Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto …
Author's Note: OK, first of all … THANK YOU GUYS so much for your reviews! I was so happy when I found reviews on this story the next day – seriously made my day brighter even though it was raining! Gosh, they encouraged me to start writing this chapter immediately! WATERGIRL112214, 5511narusaku4eva, Opposite Side of the Sea, aej1085, thedarkpokemaster, kidloco, Nutt Man 117, thisismyworld – thank you so much! 3
Hope you enjoy it!
Chapter Two: Denial
"SAKURAAAA!"
Naruto felt claws grasp the back of his jacket and he felt himself being lifted away from the pit, higher up in the air. His clones started disappearing, one by one. His hand was still outstretched. His heart was beating wildly; he had to get her! She couldn't be that far!
The grip on his jacket was loosened and he immediately fell towards the ground, among scattered tiles. He fell on his side, feeling the sharp tiles dig into his skin but instantly stood up. He started running towards the pit. He was almost there when he felt someone bind him from behind, stopping his advance. "Sakura-chan!"
Kakashi had his arms locked around Naruto in a tight grip with his arms at his sides. He stepped back away from the pit, with Naruto struggling. "Naruto – stop!"
"Sakura-chan's in there! We need to get her out!"
"Naruto!" Kakashi held on tighter to stop Naruto bringing his hands together. He grit his teeth and took another small step back. "We'll get her! Just calm down!"
Sai leapt down beside them, his eyes on the pit. Above them, the bird was still circling the sky, dipping lower and lower. Sai took out his scroll from his weapons pouch and said, "I'll see where this leads to."
Naruto stopped struggling and watched as the ink bird dipped into the hole with an ink clone hanging onto it. He was panting heavily, anxiety making him feel as if his heart was being squeezed. Kakashi released his grip on him and he stumbled forward, his eyes glued on the pit. He stepped closer and peered down into it, noting with a sinking feeling that it was pitch black. He couldn't see anything. Even Sai's bird wasn't visible enough. Kakashi joined him and looked down.
They stood in silence, waiting. The only sound they could hear was that of the wind as it blew through the courtyard; the light rain was slowly turning into a downpour. Naruto didn't know for how long they stood there, getting soaked. His jacket was starting to stick to his skin, making his wounds sting. He didn't know how long he stood peering into the pit, his eyes scanning the depths of it. All he knew was he wanted Sakura back with them, safe. He shook away the nagging feeling threatening to overcome him.
"Naruto, Kakashi-sensei …"
Naruto turned to find Sai walking up to them, his face as impassive as ever. However, there was something in his eyes that Naruto recognised, something he didn't want to see. Naruto shook his head, his eyes widening "No …"
"That pit is too deep," Sai said, looking away from Naruto. He stared down the hole, "I sent my bird down and it just kept going. My clone couldn't see much as it was too dark. I don't know how far that thing took Sakura … but since its drop was too fast, they might have hit the end of it. I couldn't really sense her -"
"Then try harder!" Naruto yelled, an infuriated look coming over his features. "She's down there! I KNOW IT!"
"Naruto!" Kakashi said, sternly. "She is down there – we know that too! But being angry won't solve anything."
"So what, are we just gonna stand here doing nothing?" Naruto cried, looking from Kakashi to Sai. "We need to get her out! We don't even know if that 'thing's' dead yet!"
"Look … Naruto …" Kakashi said, lowering his voice at the desperate look on his student's face. "Even if we do stick around, what good are we going to do? We don't know where this leads to … and we might not have enough energy to stay here for a few days. It's a hopeless situation."
Naruto turned away, not wanting to meet anyone's eyes. He clenched his fists and lowered his head, "We can't leave her down there."
It was Sai who spoke up. "Naruto … we need to believe in Sakura, that she's still trying. And I'm sure she is."
Naruto looked down at the hole, his anguish turning slowly to despair. Behind him, Kakashi said softly, "We should report this back at the village – don't forget where we are. The Land of Rivers aren't bonding too well with Konoha. We'll come back here with more efficient team members. But we will get her back, Naruto."
The blonde stood there, shaking slightly. It took a while before he regained his composure. He knew they were right. It would be useless if they stood around, it would be a waste. If they had someone like Neji or Hinata on the team, it would be something different but now they'd just be wasting their energy and time. Including the fact that they were in current enemy territory didn't make it any easier for him to stimulate any plan. He just had to believe in Sakura, that she would be alright. He sighed and nodded, "Okay … fine."
Kakashi said, "We should hurry back, then … if we want to come back here."
Naruto nodded and heard Kakashi and Sai slowly start to walk away. He nodded and moved to turn away, his eyes still on the hole, "I promise … we'll get you back, Sakura-chan!"
XxX
It was getting chillier and colder as dusk approached with the rain showing no signs of ending. Only a clap of thunder showed some light around the courtyard, showing remoteness and how untouched everything looked. It vaguely reached down into the pit that had been made a few hours prior to now. As soon as the darkness crawled back into the courtyard, a figure emerged from behind the fallen pillar and began walking smoothly towards the pit. He leaned over it, looking down and stood there for some time. As thunder rumbled overhead for the second time, he kneeled down and placed his hand on the edge of the pit.
Deep into the pit, where it ended, stood another figure looking up towards where the hole was. There wasn't any source of light where he was and the hole was a long distance away. There was a funny sort of smell diffused in the chamber that he was standing in. He looked back down through his dark bangs and studied his surroundings, reaching out for his weapons pouch.
"Chiaki," a deep voice spoke out from across the chamber.
The dark-haired man looked back, now clutching a kunai in his hand. "What is it, Masaya?"
"I understand that there have been some disturbances here – but what can we hope to find in such darkness? The panels aren't too far from here too -"
"It's our duty to protect those panels," the man named Chiaki started walking more slowly further into the hall. "They've been tampered with – and the thugs responsible for this may not be far."
The other man, Masaya seemed to realise there was no good in persuading him and joined him in the search. He grumbled with an irritable look on his face as he reached into his backpack to pull out a flare. "Well, Kenjiro gets to look around up front where you can't smell anything funny …"
Chiaki shook his head as he saw red light reflected in the wall in front of him. He sighed and turned sideways to tell Masaya when he suddenly came across the source of the smell, buried in a crater in front of him. His brown eyes widened as he saw a huge mass of what seemed like rubber lying before him. He tightened his grip around his kunai and walked forward, his senses on high alert.
"What the hell is that?" Masaya spoke out from behind him, having noticed the carcass lying in the crater.
Chiaki stilled for a moment, his eyes searching for any signs of movement. From the light glowing from Masaya's flare, he saw what looked like a detached arm lying a few metres away. He grimaced as he realised what that carcass was. He had heard things like this happen before whenever anyone tried to extract the ancient power his village protected, but he had never seen it with his own eyes.
"It's dead," he heard Masaya say in disgust.
Chiaki nodded and came closer to the body, wrinkling his nose against the smell that grew stronger and stronger. His eyes wandered over the dangling skin and torn flesh, shocked at the transformation. He saw a bundle of its limbs on its other side, where more detail was hidden by shadow.
"Well … that's that then …" Masaya said. Chiaki, still engrossed by the mutant, knew that his teammate had turned around because of the angle of light that had changed. His frown deepened as he concentrated on the limbs that had become more apparent by the new angle of light. "Masaya! Wait – look at this!"
He stepped up on the dead body and climbed over to its other side. He was right. There was a body of a human being lying next to it. Masaya ran over to his side, and the light shone brighter onto the face of the person. It was a girl. Her pink hair was sprawled over one side of her face and her body lay limp on the mutant's side. Chiaki saw blood on her legs and strips of thick skin wrapped loosely around them. There was a gash on the top of her forehead. He reached out and took her wrist before kneeling down before her, holding his breath to listen hard. A few seconds passed. He could barely hear it, but it was there. Her heartbeat.
"She's alive …" Chiaki breathed out, looking back to see Masaya. His teammate was looking puzzled and he knew that he was thinking the same thing. Who was she? And what happened to her?
Chiaki turned back to the girl and slowly put his hand on her face to brush back her pink bangs. His breath caught when he saw how acquitted she looked. Her skin had a pale sheen to it and a trail of dried blood was etched on her lips. He bit his lip and pulled her hair further across the headband she was wearing.
"Chiaki! She's a kunoichi …" Masaya cried out, immediately bringing Chiaki's attention on her head. He brushed her hair aside and saw, with his heart pounding, a leaf symbol etched on the metal plate of the forehead protector. Not a headband. He knew what Masaya's reaction would be even before it occurred. Then again, he himself would have reacted the same way.
