(em)Brace Death

written by Tsumirei

Chapter One: The Space Between

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. (I can dream... ;-;)

"No...please. I have done nothing wrong. Please – "

"Foolish dog. You betrayed us for the money from the other villages. I hope you are not so stupid to know that right now is your death. Anything else to say before you die?"

"Please! No!"

The assassin smiled, and with a swift flick of their sword, split the man's jugular, blood seeping out of his body.

The assassin stared down at the mangled body before them, a twisted smile left on their lips. Blood dripped down their sword and their knife; the liquid's stench forever staining the room. The assassin took one last look at the body before them, sheathing their sword and placing the knife back on the pack tied to their right leg.

Let them smell this stench and heed the warning.

Sakura woke on her mattress, her face full beading with sweat and her breaths speedy. Her short pink locks were messy like a bird's nest, and her emerald eyes seemed bloodshot. She had dreamed again. Nowadays, sleeping at night had become a hard thing for her. One couldn't assume her to be an insomniac; however, it was quite common in that time period to not be able to sleep. The reason why: assassinations. Living in Japan at the time was hard; the villages constantly went to war and fought for power. Her home, Konoha, was the most dangerous to live in and to enter, being the most powerful village of them all. It (Konoha) also had disposal of the most powerful clans of the area, them being the stealthy yet arrogant Uchiha, and the quiet strength of the Hyuuga.

Almost every night, Sakura could swear she heard screams of agony resonating in the air. She could swear that the stench of blood would forever be stained in her nostrils. However, deaths plagued her more than anyone else could imagine. Why? Many of her friends have asked her. Why was she letting the deaths plague her so? Most of those that have been assassinated she had hardly even known. Her answer was always the same.

"I am a doctor, and the pain of everyone becomes mine as well."

It was true. She was one of the most renowned doctors throughout the large village of Konoha, and she was constantly busy trying to heal the ones that have been prone to attack. However, her healing methods were what had made her renown; her methods were extremely effective (even more so than the most advanced technology), but it required nothing more than her hands. Everyone has asked her how she had mastered such a technique; asked her what in the world her secret was. Of course, she remained stubborn and remained silent about her secret. It was the secret of her clan.

I am a ninja.

Indeed, she was a ninja, but none knew but the Hokage, Sakura's mentor, and her most trusted teammates. When there would be a large assassination to take place, she would be put under disguise, and be sent off with the assassination squad. Villagers didn't question her place in an assassination squad; they had already figured she would be needed in large assassination attempts. However, they were wrong. In becoming a ninja, she had seen death and smelled the scent of blood many times before; all of them were all pain-staking experiences for her. By also being a ninja, she had come to know the strongest ninja of the village, and had befriended them and even became their teammate. They were really the only people that knew her secret; she had trusted them with her life many times before, and they had trusted her with theirs. At first, they were completely and utterly surprised, but after a wanted spar with her teammate, Naruto, they had noticed. When she got into battle, her eyes narrowed to analyze the moves of her opponent, and her movements were swift and precise.

Sakura's teammates that knew of her secret knew that it meant death upon them should they tell. The Haruno clan was always quite mysterious, and she had assured them many of her clan members were still in the assassination department, and would not hesitate to kill them, should they hear a loudmouth speak of their secret. But despite the mysteries of the Haruno clan, there was one quality that put them above the rest. They were all renowned medics, using their secret healing technique that was more effective than holy herbs alone.

We are medics by day, and ninja by night.

However, more mysterious than the Haruno was the Uchiha clan. It was said that they were once the strongest clan, even outsmarting the gracious Hyuuga in combat. Their hair and eyes blended in with the night, making them the stealthiest ninja. The techniques they used were ferocious and deadly; fire being their main element of combat. However, none of the newer generations have seen the full-on Uchiha clan. Rumors had said that their most powerful, Uchiha Itachi, had betrayed and killed the clan, but left one survivor, that survivor being Itachi's younger brother, Uchiha Sasuke. However, Sasuke has yet to clarify rumors, as he barely talks to anyone but his teammates, but that rumor has been the biggest lead yet. It made sense; Itachi disappeared shortly after the Uchiha's mysterious shadows, and Sasuke was the only one to emerge thus far. But over the years, the lone Uchiha survived, and became one of the deadliest ninja Konoha has ever seen with the light of day. His eyes flashed the dangerous red Sharingan, and his stealth and movements were swift and precise like a phoenix. It is said that he lived to avenge his clan, their deaths fueling his anger and strength, giving him the upper advantage due to his large ambitions.

But of course, he has earned many admirers as well. Because of the Uchiha's silence and handsome qualities, he had become known as "the heartthrob", as he rejects all offers of marriage and love. The only people to actually get a decent conversation with the man were his teammates on the battlefield.

His teammates were legendary. All of them had complimented each other, keeping the team in balance. Over the years, they had learned how to communicate with each other on the field, and when or when not to back out of a battle to let someone else deal with their dirty work. Their names were known to all the villages, and were feared.

Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, Tenten, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba.

All held grace in their weapons. All knew what their range with their swords, kunai, and shuriken was. All knew how to handle close combat. Indeed, they were a deadly team.

And none of them could complain about their unbreakable bond.

"Sakura-chan! Oi, Sakura-chan!"

Sakura smiled as she heard her teammate at her door. She had long since got out of bed and gotten ready, dressed in her clan's attire: a simply red kimono/yukata with a white circle plastered on the back.

"I'm coming, Naruto-kun, hold on a second!"

Sakura slowly got up from her chair, and ran over to the door. The yellow flash of her teammate's hair and his electric blue eyes greeted her.

"Did you need something, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto gave her his toothy grin.

"We might be assigned another mission tonight. Sasuke-teme is meeting with Tsunade-baa-chan at the moment. We'll be assembling at our meeting spot once he summons us. You know how that teme is about missions - always serious, never room for failure. We'll be speaking with each other on how to go about the mission. Make sure you are properly dressed. Same signal to go, Sakura-chan. See you later!"

Sakura returned the smile, and nodded.

"Alright then. See you then, Naruto-kun."

Sakura slipped out of her house early, knowing that she'd receive the signal soon enough, and might as well receive a head start to the spot. She had changed out of her traditional kimono in the traditional attire of an assassination squad – white and black. She was walking down the buzzing streets of Konoha, the children at play and joyous, the normal adults doing their regular shopping from stands and socializing. She knew all were inwardly terrified of sleeping at night; she knew they were scared of death.

Am I still afraid of death? This is my third year doing this...

"Sakura-san."

Sakura glanced around, looking to see who had called her name. Finally catching sight of the source, she gave them a polite smile and nod, them doing the same.

"What are you doing?" They asked.

She giggled, and gave off a confused shrug, continuing to walk to her team's meeting spot. They followed suite, soon catching up to her.

"I'm just going to the spot before everyone else. There was nothing to do at home. I've already sharpened everything last night, anyway."

She received a nod.

"Well Sasuke-san, do we have a mission tonight?"

She received another nod.

"Seriously, what were you doing, Sakura-san?"

She looked at him, taken aback. A smirk graced his pale lips as he closed his mesmerizing eyes.

"You didn't give me the answer I was looking for."

She forced a smile to grace her lips, as she stared at him through her emerald irises. It seemed that the only people that truly knew her were her teammates. They knew her on the battlefield and from the inside out.

"I was thinking, Sasuke-san."

He nodded. He seemed to understand now. Even though her teammates knew her like no other, there were only a few that completely understood her. Knew what she was thinking about, knew her fears, and knew her weaknesses. Uchiha Sasuke was one of them.

"Still can't make up your mind, can you?"

Sakura sighed, and stopped as she realized they had met at the destined spot.

"Have you summoned the others, yet?"

She received a nod. She was hoping he would forget, but knowing him, he probably wouldn't.

"Well, have you made up your mind?"

A weak smile played on her lips as she closed her eyes. He seemed incredibly persistent in the topic today.

"No, Sasuke-san. I can't. It's as if I'm stuck in the space in between. I cause it, but I hate it. You know that. That's why you try your best to keep me away from doing the actual killing. You seem incredibly persistent on the topic, even though you know it makes me queasy."

Sasuke remained silent. The two had grown to be the best of friends over the years. However, they both chose to still remain respectful to each other, and call each other with the traditional '-san' at the end of their names instead of adding the cute endearment. They found it better that way. However, it was plain to see that they loved each other. It was hard to tell what kind of love they had, though. Many could say they loved like a brother and sister did, enough so to trust each other with their lives. But many more others could say that they truly loved each other, enough that the two complimented each other in abilities and would be thrown off-balance if one of them were to die or disappear. Whatever it was, the two chose not to answer any of the questioning looks with glares or with smiles; they didn't want any more rumors going around. It could cause trouble.

"Sakura..."

She winced. She knew that when there was no suffix added, she was in for something.

"...You know as well as I do that I try my best so you won't be scarred. But you know that as a ninja you have to do some killing in your life. That's just how we work. I know that you're...well...a Haruno (she knew what he meant), and that this is like a double-edged sword for you. I know that you can't make up your mind yet, but you don't seem to understand that what I'm trying to do by doing this is to let you know that I –"

They were interrupted by loud voices they could target from miles away. It was their teammates. It was time to discuss the mission.

"Tell me later, Sasuke-san," Sakura whispered.

"You'll figure out why I decided to pursue the topic in our meeting today. I was trying to save you some shock."

Her eyes widened, questioning him. But he remained silent, knowing he couldn't say anything further as his teammates were now hearing range.

You don't understand yet, Sakura. But maybe when you realize and understand it, maybe that's when I can tell you. But now is not the time to let my petty emotions get to me. We have a mission to speak of.

Okay! So this is more like an experimental fic for me. I'm just trying some things out. xD; But, please R & R? (: