Separation
Chapter 1:
-*x*-
They always said they would come back for me, and I believed them. Otou-san and Kaa-san would never lie to me. In every fiber of my seven year old body, I believed in my parents. After all, they promised me before I left. They never go back on promises. Just like the true shinobi and kunoichi they are.
Konoha was being attacked on an often occurrence lately, by some group called the 'Akatsuki'. The only thing I know about it is that they want something called a 'Kyuubi' that we have. I've never heard of it before though. Because of those attacks, a lot of the parents in Konoha sent out the younger children, including me, to other villages or relatives to live with, until Konoha was safe at least. That was 9 months ago though, that's what worried me.
I haven't set foot in Konoha since. I really missed it too. My oba-san and oji-san were kind and loving people to me, and I dearly appreciated the fact that they let me stay in their home. It's a non shinobi village about 6 hours away from Konoha, and it was quite peaceful here. That's what bore me though, no excitement whatsoever.
"Sakura, we have some news for you sweetie!"
My oba-san called me down from my room, and I ran down the stairs in excitement, and found oba-san and oji-san on the couch, with a sadden look on their faces. She motioned for me to come closer, and I obediently followed.
"Sakura dear, we have some bad news," my oji-san said as he glanced over to oba-san.
"Your parents are in a better place, sweetheart. They passed away in battle, I'm so sorry," my oba-san said slowly, opening her arms for me to hug her, which I immediately did.
"You are certainly welcome to stay here Sakura, if you want," oji-san added.
"Or you could go to Konoha, its safe now. The Akatsuki finally took their leave. You would have to become a kunoichi to support yourself though, it's your decision Sakura," oba-san finished. I wiped away some of my tears before speaking up finally.
"I'm going to go back to Konoha. Arigatou for letting me stay oji-san and oba-san."
After a quiet dinner together, I made my way back to my room and began to pack my belongings. The only thing on my mind was about how the 'Akatsuki' will pay for what they did. I'm going to become the strongest kunoichi ever, and defeat them all, for otou-san and kaa-san, as well as for Konoha. Konoha already let me in the academy, and I well surpassed my age group.
Thanks to kaa-san who taught me medical ninjutsu, and otou-san who taught me taijutsu. I may be only seven, but I'm already at chunin level. The Hokage said I had perfected chakra control before I left and that I was an excellent student, always having high marks from theory to kunai throwing. I wanted to make a name for myself, and I already had planned on becoming a kunoichi. Those 9 months, were spent diligently, training and reading, I was fiercely determined. After I had finished packing, I said my goodbyes and started to travel back to Konoha, with my backpack and canteen in hand. Both of them assured me that I could come over anytime I wanted, and they would surely visit me soon. Oba-san baked some goodies for me on the trip, which I was thankful for since she was an amazing cook.
Halfway through my unusually quiet journey I heard voices heading towards my direction, two masculine ones. I instantly concealed my chakra and hid in a nearby bush, kunai already out in my hand. I wasn't going to jump out unless absolutely necessary. The two walking nearby were adorned in the same cloak, black with red clouds scattered across it, they were part of the Akatsuki; I knew it from reading the Bingo Books.
"Neh? Deidara-sempai, do you sense something?" The voice belonged to the orange masked man, he seemed childish and annoying. He certainly didn't look like he belonged in the Akatsuki.
"Tobi you baka, I don't sense anything!" The blonde pounded 'Tobi' on the head, earning a pout for the childish man who didn't fight back.
"But Tobi does Deidara-sempai! It's behind that bush," Tobi said while pointing towards my current location. 'Kuso.'
"Whatever Tobi, there's nothing here, see?" He revealed my tiny form and stared at me intently before taking a step back.
"What the hell! A girl?" Tobi rushed over to me, disregarding the fact that I had a kunai in my hand, and gave me a bone crushing hug. "Aww! What are you doing out here for, pretty flower? Are you a kunoichi?" He added a gasp at the end.
"You hid your chakra, and you're so young," Deidara muttered before pulling his partner off me. "My name isn't pretty flower! It's Sakura Haruno, and don't forget it! Yes, I'm a kunoichi too!" I said with a pout, tapping my foot against the ground. The two stared at me a bit before they both let out a booming laugh.
Of course, this just annoyed me even more, so I threw the kunai between the two, which only increased their laughter. "You got guts for messing with us, kunoichi," Deidara said with a smirk on his face. "So what! Now if you don't mind, I'll be taking my leave, sayonara!" I waved a dismissing hand at the two, but Tobi caught me by the collar before I could react.
"Deidara-sempai, Tobi thinks we should take Sakura-chan with us!" They couldn't see my face, but boy I was mad. "What makes you think I'd go with? And don't call me 'Sakura-chan'! I don't know you," I said with a huff, annoyed that I couldn't move (unless I wanted to be choked at least). 'Kuso, I shouldn't have worn this today.'
"I actually agree with you, baka. She's amusing, and seems she's hiding something from us."
They both nodded at each other, and before I knew it I was clinging to Deidara's back for dear life because we were in the air, at least 5,000 feet away from ground level.
"Let me go you creeps!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping someone besides these two morons would hear me, though I severely doubted it. I felt a hand on the back of my neck, and my world suddenly went black. 'Kuso.'
-*x*-
"Why is there a pink haired girl in my office?" I woke up, sitting in a chair, next to the idiots who kidnapped me, and a weird orange-haired man with a lot of piercings who sat in front of me.
I had chakra restraints on my arms too. I've read about these, there's no way out of these either. So I just had to act 'nice' to get the heck out of here.
"You!" I pointed at the two men sitting next to me, with a frown on my face. "You just couldn't leave me alone, could you?" The orange haired man sighed. Of course I couldn't run away either.
"Leader-sama, this is Sakura-chan! We think she should stay here!" Tobi said with an excitement.
"She's probably not even a genin," the orange haired man said.
"That's not true! I'm a chunin! Now let me go you weirdos!" I huffed again, totally irritated.
"A chunin? How old are you child," the man 'Leader-sama' asked.
"I'm seven," I muttered.
All three of them looked at me like I was crazy. "What village are you from," Leader-sama added.
"Konoha."
The same devilish smirk appeared on their faces, well except Tobi's since I couldn't really see his face. Why did it matter if I was from Konoha?
"What?" Did I miss something? I must have said something stupid or amusing to them.
"She can stay. You two will show her around. We'll discuss things later," 'Leader-sama' said before disappearing.
"Oh heck no! I'm not staying here!" The two got up from their seats and Deidara put a guiding hand on my shoulder and when exited the room. I didn't really have a choice either. 'Kuso.'
I was like a bug compared to the two men who over-towered me in height. With my pink hair, I'm sure I didn't look that threatening either. But that didn't stop me from showing my feisty side either. They messed with the wrong kunoichi if they think I'm gonna stay here. After all, they were the ones who…killed otou-san and kaa-san and royally screwed up my life.
"Kuso," I muttered.
"Little girls like Sakura-chan shouldn't cuss!" Tobi said with a gasp.
"Damnit stop calling me that!" Tobi bonked me on the head. "Itai…" If I could punch him, oh I would...
"Aren't you scared of us?" Deidara added.
"Why should I? You said I was staying here. I can protect myself, thank you very much." The two stopped walking, which obviously made me stop since Deidara was in control of my movements.
"If you want to live, I suggest you don't underestimate us, Sakura," Deidara said icily. Which sent shivers down my spine, may I add.
"Then don't underestimate me either," I mumbled.
We continued walking until we reached a door down the extremely long hallway. "This will be your room, Sakura," Deidara said before opening the door. The room was medium-sized, and poorly lit. It looked dusty, like no one has ever lived in here or something. Lucky for me it had its own bathroom, and bed for that matter.
"Stay in here, until we get you for dinner, ok Sakura-chan?" Tobi added sweetly to which I just frowned. The two left with a sigh, seeing how I wasn't going to reply and promptly shut the door. "Kuso," I muttered. Why did this have to happen to me? What was I, a pet or something? I'm a kunoichi! A kunoichi who just wants to go home, not one shared with the criminals who killed my parents and messed with Konoha.
I decided that, if I was going to stay here, I might as well learn their secrets and skills so I could beat the tar out of them when I get older! They think I'm just a cute little girl who has no skill. But ooh, were they wrong. I may not be as strong as them yet, but I will be. I'm the Haruno prodigy! I can't waste my time being the Akatsuki pet! Why did they even keep me? I'm not going to be a member, if that's what they think. "Stupid bakas..."
I pouted and pondered with the thoughts in my head, while sitting on the bland bed. If they thought I was feisty now, wait till I show my skills off. Maybe then they won't treat me so lowly. It's not like I wanted their approval anyways, I just wanted to get out of here. I have a feeling that the other members, who were all most likely men, were never going to accept me. Not like I cared though, the only people who did were Hinata, Ino-pig, and Naruto, and well of course my family and the Hokage too. The Akatsuki just probably wanted information out of me.
But I wasn't going to give it without something in exchange, but then again they could easily kill me. I sighed in defeat. I should probably take Deidara's advice. They were the Akatsuki after all, S-ranked criminals in every single Bingo Book made, with the intention to kill anything living that their 'Leader-sama' ordered them to. I had to admit, they were scary. Especially 'Leader-sama'. So, what was my plan? I had no idea, just stay alive I guess. Me and my poor planning skills were most likely going to kill me. I thought back to what Deidara said earlier. 'She's amusing and she's hiding something from us.' Damn right I was hiding something from them! The fact that I was on my way to go home so I could train for years so I could kill them, that's what I was hiding!
So there I was, sitting on a bed the Akatsuki provided me with, having no idea what to do. I heard the door open, so I jumped up from my position. "Come on Sakura-chan!" Tobi motioned for me to follow him, and I begrudgingly did, muttering things like 'baka' and 'kuso', which earned me another hit to the head.
"Sakura-chan, its very un-lady like to cuss!" Tobi screeched at me while we continued walking through the hallways.
"Pfft, like I care. You're not my otou-san."
When I mentioned 'otou-san' Tobi gave me a bone crushing hug. "I'll be your otou-san, Sakura-chan! Tobi's a good boy!" I pried him away, luckily.
"No one could ever replace my otou-san! You killed my family!" I covered my mouth after I realized what I said. Tobi bent down to my level, revealing an odd crimson eye.
"Is that true, Sakura-chan?" His voice seemed deeper. I huffed and looked away from him, tapping my foot. "Yeah, it is. My kaa-san too. Not like you care anyways. That didn't stop anyone from doing it."
Tobi returned to his bubbly personality when he stood up again. "Were gonna be late for dinner Sakura-chan! Let's hurry!" was the last thing he said before he started to drag me through the hallways. I screamed at him to slow down, since the arm he was tugging was almost pulled off by his force. When we finally stopped, and breathed in and out.
"Stupid baka! Were you trying to rip my arm off!" I dusted myself off, and paused when I realized I was in the presence of nearly the whole Akatsuki. 'Kuso.'
"Who the hell is that?" A silver haired man with violet eyes said as he glared at me with curiosity. I've seen him in the Bingo Book before, Hidan.
"Everyone this is Sakura-chan! She'll be staying here with us now!" Tobi said while hugging me again. I simply sighed and let him hug me, seeing as there was no way getting out of it. "Tobi, let go of me, you baka." He reluctantly let go, and I sat down, unfortunately between Tobi and Deidara. They continued talking as if I wasn't there, and every so once in a while when Hidan or I could cuss Tobi would tell us it's not 'polite'.
Dinner was yakisoba for most of us, while others ate sukiyaki. I could tell none of them made it either, since it tasted so good, it was almost as good as oba-san's cooking. Tobi kept asking me questions, ones I didn't prefer telling, but I did anyways, seeing that he was interested and I was downright bored. When Tobi asked who my friends were, they all stared at me when I said 'Naruto'.
"What?" I continued eating, as some returned to their previous conversation others glanced at me off and on, like I had something on my face or something.
"Your friends with the Kyuubi?" Deidara asked.
'Kyuubi.' THAT'S WHAT THE AKATSUKI WANTED IN KONOHA! OH MY GOD! THEY WANTED NARUTO!
My eyes glanced over at the wall and back to Deidara. He was the last thing I saw before passing out from fear. 'They wanted….Naruto. All along.'
