Title: Pawn
Genre: Humor/Adventure
Status: Oneshot/Complete
Rating: T (Lots of profanity)
Pairing: SakuSasu
Summary: AU, She thought she was free after escaping Danzo's tyrannical rule. Truth was far from it really…
"Sasuke, I wish to acquaint your facial features with a fundamental item used by shinobi in carrying out assassinations. Repeatedly."
Letting out a groan, Haruno Sakura let herself fall to the forest floor, immediately hissing at the pain that shot up through her knee. So it seemed that even the thick foliage would not lessen the pain should she make acquaint with it in a moment of severe exhaustion.
She was out of food, soldier pills, had only three days' supply of water and was lost in the middle of a forest where almost no sunlight penetrated. What kind of a Shinobi get's lost?!
"A rather foolish one…that's who…" She answered her own mental question before leaning back against a tree to get some rest. She was sure, should she be still serving under her Shishou; Tsunade Sama, she would've gotten an earful before being choked off her air supply- in a good way.
This would be one of the melancholic times where the flashbacks would start, making her fall in a trance like state. A passerby would undoubtedly mistake her to be dead, if he weren't a shinobi that is.
In all honesty, the pinkette was missing her old home, wishing to return back to the mirthful times with the Konoha 11 and her sensei.
They were the good times and everyone thought it would last forever, at least until their deaths. The only one she knew who was granted with that wish, was Shizune, who died before Danzo took over Konoha, proclaiming himself as the Hokage and setting out a dictatorship rule.
She remembered that loathsome night as being the most frightful in all of Konoha, one to haunt most for generations to come.
The pinkette had been given a rude awakening, having fallen off her bed due to an explosion going off near her house. At first she presumed it was a careless nin, who had accidently set off one while on his way past their house for a mission.
However, when paper explosions attached to a near dozen kunai flew right into her window, she had fled immediately, knowing this was an assassination attempt. It wasn't the first time anyone attempted to kill her; her status as being one of Konoha's most powerful shinobi and the Hokage's apprentice put her in grave danger at times. Not to mention the fact that she killed Sasori of the red sand..
Before she could make her way to the Hokage mansion to report however, she crashed into a crying Hinata who somehow explained, between the sobs that while most of the Hyuga had already fled from Konoha including her father with Hanabi, Neji had been murdered while trying to protect her. She stayed back to find her teammates, only to find out that Shino had been captured; Kiba was yet nowhere to be found.
The thought that a coup de ete was happening in Konoha rushed through her mind and before she could even begin to register it completely, flames were rising up, devouring everything in its path, screams of pain, agony and anguish echoing all around them.
She recalled that in the midst of chaos, a shinobi attempted to try attacking Hinata, where which the pinkette turned the tables around on him instead. His death was how they found out who was behind the attack. The seal on his tongue; a mark placed on all root ANBU to prevent them from betrayal was a dead giveaway.
There was absolutely no time to waste and it was evident that they had to escape at the earliest. There was little they could do to stop the fire or to save everyone around and judging by how the old geezer's subordinates were focused on attacking them head on, it was obvious that they had specific orders to murder anyone close to the Hokage.
Tsunde Sama.
If only she had hurried then, she might have been able to save her second mother. However, fate was a bitch and it snatched away anyone who was deemed special to a certain someone.
She and Hinata arrived just as the corpse of her mentor was flung out of the mansion in a careless manner, accompanied by several other ANBU on her side. She didn't know how long she sat there, cradling the woman whom had been there for all her troubles, coddled and comforted when in distress and had made her who she was today.
She couldn't even get to say goodbye.
After what seemed like eternity, Sakura stood up carrying her mentor and they both fled the scene, to the gates leading outside Konoha. She witnessed Choji getting crushed under a building while trying to save a child, Kiba being beheaded by a root shinobi, Kurenai sensei's infant being crushed under their feet while they stabbed her repeatedly-
The only shinobi of them all who escaped without grave physical marks but scarred to the inch of their lives were her, Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru and Sai.
Naruto was training with Jiraya and she had no idea of where he was. Her sensei, Kakashi though was on a mission with Gai to the village of waterfall so, after they had given the Hokage a proper burial with her remains (leaving her body intact would mean someone would steal it and harvest her cells for power) she sent him a message explaining why they should go into hiding and if they met Naruto, to warn him to do the same.
