CH. 2
Shikamaru sat reclined in his seat at the bar attending to Naruto who, after having the news of Sakura's disfunction confirmed by the Hokage herself, had strolled in a daze for an entire two hours before finding his way to the bar and drinking himself into a stupor ever since.
He could sympathize with the man. Neither of his teammates had betrayed the village, however the loss of Sasuke and especially Sakura sat heavily on all the rookie nine, plus team Gai. Sakura's had come as a complete shock. Many times he remembered going on missions with her and being healed by her. Her brow would crunch in concentration as she focused her chakra and she always gave a smile of complete satisfaction once her work was done.
No, Shikamaru would have never pegged her to have faulty allegiences.
Naruto groaned as he finished downing another cup of sake. He slammed the glass hard against the table, causing a spiderwebbed crack to form at the base.
Shikamaru observed him. His face was flushed from the alcohol, his hair in messy blonde disarray, and his bottom lip was jut out in a pout. He looked, and smelled, horrible. Somebody might as well have killed his puppy.
"Why!" he groaned out pitifully, not even caring that he drew annoyed gazes from a few other customers.
Shikamaru averted his gaze. He could practically see the waves of misery emanating from the blonde. Why did he even bother to go after Naruto? It was too troublesome. But he supposed someone had to keep an eye on him.
"I wasn't here myself when it happened. I only got the info second hand. But from what I heard, Sakura was assigned a mission with another jounin by the name of Fuyuhara Kirei. From Kirei's report, Sakura purposefully blotched the mission, an act that almost completely severed our ties with mist. And when Kirei called her out on it she attacked him and nearly killed him. He managed to overpower her and knock her unconscious and brought her back to Konoha. Of course there was much skepticism with Kirei's report, so both of them were taken to the interrogation squad. Kirei was found innocent, he'd been telling the truth. Sakura's side was found to be a lie. Her trial was four days away when she escaped."
Naruto grew silent and stared at his newly poured drink.
"It's a lie. It's all a lie. Sakura would never do that! She must have been framed!"
Shikamaru sighed. "Apparently they managed to get the truth out of her in the end. She was working on the inside to bring the downfall of leaf. They don't know who she was working for, but they suspect it was Orochimaru. And everyone knows about her infatuation with Sasuke. If Sasuke asked it of her no one really has any doubts that she would have secretly been helping them to bring Konoha to an end."
"She wouldn't go that far for him!" Naruto seethed furiously. "Her loyalty as a ninja of the leaf would trump her loyalty to Sasuke."
The lazy ninja shrugged. "It's not that hard to believe. She would have done anything for him."
Silence passed between them as Naruto swirled the liquid in his glass. He then shoved it away and stood up, his palms slamming on the table.
"Something doesn't sit right with me on this. I'm going back to see Tsunade. Somehow I'll find the truth."
Naruto attempted to leave the bar but swayed the moment his hands left their source of support. The alcohol was affecting him more than he thought it would. Determinedly he swaggered as best he could past the other patrons then down the streets of Konoha.
Shikamaru followed him, hands in his pockets. It was troublesome, but someone had to make sure Naruto didn't lose his way in the dark.
"Look, it's the interrogation squad we're talking about here. If Ibiki say's that Sakura's guilty then she must be guilty, there's nothing we can do about it." He tried to placate Naruto but it only seemed to firm his resolve.
Naruto looked back over his shoulder at him. "And where were you when this happened eh?"
Shikamaru felt his eyebrow twitch. What did that have to do with anything? "I was out on a mission, it lasted the entire month. Boy was it a bother."
"Exactly!" Naruto said firmly.
Shikamaru decided to ignore the idiot ninja. He was speaking with a drunken mind.
He remembered that mission clearly. He, Ino and Choji had been sent on a mission to sand. Now that he thought about it, it had really been a mission for a chuunin, not a jounin squad like his team. He hadn't complained though. It may have been long, but there was very little for him to do. There had been no complications at all. It had been a little too easy.
He slowed his pace then stopped, his mind working in overdrive. Maybe Naruto was on to something.
"Hey, what you stop for?" Naruto slurred, leaning forward and breathing alcohol breath in Shikamaru's face.
Shikamaru ignored him, his mind whirring. It hadn't only been his team that had been sent out during that month. Team 8 and Team Gai had been on missions as well. He didn't know the whereabouts of Kakashi at the time but he could bet that he'd been absent as well. Sakura's mission had begun a week before any of theirs had begun and was meant to last a fortnight. She would have arrived back well before any of them were due to check in.
Maybe he was overthinking things. It must have been coincidence that none of the other teams were there when she was accused. Yet still that niggling feeling bubbled in the pit of his stomach.
This was ridiculous. He was probably just being overly paranoid. For all of them to be gone meant that it had to have been planned out. And that meant that someone had possibly wanted Sakura out of the way. He could see why. As the Godaime's apprentice she had a lot of influence, plus she was privy to many secrets reserved only for those closest to the Hokage, not to mention she was very apt at politics.
Shikamaru relaxed when he realized that he was going overboard with this. Sakura had admitted herself that she was guilty. Shoving away his unease he set once again to escort Naruto to his apartment eventually lending him a shoulder when he couldn't stand without falling over.
He looked down when he felt Naruto shuddering and heard the telltale signs of sobbing.
"Sakura…she's really gone isn't she?"
For the umpteenth time that night Shikamaru sighed. "Yeah, she's gone."
He helped Naruto to his apartment and stuck around until the idiot managed to fall asleep. He locked up for him then made his way to the Nara compound all the while immersed in thought.
Damn, now Naruto had caused him to doubt. It's been 3 years, he shouldn't be worrying about this as much as he was. But he couldn't help it, and something inside him knew that his mind wouldn't be at peace until he had pieced all the parts of this puzzle together. How troublesome. Tomorrow he knew he was going to go digging.