"She's from Konohagakure!" Masaya almost shouted, standing up. "I knew something like this would happen – they sent ninja to steal the energy!"
"Wait Masaya! Calm down," Chiaki said firmly, placing his hand on the kunoichi's shoulder.
"How can you say that? Konoha is our enemy – and we've found one near the energy panels!" Masaya said, a triumphant look coming over his face. "I say we finish her off right now!"
"No, Masaya!" Chiaki stood up and glared at him, shaking his head. He was shocked at his own reaction. Suddenly, an overwhelming urge to protect the girl was coming over him. He didn't know what it was about her. Her helplessness? The fact that this was her one chance to live again? He didn't know. "We can't do that! We're supposed to defend the helpless – that's what our shinobi do!"
"Tanigakure have declared Konohagakure as an enemy!" Masaya yelled angrily.
"Masaya … we can get her healed and send her back! She won't put up a fight and no other Konoha shinobi is around here! Come on Masaya …" Chiaki looked down at the girl, worry replacing his determination. "We're better than that. We have to help her …"
He knelt back down and before he could contemplate on what he was doing, he reached out to put aside the slivers of skin wrapped around her legs. He then slipped one hand beneath her and another under her legs, then picked her up. He could sense Masaya eying him with great suspicion. He couldn't blame him. He didn't know why he was doing this. He had acknowledged Konoha as an adversary and had also fought a few of its ninja. But this girl. She seemed different.
"Fine Chiaki …" Masaya muttered, stepping back. He turned away and sighed. "We'll take her back to village. And as soon as she's up, we'll send her back."
Chiaki nodded and followed him teammate towards the entrance of the chamber, aware of how cold the body of the girl he was carrying in his arms was. He looked up briefly to see the hole had been sealed closed by his other teammate. Fairly satisfied, he continued out of the hall, the smell diminishing with each step he took.
"Thanks Masaya."
XxX
Two weeks. It had been two weeks since they had returned from that mission. Two weeks since they encountered that monster. Two weeks since he saw her, safe and smiling, with them. The last memory of her face stayed etched in his mind and he could not remove it. He couldn't … he wouldn't.
Sakura-chan …
He was sitting at his table, his eyes trained on the crack on his table. His hands lay motionless on the table top, matching his slumped position on the chair. It was as if all the energy had been drained out of him. He didn't know what to do anymore. He had come home early from the gathering, refusing to believing everything that had led up to that point. It took all he had not to shout back a response to the people sneaking a look at him, whispering under their breaths. He never wanted to come. After all, why should he? When he knew there was no such thing. He knew it.
Where are you?
He took in a deep, shaky breath and looked up. His eyes stopped on the mirror on the wall in front of him and he saw his face. Pale and pathetic. He was clad in a black shirt, with matching trousers. Funeral wear. He had gone back to that place. Not only once, but several times. He searched for her. Everywhere. Not even the Hyugas could detect where she could be. They couldn't stay in that area for long and the last time they did, they were ambushed by Tanigakure shinobi, managing to escape just in time. And each time, he felt his heart clench more painfully. He closed his eyes and his hands curled into fists on the table. Bowing his head, he concentrated on keeping his breathing normal. He couldn't stop shaking.
Please …
His eyes flew open when he heard a knock on his door. He stared down on the fabric of his trousers, breathing fast through his nose. Not anymore. He didn't want to go back. What was the purpose of attending it when it was clearly false? He frowned as another knock resonated through his apartment. He couldn't take it anymore. Scooting back his chair, he stood up and walked resolutely to the door. He turned the handle and swung it open, furious and irritated. "I told you I'm not going back -"
"Naruto."
His hand dropped at his side and he stared back at Kakashi, who wore clothes similar to his. He bit his lip. No. More than anything. He didn't want to see Kakashi right now. He turned away and walked over to the kitchen counter, reaching out for a glass. Behind him, the heard the sound of a chair being moved and figured Kakashi had settled down without asking. He would have done so anyway. There they were. The last two members of the original Team Seven.
"What do you want, Sensei?" Naruto asked after several minutes of silence. His voice came out cracked and weak. Not how he wanted it to sound at all.