It was painful for all of them, watching the place they loved so much encased in an angry red, while screams and woeful cries rose up to the heavens. It was so wrong…so very wrong. Consoling each other was the best thing they could do as they traveled out of the fire country as quickly as they could, towards the only person who could help them.
The Kazekage was more than willing to help his friends out and gave them residence within the sand country, promising them protection from their own country. Ino and Shikamaru chose to stay there, while she decided to go search for Naruto. Hinata of course, wanted to follow her, but the root had listed her as a missing nin and they would stop at nothing to kill her and get it over with.
Naruto would be furious should she be hurt as well. She already was aware he would be seething should he have heard of the news. But she wasn't sure whether Kakashi had received the message at all and she didn't know whether Naruto was even aware that so many of his friends had been killed.
Which was exactly the reason why she needed to go search for him.
Gaara was reluctant in agreeing to let her leave the village, seeing that she was one of his closest friends, but with the promise that if she couldn't find her teammate within an year, she'd come back, the pinkette left the village with Sai following her.
Coming back to the present, she wondered how on earth she was reduced to this state after two mere weeks of searching.
"Oh right…attacked by those root bastards and got separated from Sai…how did I get separated from him again?"
Her memory couldn't be failing her now! It was the only thing she had to survive out here!
She reached for her pouch to get her water bottle, only to freeze as she felt wetness in the leather. Snatching the drinking vessel out of it, she could only gape at the empty container with the open mouth.
Her supply of water...
"I AM GOING TO DIE IN THE FUCKING HELL HOLE!" She shrieked as she threw the bottle away. "STUPID DANZO, ROOT BASTARDS AND THE OTHER ASSHOLES! I DON'T EVEN HAVE ENOUGH CHAKRA TO SUMMON A MOTHERFU-"
That was it. She gaped at the man clad in an ANBU mask, who seemed to be staring back at her with equal shock. Perhaps at her choice of colorful language? Then she realized that, there was no ANBU tattoo anywhere on his arm...
"Well speak of the devil, now is a fine time to show up…"
At that, the root member yelled for his companions that he found one of the 'missing nin' at the point where which she took off running, screaming at the top of her lungs, begging her feet to carry her faster and to not trip over some goddamn tree root.
She was starting to hate the word 'root'!
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! GIVE ME A BREAK I JUST SAT DOWN TO REST AFTER DAYS OF NONE STOP SEARCHING FOR THAT MORON SAI!" She wailed as a kunai whizzed past her ear, cutting off some strands of her hair. "FUCKING BASTARDS! IT TOOK ME YEARS TO GROW MY HAIR!"
Though she had very limited chakra, her skills allowed her to easily evade the weapons they threw. However, she was bound to collapse any time and now with her only hope of survival getting soaked into the soil (literally), the best she could do was to jump off a cliff and die.
Only, there was no cliff nearby. Might as well, she really didn't want to die yet.
Her legs were beginning to ache and her throat starting to get scratchy from the shrill, high pitched wails that were escaping from her throat.
The last thing she wanted was for her worst enemy to see her like this. It would surely bring her reputation down from a fearsome Jounin, ANBU-to-be, apprentice of the grand-daughter of the first hokage, now missing nin to a pitiful, scared woman running away from mere root shinobi-
"Can you please…quit your screaming woman?"
She tripped. She tripped and fell to the stone covered forest floor like she feared she would. Only it wasn't out of exhaustion, and it wasn't her knees that made contact. It was out of shock, and it was her face that did.
"Oww….what…"
"Clumsy as always…how annoying."
No. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be. But that smooth, uncaring tone…that deep, husky voice…and then there was that thing he always called her…there was no doubt about it. Still, she couldn't so much as lift her head up.
In all honestly, she couldn't even begin to think to raise it. Instead, she let herself just pass out right there and then, hoping she would somehow be absorbed into the rich soil and become with one with the forest. Perhaps she could become the guardian of this forest. And when she does, she'd make it a lot brighter with flowers.
Or maybe she could summon a tree army and attack Konoha. Yep, that'd be nice. Danzou would be completely horrified! She was an incredible genius.
What seemed like mere seconds later she managed to reopen her eyes, hoping that all she heard and seen a while back was just her imagination. Perhaps she was still in Sunakagure, lying in her bed and-
"Glad to see you have woken."
She didn't stop the irritation that rose up to her chest and let it escape in the form of a groan. Why, of all people was she stuck with him now? Stuck as in…
"Sir, I find no reason for you to tie up a helpless, innocent girl up in chakra ropes. Could you please let me free?" She began sweetly, turning her face around to face her kidnapper.