The man rushed in the room and slammed the door shut. He fumbled with the lock with trembling fingers then sighed in relief as it secured with a click. This man was obviously nervous about something. His breaths came out in harsh pants, sweat beaded down his brow. He shuddered, his shoulders sagging in relief. He was safe. Those damn ninjas couldn't get him now. The lock on this door was a very special type. It was made with a seal so that once bolted nothing could enter or leave the room. Physical strength could not break it nor could the use of chakra overcome it. The great thing about it was that the seal encompassed the entire room so breaking down the walls wouldn't work either.
He chuckled to himself. No foolish ninja would be able to get him.
Smirking, he spun around and went to lounge on a couch. He spread himself over the entire length and kicked his feet up.
"That takes care of them. I have enough resources down here to last for weeks, and even then I could just use the secret passage to sneak out right under their noses. How stupid of the Akatsuki to even think I would not have made preparations for just this sort of thing."
The man got up to pour himself a cup of sake to celebrate. He gulped it all down and poured another.
"One has to take precautions when dealing with the Akatsuki. I knew it would be a risky business, but in the end I'm the winner."
"Oh, I think not."
The sake he'd been drinking in self-satisfaction spewed from his mouth at that dark chilling voice he knew only too well.
His cup shattered on the floor as he spun around in fear, eyes wide and searching.
"Akatsuki, but – but how? How did you get in here? The room's been locked," he said, before horror overcame him as realization set in.
The voice spoke again, smooth and cold. "We have eyes within all those who we ally ourselves with. We were well aware of your backup plan all along."
The man's eyes finally found the Akatsuki above him. Crouched on the ceiling twenty feet high was a figure donned with a black cloak with red cloud patterns; the regular Akatsuki attire. Pink hair floated in strands over her face where one piercing green eye sighted him with deadly intent. Where her right eye should have been was a white round disk embedded so firmly into the hollow it seemed to be a part of the skin.
He stood, trembling, looking up at her with bulging frightened eyes as she looked down at him with a cold collected air.
"S-Sakura-sama…I can explain..." His voice caught in his throat as Sakura dropped down and alighted right in front of him.
He took a hasty step back, almost stumbling on the carpet just as she walked smoothly forward.
"Soruen Kishimoto, you have been judged by our god the leader of the Akatsuki and found guilty of these crimes."
Soruen fumbled at his belt until he grasped a handle. He pulled out a knife and aimed it at her. "You were in this room all along weren't you? Your partner tricked me with a clone to make me think it was you!" He staggered back.
Sakura kept moving forward seemingly indifferent to his assumptions. "First off, you have been withholding resources that would have benefitted the Akatsuki greatly and that you were under obligation to relinquish."
Soruen madly slashed at the air. "Stay away from me! No! Don't come closer!"
Sakura pressed on, unaffected. "Secondly, more than once have you thwarted our attempts at retrieving the fourtails, knowing that the longer it took to gather the tailed demons the more we'd have to rely upon you and your men for assistance."
"I mean it! I've been trained in the arts of a ninja too, I can kill you if I'd wanted!"
"And thirdly…"
Sakura disappeared. Soruen tensed and cautiously peered around the room. The moment the ice cold tip of her sword touched the space between his shoulders he knew he had lost.
"You have been giving out confidential information concerning the Akatsuki to the ninja villages. For these acts you have been found to be a traitor to the Akatsuki and therefore have been sentenced to death."
With one thrust Sakura's sword sliced through his flesh and bones, straight into his heart, killing him instantly.
She pulled out the blade and watched as Soruen's body dropped, falling on his face to the floor. Blood pooled around him, if he were not already dead he would have been within minutes from drowning.
Sakura flicked the sword of blood then sheathed it next to its partner. She gazed down once more at the body, watching as red slowly seeped from his dead lips. She turned away and moved towards the door. It may have been impossible to unlock from the outside but from the inside Sakura had no trouble twisting the knob and crunching the handle into a wrinkled metal mesh from shear force alone. With a harsh yank the door ripped open.
Zetsu stood beyond the threshold, waiting for her. "It is done then?"
Sakura closed the door as if she'd merely gone out to get some fresh air. She gathered her hat from Zetsu and situated it on her head, pulling it low. She didn't answer Zetsu as she started to walk up the metal stairs. Zetus followed after her, as silent as ever.
They exited the building and were greeted with heat and smoke. The edifice was burning, black smoke clouded the air, people ran around screaming, but through it all Sakura and Zetsu strode on as if taking a leisurely stroll down the street.
"You're hurt."
Zetsu remained quiet, then fabric rustled as he shrugged. "A mere flesh wound."
Over three years ago she would have healed it at a touch, she would have been able to heal it. As it was, she no longer possessed the control for it. Her chakra nerves had been frayed beyond recognition. Oh, she could use chakra alright, but it was eratic and wild, never again would she be able to exert the same level of precision she'd worked so hard for years ago. And so both her monstrous strength and her medic abilities had been lost. Years of training wasted in the matter of a few hours.
But now all that didn't matter. Her abilities had kept her narrow-minded to all that she was capable of, and now that her greatest strength had been torn from her, weakness had become strength and power had been unearthed, the likes of never before.
So as the people screamed, as they wept, as the fire spread and consumed more lives, she didn't care. Miserable souls that they were, black sins upon the world waiting to be eliminated in their great cleansing.
In order for their new world to be born, the old world had to die!
A/N: I suppose I'll try to update more, but it'll take a while because I'm so busy.
Anyways, thanks to those who read and reviewed, favorited, alerted, my story. Heh, sorry for keeping you waiting for this long.