"Naruto … I know how you're feeling right now. I know exactly how you feel … with both Sasuke and Sakura not here. The guilt you're feeling …" Kakashi trailed off, the strength in his words fading.
Naruto found himself tightening his grip around the glass. He was shaking in an array of emotions that he couldn't control. He closed his eyes but the image of her face, desperate and pleading, came in his mind.
Kakashi spoke up, "I know you're thinking you could have prevented her death but -"
"SHE'S NOT DEAD!" Naruto yelled out, the glass in his hand breaking. He was breathing heavily. He swatted the remains of the glass aside and turned to look at Kakashi, staring decisively through his bangs. "She isn't! She can't be!"
His teacher stood up, staring straight back at the blonde. Naruto hated what he saw. Sympathy, hurt and pity. He shook his head angrily and shouted, "You're wrong, Kakashi-sensei! She's still out there – we just need to find her – I know it!"
Kakashi sighed and walked forward. He stopped before his student and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Naruto … I'm not saying that. But don't berate yourself for this. This wasn't anyone's fault – no one could have known."
Naruto looked down. The chards from the broken glass were buried into his palms, but the pain was so insignificant as to how he was feeling. They wouldn't believe him. No one would. He pressed his lips together tightly, trying to hold back what he wanted to say. All the feelings stored inside him.
"Naruto … Sakura wouldn't have wanted this," Kakashi said. He stepped back and turned around to leave. He stopped at the door and looked back at him, "She would have wanted you to see the future for her …"
Naruto watched Kakashi step outside and close the door behind him. He leaned against the counter and slowly slid down onto the kitchen floor, his hands bleeding slightly. He could hear his teacher's steps slowly fade away, leaving him alone. With his thoughts. Memories. He closed his eyes tight and clenched his fists, the chards digging deeper. He threw his head back and let out an agonising cry, his voice resounding throughout his empty apartment.
Sakura-chan …
XxX
Chiaki lay in his bed on one side, staring out of the window. He was staring at the cloudy sky and playing with the corner of his blanket with one hand, but his mind was on what had occurred a week ago. Seven days … and he still didn't see her again. He was told she needed a lot of rest. A concussion. Her knee joint was crushed. In fact, she was lucky enough to be alive after that fall.
He sighed and turned over to lay on his back, his eyes now trained on the ceiling. She had gained consciousness a week after they had brought her into the village. Masaya kept reminding him that they were making a mistake. She would wake up. Attack whoever she saw first. Report this to her village if she got back. Commence a battle between the two villages, probably. Chiaki remembered the first thing he thought when he came into the hospital room when he saw her. She had turned to him, her eyes wandering to his. Such beautiful, green eyes …
Her forehead was wrapped in bandages. Her skin was starting to regain its natural color and she was clean. To Chiaki, she was stunning. He didn't know where all this was coming from. He didn't know why he was so … attracted. He recalled walking up to her and standing beside her. Masaya was with him.
"Um, it's good to see you're alright now."
She hadn't replied. Just stared at him with those lost, but beautiful eyes of hers.
"I understand how shocking this must be for you, but everything will be back to normal …"
Chiaki and Masaya watched in silence. She didn't reply again. She looked down at her hands and began scratching the bandages from one. At last, she looked back at Chiaki, and asked in a hoarse voice. "W-Will … I be alright?"
"Of course you will. As soon as you're healed fully, you'll be on your way to Konohagakure."
Chiaki closed his eyes as he recalled the confusion and anxiety in her eyes. She had frowned and looked back down to her hands. He was about to ask what her name was, till she had replied.
"S-Sorry? Konohaga …?"
He repeated the word, only to see the same expression on her face. In the end, she shook her head and said that she didn't know. She didn't know Konohagakure. She didn't know how she got there. That she was a kunoichi. Her family. Even her name.
This just led to one thing.
Author's Note: I wasn't even thinking of changing the storyline to this, but it came into my mind and I was a bit positive about it. Please let me know what you guys think! Hope it wasn't disappointing!:(
Chiaki's this character that formed in my head about a month ago. I wanted him to be from a village that isn't so well known, but does exist so Tanigakure was perfect for this.
So that's it for the second one! The third one will be out soon – so please review and tell me what you think of this! ^^
Ja Ne! :D