Onyx eyes closed and lips set in about an amused smirk. She recalled that he used to make that smug look quite frequently back in their genin days. However, the memories coupled with the situation only served to annoy her instead of sending her into one of her 'trances'.
"Uchiha. Sasuke. Let me go…now."
"Or what?" He hardly made any noise as he jumped off the rock, his intense gaze focused upon her face. "Is that any way to greet your old teammate now, Sakura?"
"I didn't know you valued the time we had to together. I'm sure Naruto would be jumping up and down with joy seeing you here and so would sensei but mind you, I am still annoyed with you, heartless bastard, prick, son of a-!" She growled as she thrashed around. "KAMI WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO ME!?"
Sasuke continued staring at her with a nonplussed expression, letting his left eyebrow rise. This clearly wasn't the response he had been expecting.
Years ago, she would be running to him with her arms outstretched, sobbing and thanking dear lord and the world for keeping him safe. Also, she had a habit of adding a suffix to his name whenever she greeted him. Not that it mattered to him in any way. Still, it was quite odd considering he had always expected her to stay the same.
"I swear, once I have my chakra control back, you are going to be in AGONY. I will break each one of your bones, rip them out of your body and make a replica of the fucking hokage mansion with it."
"Yes…you have changed." Ignoring her threats, he sat down in front of her with an unguarded look. His actions were so nonchalant that she only grew even more irritated with each passing second.
"Do you think I cannot protect myself Uchiha!? I CAN ATTACK YOU ANY SECOND AND YOU ARE SITTING IN FRONT ME WITH THAT-"
"You passed out in the middle of the forest while screaming loud enough for the land of snow." Humor was absent in his voice (she didn't expect it would of course) and it was clear he meant it.
"We were searching for Na- a friend when we were attacked by around two dozen root ANBU from Konoha-"
"We?"
"Sai and I." She narrowed her eyes. "Anyway, we managed to fend them off but got separated. Our food supplies were with him and I only had a bit of water for sustenance, as well as very little chakra. What other choice would I have except to run?"
"Screaming." He said deadpanned.
"Whatever. Just let me go already." She didn't want to argue with him anymore, seeing that it was tiring her out once more and the last thing she wanted to do was pass out on him again. "Thank you for saving me, if that appeases you."
"No."
"N-No?" She spluttered, completely taken aback. "Uchiha Sasuke who do you think you are-"
"We need a medic nin." He stated simply. "To be honest, my team and I have been searching for you for over a week now."
Before she could reply, he bought out a book from the pouch attached to his left thigh. She recognized it at once, eyes widening at the sight.
"To be completely truthful," He started flipping through the pages, a frown marring his face. "I was surprised when they listed you in the recent Bingo book's most wanted list. You apparently slaughtered the two elders of Konoha and became a missing nin and rumored to be working for the Akatsuki-"
"Okay look, I am so overjoyed right now and can't get over the fact that I am listed as one of the most wanted criminals, have shinobi from my beloved country scouting everywhere to kill me," she said sarcastically, scowling as hard as her face would allow.
"But the information in that last sentence is wrong. A bit at least. I am not searching for the Akatsuki. God forbid, I'd rather kill myself then acquaint myself with them. It's true that I bathed my hands in the blood of the two Konoha elders before I defected from Konoha, but that was as revenge for what they did to my home."
"Danzou ruined our lives and is enforcing his dictatorship over the whole village. He killed my friends. I am on a quest to kill him-"
"Join me then." He stated simply. "I am after Danzou as well. I was after the other two wretches as well, but seeing you did the job for me I can say I am very pleased. He doesn't matter to me as much, but killing him would rid the world of one nuisance."
Passing out in the forest while being chased by crazy, brainwashed shinobi, waking up to find out she has been kidnapped by her ex teammate, bound by chakra ropes to a tree (she didn't notice it up to until now, much to her embarrassment) and being ordered to join him and his sick team to accomplish god knows what.
"And why do you want me to join you to destroy Danzou? I could kill him myself." She was bluffing of course. With all his subordinates in there, infiltrating by herself would be such a pain and even before that, she had to do meticulous research on how he had changed the village systems.
"You need help to infiltrate the village." Sasuke stated in a matter-of-fact manner. "Whatever you know of the village security codes, he must've already changed them, as well as the people who normally stay to serve the Hokage. I could help you with that, seeing I too have a grudge against that old fool."