"Holy fuck, she passed out!" Hidan stood up and started yelling out random things.
Tobi started freaking out and carried off into the hallways, Sakura in one arm, the other was waving in the air like a crazy maniac. Deidara was shortly behind yelling at him to put Sakura down and calling him a 'baka'.
Sakura in the mean time was being flailed around like a doll in Tobi's arms, conked out. The top of her head had a bit of soy sauce on it since her head banged against the table when she passed out. Tobi tossed Sakura on her bed and started pleading at her to wake up, and then was kicked out by a yelling Deidara who assured him that she would be fine.
Seeing that the only one who had medical knowledge, and had no emotions, Itachi checked the conked out pinkette and confirmed that she was fine, to which Tobi and Deidara breathed easily seeing how she was their responsibility. This kunoichi actually worried Deidara. She would regret that. Tobi wasn't going to be too easy on her either. When she woke up, she had some explaining to do.
-*x*-
Something was licking my forehead. I cracked open my eyes and saw it was Deidara's hand. "Sawannai-de!" He backed away a bit with a grin on his face, after I huffed at his action. "Why'd ya freak out when I mentioned the Kyuubi, Sakura?"
"Kuso.." I rubbed my head in pain. It felt like someone had beaten in my head multiple times.
"Chibi, ya better answer him," a red headed man appeared from the corner of my room.
"CHIBI?" I huffed again, I was not that short. He glared at me; I've seen him before in a book, Sasori. I narrowed my eyes at him. "Waketteru! "The Kyuubi" was my best friend and you're after him!" I rolled my eyes at Deidara, who 'tsk'd' at me.
"Dare-ni mukatte mono itten-dayo?" (A/N: Meanings are at the bottom. ^^) Sasori said with an un-amused look on his face when he tilted his head slightly to the right. I shifted my gaze to the wall, just to ignore him. "Chibi, you better learn some manners," Sasori said with the 'oh-so threatening voice'.
"My name isn't chibi! Hottoite-yo!" I stuck my tongue out at him, and continued to ignore him. I heard both of them sigh. Sasori whispered something to Deidara, and then left. "Come, Sakura." I shook my head 'no.' Deidara pulled me by the arm and then placed both of his hands on my shoulders, guiding me to some foreign place.
"What? You're gonna torture me or something to give you answers?" I yelled.
"No," Deidara softly said.
"Uso!" I pouted and kept walking only because I still had chakra restraints and Deidara was dictating where I was going.
When Deidara stopped walking, I almost freaked out. He bent down in front of me, staring at me like he was looking into my soul or something.
"I don't want you to die, so be truthful like a good little kunoichi, all right?" I turned my head and slightly nodded. With a frown still on my face, we entered 'Leader-sama's' office.
"Sakura Haruno, I have an offer for you," the orange haired man said with that repulsive grin on his face.
'Kuso.'
-*x*-
(A/N: I tried to write this differently from my other stories! Hope it didn't suck! Meanings: ^^)
Oba-san= aunt Oji-san= uncle 'Kuso!'= 'Damn!' or 'Crap!' 'Baka'= idiot Otou-san= father Kaa-san= mother
'Chan'= honorific used towards young children (or teenage girls) that expresses the speaker finds the person endearing.
'Sama'= honorific that is a more respectful version of 'san'.
'Senpai'= honorific used to address one's senior colleagues.
'Wakatteru!'= meaning "Even if you hadn't mentioned it, I knew that" or "Okay, I'll do it. Stop nagging."
'Dare-ni mukatte mono itten-dayo?'= "Who do you think you're talking to?"
'Chibi'= 'Shorty'
'Sawannai-de!'= "Don't touch me!"
Hottoite-yo!'= "Leave me alone!"
'Uso!'= 'Liar!'
Yakisoba- fried or deep fried Chinese style noodles served with vegetables, meat, and ginger.
Sukiyaki- A nabe dish prepared with thinly sliced meat, vegetables, mushrooms, tofu and shirataki (konyaku noodles). The pieces of food are dipped into raw egg before eaten.
(Now I'm hungry lol ^.^ No, I'm not Japanese, I just did some simple research! XD )