can decide how it ends."
Once again, nobody spoke.
The Officer grinned, and then nodded to the man standing next to the younger girl. He raised a kunai and held it against her throat. She started to cry, but her answer contradicted her emotions. "Don't say ANYTHING!" She screamed. The kunai slid against her throat and she was dead in seconds, her little head limp around her neck, and blood staining her shirt. Tears were about to sting Sakura's helpless eyes. She tried to look away, but the Officer grabbed her hair and made her stare.
"Do you see what you've done?" He whispered into her ear.
She waited for the next person to die on her conscious, but it never happened. Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement in the crowd. Ten-ten flung something into the air as high as she could, and she smiled at Sakura. The two of them never had a real conversation, and they never would. This stare would be the last eye-contact they would ever share.
The bomb rolled across the street and into the crater Sakura had made earlier. Her green eyes widened as the fuse hit the end, and then there was a blinding white light. She felt herself hit something, and she couldn't hear or see anything. She counted the seconds until she could move.
Her legs hurt, her lungs her, her soul hurt.
She ran faster than she had ever run in her entire life, through the woods she used to train in, and then finally, she stopped. She collapsed to her knees and threw her fists onto the ground. She wanted to scream, but she couldn't let anyone know where she was, plus the running put her in so much pain from her other injuries that all she could do was cry. She sobbed into her hands and tried to keep as quiet as she could.
She left them all, because she had no choice. She survived the bomb with so few injuries she was disgusted that she didn't die. How didn't she die?
She reached the interrogation chambers and didn't even bother to look out for anyone who could locate them. When she walked inside, there were people waiting for her. For the missing Resistance members. She opened the door and met their gazes. The light flooded the dim florescent staircase as she opened the door wider and then closed it behind her, locking it without turning her back on them.
"Sakura, are you okay?"
"I'm alive." She whispered, walking down the stairs and through the crowd.
"Where are the others?"
"Was the mission a success?"
"They knew." She answered.
Some of them exchanged confused glances at her lack of information.
"Sakura, what happened?"
"There were people waiting…and then Ten-ten threw a bomb-" She looked down at her feet and suddenly realized they were bleeding, and cut, and she thought her large toe may be broken. Then she remembered she had left her boots back in the Hokage Tower.
Nobody questioned her as she pulled away from their interrogating and stormed through the hallways, trying to find the room she had become a slave to. The familiar large wooden door was locked, but she didn't have the key with her. She grabbed the handle and shoved, the door nearly broke off its hinges, but it came open with her force. Itachi was sitting at his bed with his hands between his lap. He looked tired, and she wondered when they gave him the charka-devouring poison for the day. He was on it daily until they decided what to do with him.
But he didn't look surprised to see her standing there, worn out, with a beaten face, messy hair, dirty knees, cut-up feet…She was a horrendous mess. The way she stood there, staring at him with empty, painful eyes, made her look oddly attractive to the point where he wanted to hurt her more.
"How was your mission?" He asked casually.
She closed the door with her foot and half ran to him, crushing her mouth down on his and forcing him onto his back. He immediately reacted this time, unlike the rest of their visits. He didn't sit still and let her do all the work. Itachi grabbed her hair with his rough hands and held it hard. The pain from him pulling her hair only made her kiss him harder. She was eventually biting him, taking out as much of the pain in her as she could.
She needed some way to channel her aggression.
She channeled it this time more differently than she usually did.
The man she had originally wanted dead she just wanted to take her to a different place. A place where she could yell out and not be ridiculed for it. She wanted to feel something good for once, something that made her spine tingle and her teeth grind down on her lip. After all, what good did she have anymore? Why not have sex with the inmate?
Either nobody knew where she was, or they all knew and didn't do anything about it. Sakura was half-dressed in Itachi's cruddy bed, clinging to him like a pathetic little girl. He stared at her for a long time before he finally spoke since she walked in.
"Do you want to leave?"
She let out a sob. The past few hours were full of them. Even when Itachi was thrusting inside her she was crying, both with pleasure and with emotional pain. He couldn't find it in him to blame her.
Quietly she sat up and pulled on her red tank top. Then she pulled on her slacks and sat on the edge of the bed with her hands limp in her lap and her head bent. After a moment of silence she nodded. Itachi sat up, and swung his legs over the edge of the bed next to her. He wasn't wearing a shirt, so he grabbed it and pulled it over his head.
"I can take you away." He whispered into her ear gently, making her shiver.
She looked up at him with painful green eyes. She leaned up and kissed him once, much more gently than before, and then returned to her previous pose. He continued to stare at her, and she couldn't help herself. She kissed him again, with more effort. He pushed her back, as if he didn't like it, but then he changed his mind and let her do it.
This kiss was more comforting than the other.
Two Days Later:
Sakura walked besides Itachi in long, heavy black cloaks as they escaped through the Konoha woods to the unguarded section of the wall. It would be an easy escape, because all of Hidden Rocks's attention was focused in the middle of the village. The past two days had healed her up though. She didn't feel like healing anything that would heal quickly without her help though. Her bruised eye was still purple, but she had healed her swollen mouth, her feet, and her back. Her sprained wrist was wrapped in Horse-Hair bandages.
She had brought new clothes from the storage area for Itachi as well. He had been in those for at least three months, and she could see a drastic change in his pride now that he wasn't wearing rags.
When they reached the crack in the wall that only Sakura and Ino knew about when they were kids, Itachi turned to her and lifted a finger to his lips. She nodded, but with a confused look on her face. He ducked under the hole and disappeared. He was gone a minute before she heard a high, long, echoing whistle. It sounded like a bird.
A second later, his arm extended through the crack and he helped her through.
What she saw was not what she expected. All draped in heavy black cloaks that resembled theirs, were nine figures. They were all male except one blue-haired female.
Sakura recognized quite a few. She glanced at Itachi in the corner of her eye. He wasn't looking at her, but at the figure with spiky orange hair. Had she been tricked?
"Sakura," said Itachi, looking down at her with dark eyes. "We had to get you out of the village."
"Why?" She breathed, looking at all the relatively-friendly faces. They were all supposed to be dead, they even had records.
"Because we need a medic. A skilled one. You were out best option."
"Especially since sources told us that you were shit-out-of-luck in Konoha." A tall blonde named Deidara said to her. "You should be happy we decided to give you something a bit more fun to live for."
"But…" She was so confused. "Was all that an act?" She gestured toward the wall, meaning the village, and looked at Itachi with hurt in her eyes.
"Yes."
She figured. He was Itachi Uchiha, on a mission to recruit a new member. She couldn't refuse that offer though, because what could she go back to? Deidara was right. She could use some new company and some new goals. Exactly. She had nothing else to go back to. Konoha wasn't Konoha anymore, and if it was, there sure as hell wasn't anybody waiting for her back in that hell hole.
Why not take a chance? Why not become a criminal?
"I'll go with you." She said, glancing at the leader. She couldn't see his face, but she could see his terrifyingly cold eyes.
"They can explain along the why." He replied, in a mechanical voice, and nodding towards Itachi and a tall blue-haired member. It almost made her flinch, until she finally realized that he wasn't really there, but more of a hologram-like shadow. She also realized that only two members were actually there, including Itachi.
"Explain what?"
"Anything you want to know." He clarified.
He disappeared. Everyone who wasn't actually there disappeared as well. Sakura stood next to Itachi, and the blue-skinned member named Kisame. He told both of them they should get away from the village, and, as they started to walk away, Itachi grabbed Sakura's arm and pulled her close.
"It wasn't all an act." He whispered quietly in her ear.
For the first time in forever, she felt a real smile crawl across her face.
The End.