His eyes slid away from her face, back to the book and he flipped through it once more. "I found out he was experimenting with the Uchiha and stole some of our sharingan long back before Itachi…took them out. Afterwards, you'd have your village back and Naruto will-"
Pausing, he looked back up with a questionable look. "Is he alive?"
"Of course he's alive!" She spat, angry that he would even think of such a thing. "He is safe and sound with Jiraya Sama."
"Good. Anyway," he continued his reading. "After Danzou is killed, Naruto will become Hokage and we both have our motives completed."
She was completely shocked by this declaration. He was offering to help her kill Danzou and to bring back the old Konoha and on top of that, creating a safe atmosphere enough to make Naruto realize his dream. Surely he had to be doing this for an ulterior motive!
"Well, almost my own motives." She was right, he did have some other goals beside that.
"Sasuke, I am not going to bear your sharingan babies. You can go ahead and revive your clan with other women." She muttered, putting on the best appalled expression she could.
His response was to smirk. "Well, reviving my clan is one of my goals…true. But that will have to wait until this other one is completed."
"What…" She blinked as he held up the bingo book. Uchiha Itachi?
"I need you to help me kill him."
Deafening silence plunged into them and she stared at him gaping, pretty sure she resembled a choking fish that was badly in need of water.
He needed her help to kill an S rank criminal who had practically massacred his entire clan in the middle of the night without alerting any ANBU and was currently still one of the most dangerous Akatsuki members on the loose.
"Sasuke, I wish to acquaint your facial features with a fundamental item used by shinobi in carrying out assassinations. Repeatedly."
Blink.
"ARE YOU FUCKING CRAZY?! WHY DO YOU NEED MY HELP IN KILLING YOUR CRAZY, LUNATIC BROTHER WHO PRACTICALLY KILLED EVERY ONE OF YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS?!"
"Sakura, the-"
"HE IS PROBABLY EVEN CRAZIER THAN BEFORE! I BET HE IS NOW THE LEADER OF AKATSUKI!"
"Sakura-"
"HE CAN TAKE YOU DOWN EASILY I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT AND AS FOR ME, HE'D PROBABLY STUN ME WITH HIS MANGEKYO BEFORE I EVEN TAKE A STEP. HELL HE'D PROBABLY BRAINSWASH ME AND MAKE ME A FUCKING AKATSUKI MEMBER AS WELL!"
"Sakura."
"HE IS MOTHERFUCKING UCHIHA ITACHI. HOW CAN YOU POSSIBLE THINK YOU CAN LAND A FINGER ON HIM?!"
"You swear like a drunken sailor."
That was enough for her to shut up and before she could start shrieking again, he opened the page where she was featured in the book and shoved it in her face.
"Your rank is currently listed as Jounin and yet you are considered an A-rank criminal by standards of the current rule of Konoha. You have the bounty of seven million ryo on your head as of now."
"How much are you?" She tried to change the subject. In all honesty, she didn't want to be referred to as a criminal when all she did were send the two wretches who ruined Konoha to hell. 'Criminal' was such a harsh word…
"I have twenty million." He answered casually, and to her annoyance, continued explaining her through the book. "You have the reputation as being the best medic nin around, next to Tsunade Senju. Now that she is dead, you have taken her place as the best."
"So?"
"Our team needs all that. You have monstrous strength, intelligence and reaasoning near Shikamaru's, flawless medic ninjutsu….you'd be a valuable asset to our team and would greatly aid in taking Itachi down."
"I refu-"
"Think about it." He finally rose with a graceful smirk making its way to his face. Slamming the book close with one hand, he threw it near her feet. "It would be difficult to find a willing team to take down Danzou and that too, a team with perfect abilities. I am an Uchiha, trained under Orochimaru for years before I killed him off."
"The rest of our team consists of a sensory shinobi, an S-rank water type shinobi who wields Zabuza's sword and a Jinchuuriki like shinobi who can communicate with birds and useful with infiltration."
Bending down, he lifted her face up by the chin with his thumb and forefinger, smirking even wider. "All you have to do is help me kill Itachi and then, I will help you not only kill Danzou, but to destroy the whole of the root. Afterwards, will help Naruto become the Hokage…"
He saw her hesitancy and decided to take his trump card out. "I thought you were a woman of your word Sakura…hadn't you promised to assist me in what I ask you to do?"
