Title: The Inside
Anime: Naruto Shippuden
Summary: The best way to corrupt is to start from within.
Main Characters: Haruno Sakura (Age 15)
Progress: Chapter One (Complete)

Sweet Dreams...Sweet Dreams...

Chapter 1: Childhood - Part One

The first day that Sakura was able to open her eyes and see clearly, she found herself surrounded by unfamiliar individuals. When her emerald gaze scanned the room, an overwhelming amount of men with dark clothing surrounded the tiny bed that she rested on.

She felt terror fill her instantly.

The only light that filtered into the small room was from the hallway outside the room. The wooden door with a metal doorknob was ajar, allowing just enough light in for her eyes to make out the outlines of the men. Each of them were still, quiet, and watching her.

Their gazes on her made Sakura unconsciously shiver. She didn't know them and so far, she didn't like them.

For the first few minutes, she said nothing. Neither did they. Silence choked the room, drowning Sakura in a feeling that made her like a cornered animal. The atmosphere that embraced them was so cold and dark. She couldn't help the chills that ran down her spine.

Her wide eyes watched them, watching for any movement. All of the men held a threatening presence. Sakura could honestly believe if one of them moved, she might jump out of her skin...or worse yet, attack.

Attack...

As her eyes adjusted, the pink haired girl made out the clothing that they wore. Even if the lighting was very dim, she could see red clouds encased by a white bordering over a black background. This bizarre, yet beautiful pattern adorned the cloaks. She wanted to convince herself that it was familiar to her, but couldn't grasp how or why it might be.

Her skin prickled with chills. Was it just her imagination, or was the temperature decreasing as time passed?

Finally, one of them spoke. She wasn't sure which one. The deep voice echoed around the room. The sudden, unexpected sound made her feel unbalanced. The darkness and light blurred as she swayed once, unable to establish her equilibrium once more.

"You're awake." There was no emotion in the voice. Whoever he was, he was just making a statement. It was a statement with no strings attached.

She didn't know how to respond. What was one to say to such a careless person? Sakura didn't know this man at all. There really were no strings attached. She didn't have a reason to reply.

One of the cloaked figures turned towards the others. The rest of them immediately focused their attention on him. Sakura assumed he was the leader. It was ironic. He was a head shorter than some of the bigger figures.

"There is no need for such a large crowd. Dismissed."

There was no response from any of his subordinates. Silently, each of them filed out. The dizziness that Sakura suffered from made her unable to count how many left. She barely noticed that one of the departing figures turned back to gaze at her. The only reason she noticed was because the quick flash of crimson that reflected the light from the outside.

Was the crimson a figment of her imagination? If not, what would reflect so brightly? A necklace? No, No. It had come from where the head was positioned. Piercings? Sakura mentally wanted to shake her head when her mind conjured up the thought of crimson eyes.

She was just being ridiculous. Sakura was almost grateful that the 'leader' interrupted her insane ideas.

"Do you know why you're here?" Sakura noticed how he remained in the shadows. She still couldn't make out his shape.

With difficulty, Sakura managed to shake her head. She really didn't know why she was here. Everything seemed so unfamiliar. It was scary, to be honest.

There was a moment of silence. Then, Sakura thought she saw him nod his head in response.

"Good night." The man quietly walked out. As his outline hit the light in the hallway, Sakura made out spiky short hair. She couldn't tell what color it was. However, she did feel accomplished for finally knowing something about one of them.

After all, it felt like the unknown group knew everything about her. Yet, she knew nothing about them. It was a disadvantage. It was totally unfair. Thankfully, she had something now. Something to encourage her to find out more about them.

Right as the door was closed; Sakura remembered what she had meant to ask him. There was a loud click to notify the person who closed the door that it was locked. The pink-haired girl on the other side had no chance of escaping the empty room.

With a quiet whisper, Sakura said, "Should I?"

Hours, days, weeks. She had no idea of time. All Sakura knew was the darkness of the room around her and the bed that she would occasionally use to sleep or sit on. Time stretched on into eternity.

She didn't have any more visitors. None of the cloaked figures came back. Sakura honestly wondered if she had been forgotten. She hadn't even tried the door that they had entered. Even in the darkness, she could feel it's tempting presence. But she would be a fool to try a locked door, wouldn't she?

Finally, one moment, Sakura had reached the point of desperation. She had to find out if the door was locked. With tentative steps, she crept from the bed towards the wall. She didn't like not knowing what was between her bed and the door. She kept thinking there were some hidden traps in the darkness, just waiting to devour her.

Her outstretched hand gently pressed against wood. She had found her destination without getting in trouble.

Wait, getting in trouble? Was she a child now? A child who had been punished and sought escape? Sakura pushed the thoughts away into the back of her mind.

Before she could think to reach for the doorknob, Sakura heard footsteps. Her heart started pounding hard against her chest. She could hear the blood rushing in her ears. Without much hesitation, she sprang away from the sound of footsteps and blindly raced towards her bed.

Unfortunately, Sakura crashed into the bed. Her knees ached as she struggled into the bed. She grabbed her pillow with one hand and threw the covers over her with the other. The noise of the clang rang in her ears. She feared that whoever was outside had heard the noise.

Right as she laid her head down, a sliver of light on the floor raced towards her bed. Sakura's eyes widened at the break in the darkness. The yellowish color attracted her eyes instantly.

The door creaked open slowly.

"Close your eyes."

She had heard the voice before. Sakura broke her trance on the light and obeyed. She didn't know why she didn't fight or argue. She just closed her eyes as she was told.

