Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any affiliated characters.
Prologue
For the first time in many days, Sakura woke up after the sun had rose above the roof of her apartment, blissful for the short break from her job. She loved her occupation as a medic, yet she had been trained for years to be only one thing – a kunoichi, a sharp weapon guarding Konoha at all times. She had attended countless missions, ranging from harmless D-ranks that had been used for nothing more then a paid vacation with her friends to ones directly affecting Konoha's well being, dangerous both by the physical strain and the knowledge supplied, consuming one's mental health slowly from the inside.
She had given up on the easy thrill of field work, instead aiding Tsunade with the village's paperwork, accepting the responsibility of the knowledge coming with the occupation. As a reward, she received little more then a larger wage and the constant comfort of her own bed rather than one hundreds of miles away from Konoha, yet she was not the one to complain against the honor her mentor had provided her with. At the age of eighteen, Sakura was considered more valuable to the village then many of those thrice her age – and the woman intended for things to remain that way.
Getting up from her bed and slipping on a silk bathrobe, the pink-haired kunoichi slowly walked to the bathroom, savoring the natural energy her body had produced after finally getting a sleep-filled night. Stepping into her bathtub, she turned the faucets and arched under the hot water stream, enjoying the comfort she was currently receiving. Curling under the stream to massage shampoo through her hair, the girl failed to notice the creak one of her windows had made or the soft sound of feet on her hardwood floors.
In the very next minute, Sakura felt her head sharply descend under the pressure of someone's hand, hitting the marble bottom of the bathtub, the chlorinated water instantly causing her vision to blur. Attempting to gather her strength, the girl furiously kicked with her feet, producing nothing more then splashes of water, choking as her lungs were slowly deprived of oxygen. Closing her eyes in submission as her breath slowly trickled away, she felt herself being roughly hauled up by her attacker, gasping for precious air for a few seconds in silence.
"Who are you?" She gasped, every sound painful against her damaged lungs. She didn't attempt to turn her head; in fact, she couldn't – she was extremely exhausted, and someone of lesser training would likely have died or suffered brain damage after the harsh assault she had experienced.
"You don't remember me, dear Sakura?" A masculine voice asked, filled with mock concern. "But you were in love with me, or at least you claimed to be, for many years! How could it be that you forgot me so easily?"
"It can't be…" Sakura breathed, fruitlessly attempting to open her eyes to see even a glimpse of the man her attacker claimed to be. Although she haven't seen him in several years as he still remained a criminal to Konoha and part of Orochimaru's group, little of the feelings she had possessed for him had disappeared.
"And here I thought you would want to see me, Sakura-kun." He said, the grip on her hair easing, making Sakura fall to the floor in a crumbled, virtually motionless heap. "I guess your lack of enthusiasm means I'll have to use a little force."
"Why are you doing this to me?" She whimpered, cursing herself repeatedly for all mistakes she had managed to make in just one fragment of this day, which started out blissfully well – her lack of defense, her fear of the man who had once been her teammate and equal, the weakness shown to her enemy.
"You're mistaken here, Sakura. This area was always your weak point – you thought you were somehow different from the many other girls who threw themselves at me just because you were my teammate."
"Sasuke…" Supporting herself with her elbows, she raised her head to meet the icy glare of a man who once – still – meant everything to her. Clasping her hands together in a futile attempt to perform a jutsu, Sakura saw her opponent swiftly perform the hand signs, barely recognizing the technique behind them at the fast movement. Barely a second later, her wrists and ankles were tied together, Sasuke bending to scoop her body up from the wet tiles.
"You're weak, Sakura. Weaker than I remembered you being in our previous encounters. I guess the office work you did in the past months dulled whatever skills you might have previously had." The girl felt cold, slender fingers touch her temples, likely performing a sleeping jutsu. "I am going to have a lot of fun with that." With those words, she felt everything fade as her swollen eyelids closed against her