"Y-You-"
"Back when I was leaving Konoha…you promised you'd follow me in whatever I did. Are you one to break your promise?"
She was a woman of self respect and she always tried her best to keep to her promises. Was she really going to seek his help, the help of the one who abandoned their team to take back her village?
"If you keep your promise, I shall promise you to never hurt Konoha. Once everything is done with, I will come back to Konoha. I just need to take revenge on my brother for taking my life away…" His eyes softened before they closed shut.
"Surely…you know now what it feels like to have your life taken away and your loved ones crushed. I was only eight when I witnessed it Sakura…"
He was manipulative damn it. Still, she knew what he spoke was the truth and as her personality was, her heart reached out to him, feeling sorrow for what he went through. Perhaps…she should really try helping him?
"Please Sakura; help me take revenge on Itachi. After it's all over I promise you, I will come back to Konoha. Everything will be as it was before. Team seven will be back."
"So I just need to help you kill Itachi. Then you help me kill Danzou."
"That's right."
Taking a deep breath, she looked up the grey sky and hoped that she was making the right decision. It was the only choice she had after all and besides, she had to keep her promise now didn't she?
"Where are we going?"
She shouldn't have been surprised by the fact that Sasuke had a hideout situated in the forest. It was hidden beneath the ground and was concealed by a chakra barrier as well as had genjutsu cast over it.
It must have cost him, she mused as she followed him, unless he had acquired this through some other means. It was dimly lit, reminding her of the first time she stepped into Orochimaru's layer.
Except for, this was slightly more pleasant considering the smell of food was floating through the hallways instead of rubbing alcohol and anesthetic.
The sound of chattering soon reached her ears, growing louder with each step. They arrived at an empty door and he entered. The moment he did, it quieted down.
"Sasuke where were you? Did you get those blueberries you wanted or what?"
Her left eyebrow twitched. He was out hunting for blueberries when he heard her scream?
"I have found our new member. Team Hebi, meet Haruno Sakura." Taking a deep breath, she entered as he said her name. What she saw surprised her.
She was expecting a group of scary looking (somewhat cool) shinobi. Instead there was a red headed woman choking a boy whose teeth made him look like a mini version of Kisame- the infamous partner of said man her ex teammate wanted to kill- and an orange haired huge man who was cooking something.
She forced herself not to cringe as the guy who was lying on the kitchen floor whistled, eyeing her up and down. "Not bad. She's actually hot, unlike this banshee-"
"SHUT THE HELL UP SUIGETSU!" The redhead shrieked, punching him in the face before standing up. "Sasuke kun, you didn't tell us it was a female! She's ugly to boot. How do we know she is any good?"
Sakura decided she didn't like this woman at all. Still, it was too early to try jump to conclusions and who knows; maybe she was just hostile to strangers?
"Nice to meet you, I am Haruno Sakura. Sasuke's ex teammate." She bowed courteously.
"I know you." The orange headed man turned around with a big smile. "I came across your profile a few days ago while reading the bingo book. I must say I am very impressed."
'He's nice,' she thought as she replied back with a smile mirroring his own. 'His friendly attitude reminds me of…Kakashi sensei…"
"I am Juugo by the way." Wiping his hands with a paper towel, he moved forward to shake her hand. "I hope we get along well."
"Likewise, Juugo San."
"I'm Suigetsu!" Grinning, the male with the blue hair shot forward and leaned into her face. Uncomfortable as to how he just invaded her personal space, she moved backwards a good few feet. "And that woman over there is Karin. She's a bitch, don't worry about her."
With the exception of the screaming red-headed banshee, this team somewhat reminded her of her old team. Juugo as her sensei, Suigetsu much like Naruto and Sasuke...being the asshole he was.
"See, I told you they were alright."
Sakura just turned around to glare at the Uchiha who was standing there with that same smug expression he did back in the genin days, arms crossed over his chest.
"Mind you, I still want to fucking stab your face with a katana for being the asshole you are."
A/N
I know, Itachi's a good guy. I know he is one. He is my favorite character from 'NARUTO' and the best Uchiha as well. Heck, I favor him above all other anime characters. -cough-
I am growing quite interested in this one-shot fic and...perhaps...if I have a future plan for it, may make a sequel for it. It's in an Alternative Universe so, what the heck. -shrug-
Review's encourage me to keep writing! So please leave a comment if you like this story!
Arigatou!
Sana-Chan