There was darkness for a short moment. Then, even behind closed eyelids, she could see the blinding light. It flooded the darkness out. Her eyes raced back and forth, disbelieving the darkness was gone. The darkness was all that she had come to know. In a sick way, she wished it would return.

"Open your eyes." Sakura almost jumped out of her skin. The voice was right next to her. It had moved close to her. Too close for comfort.

A few seconds passed and Sakura not obeyed. She felt like her space had been violated. This...This man had invaded her privacy.

"Sakura, yeah?" For some unknown reason, her eyes opened at the sound of her name. At first, the light was completely blinding as she had imagined it would be. However, when she tried to close her eyes, the man spoke again.

"No, no, you need to get used to it. Blink, yeah." Sakura squeezed her eyes shut because her eyes burned. Over time, she followed his advice. He was patient with her. He actually had to take a seat on the edge of the bed because it was taking her eyes so long to adjust.

When she was finally able to see, her eyes focused in on him. She didn't know why she didn't examine her room first. It had been bothering for the longest time. But now that she had this...this man in here too...Well, the details of the room didn't matter anymore.

Sakura first focused on the bright blue eye that shone like the blue sky she had seen once before. Her mind wanted to stop on where exactly she had seen such a color, but it let her keep observing the man instead.

Yellow bangs covered his other eye and most of the right side of his face. He had boyish features rather than manly ones. In fact, if she had seen him on the streets from afar, Sakura might have thought him to be a girl. Some of his long hair was up in a ponytail, after all.

Sakura managed an awkward smile. He didn't seem to mind her eyes going over him like a piece of art. He just smiled quietly, waiting patiently.

Finally, with a shaky intake of a breath, Sakura nodded.

"Good morning, yeah. Enjoy your dreams?" The blond-haired boy didn't seem much older than her. He seemed so young. He might have been in his twenties at most.

"Uhh..." Sakura didn't know what to say. What dreams? All she could remember was the darkness that had been so consuming. Didn't he want to ask her how she felt about that?

He extended a hand towards her, but at a safe distance. He was respecting her space. Her eyes moved towards the hand, noticing it was black. She glanced down at her own hand, which was a pale white. Sakura then realized he was wearing gloves. She glanced down at his other hand that was politely settled in his lap. It had a glove on too.

Still wearing the awkward smile, Sakura raised her hand to meet his. He grabbed her hand gently, shaking it once or twice.

"The name's Deidara. Nice to meet you finally, yeah."

Sakura nodded in reply, unsure of what to say. She was still stunned by how fast things were progressing. First, the blinding light, and then, Deidara. Was she dreaming now?

He suddenly stood once more. His cloak followed his every movement fluidly. It was as if it was attached to him. The sudden action almost frightened Sakura. She was not used to such fast movements yet. She was more comfortable with snail-pace things.

"I will be back with your breakfast in a moment." He paused as if he was going to say something more. Instead, he walked over to the wall on the left side of her bed. Before she could look over there, she heard the drawing of curtains. As her eyes snapped towards him, the feeling of more light entering the room touched her.

Sunshine entered the room. It held a strong presence as the natural light reached her bed.

Sakura's head swam with confusion. How had she not noticed the window before? Even at nighttime, there was some amount of light outside. There was the pale moon that shone down on Earth. Why hadn't she seen that light?

Her head throbbed a few times. She would have seen the light through the curtains. As she looked at the royal purple curtains, she noticed how thin they seemed. Had it been a new moon last night? Had she dreamed about that eternal darkness? Surely, it hadn't been just a night that she had been trapped in here...

Deidara turned towards her. "Why do you look so confused? I know how kids your age like to sleep in, but this is ridiculous, yeah. You're not a bat." He then smiled, laughed for a bit, and exited the room.

Everything seemed surreal. Sakura sat up quickly, ignoring the dizzy feeling that came with it. Her eyes went back and forth, scanning the room. Furniture and decoration adorned the room. The walls were colored in a warm light brown with purple trim. The floor, as she had already known, was carpet, but colored off-white.

She hesitantly abandoned her bed and walked over to the window. A dark green line of trees met her gaze. Beyond that line of trees, Sakura could only see a blur of dark brown and green. If she had to guess, her room was next to a forest. In fact, the forest couldn't have been more than fifty meters away.

The distance of the forest was perfect. Not a single leaf threatened the bright, warm sunshine on her skin. She managed a smile as she quietly watched the outside world.

She had to admit she liked this change. However, Sakura kept feeling this nagging feeling at the back of her conscious mind. It was barely a nuisance. It wasn't that strong at all actually. It did nothing to disrupt this moment.

"Sakura, come over here, yeah!" Deidara appeared again, with a tray of pancakes and a cup. Sakura turned towards him, unaware of the smile that was on her face now. He set it down on a nightstand next to her bed. He patted the bed gently, waiting for her to join him.

As she left the window, the nagging thought left her. As far as her mind was concerned then, it had never existed.

Her mind was that of a child's. Moving from one thing to the next without much thought. Her attention span being relatively short.

The last thought that entered her mind as she ate pancakes was that last night had been a long, unusually dark night. It had scared her. Frightened her actually.

But everything was okay now.

Deidara was here.

A/N: It's been forever since I've updated any stories. Just recently, I updated ATCBW. I was very proud of myself. In fact, I don't know where this chapter came from. I just sat down and started typing. Alas, a new chapter for this story as well!

I know this chapter is short. But, it is an update, is it not?

I hope everyone has enjoyed this chapter. I'm curious to see what people's opinions are about this story. Anyhow, there is more to come. My muse seems to have awakened once more. I won't make promises, but I can say you may be able to see another chapter coming soon.

Until next update,

SharinganAnbuSakura