I DO NOT OWN NARUTO. LOOKING FOR BETA.
heroine
girl,
with an accent of blood
who speaks in foreign tongues
whose vowels are the sound of metal clashing.
ii.
chapter one.
Despite being in a room filled with S-class criminals, Konan felt no unease.
And why should she? She is strong and powerful, just like the rest of them were. She was trained under one of Konohagakure's greatest shinobi, Jiraiya of the Sannin. She has Nagato, who is the strongest out of all of them and even then, she doesn't need him to protect her and vice-versa. While all of them are formidable by themselves, the only one Konan thought to be wary of was Orochimaru. He is nothing but a snake and it is highly likely that he would do something to sabotage their goals. She really didn't know what Nagato was thinking, recruiting a man like him.
She scans the room, her amber eyes glistening against the dim light of the cavern. Nagato, Pein, the one who had initiated the meeting, has yet to arrive and few members they have are already here. Currently, there are eight members and the other two are too young to be recruited just yet.
"Konan," Kisame, the most recent recruit and probably one of the more friendlier members, calls out to her.
The blue-haired beauty's projection wavers as she turns towards him. "Yes, Hoshigaki-san?"
"Do you know what the purpose of this meeting is?" He asks, his head tilting in mock curiosity. Of course she knows, she is God's angel, his most trusted recruit. Asking her is just a formality, really and well, to see if she would elaborate.
Konan nods, not saying a word before turning away from the shark-like man. She knows what the meeting is about. It had to be about Sakura, but the details are unknown even to her. She wonders what exactly is Nagato thinking up.
Kisame sighs, showing his disappointment. He was really wondering what this meeting could be, seeing that it was important enough for Leader-sama to call all of its members.
"Leave her be, Kisame," Sasori speaks from his spot, his voice distinguished by Hiruko, his puppet. "We will find the intent of this meeting soon enough." Despite his apathetic tone, Konan could hear the lace of impatience in them.
"Come on, Sasori-kun," a sly voice cuts in. "You want to know too, don't you?" She never liked Orochimaru, finding him distrustful and unsavory. His immoral actions and experimentations had reached even her ears and she does not like the sound of them. Konan is glad that he had left Konohagakure.
"I just want this meeting to be over and done with," Sasori says bluntly and silently, Konan agrees with him.
"And it will," and finally, Pein arrives. "Let us begin," his voice booms in the room, silencing the brief chatter.
"I have gathered you all today to purpose an idea towards you all," he starts. "In order for this to commence, I must have all of your consent and pledge that you will follow this order."
The members, even Kisame, remain silent and beckoned him to continue.
"I propose a spy, a child spy specifically and implant them into Konoha and possibly the other villages." Konan tenses, only slightly and silently, she thanked the skies that she was projection right now and not in the flesh. If she had been any lesser woman, she would've choked but she didn't, couldn't.
"Oh?" Curiosity rose in Orochimaru's voice. "A child spy, you say? Who has brought you such an idea, Leader-sama?" Konan wonders about that too but she had no doubt that it was him, that planted such a thing into Nagato's head.
Pein opts to not answer him and instead, continues on further with his proposal. "This child will be bred loyal to us as well as our means. Not only that, she will provide us information on Konohagakure, specifically its Jinchūriki and perhaps other villages as well."
None of them missed the obvious pronoun in his words. "She? Is there already a child in mind, Leader-sama?" Kisame inquires.
"Yes," Pein affirms. "While out on a mission, Konan has picked up the perfect stray for us to guide." At the mention of her, Konan's heart speeds up and she forces herself to blink indifferently when eyes turned to her.
"And what do we have to do with it?" Kakuzu asks, dubious and not pleased with this proposal. A child may mean spending more on the organization's expenses and Konan knows that Kakuzu would fight tooth and nail to spend more money than needed.
"My sources have told me this child has recently been placed into the Academy. Your job is to teach and foster her into a formidable spy devoted to our means."
Sakura hums, walking alone on the way home. She had a fairly good day, though she is bit sore. Today, she seemed to pay attention a little more, her posture felt straighter just a little and she didn't seem to duck her head down every time she passed Ami and her friends. It was weird, but she liked it. Especially when Iruka-sensei praised her on her hard work and sweat. She felt stronger then and she pushed herself even harder. At that point, she didn't even care if she was sweating like a pig or the others that jeered at her attempts. She felt good, sore, but still good.
(At night, Inner whispers into Sakura's ears. Words like "Work hard" and "Do your hardest" and "Don't let them get to you" often echo in Sakura's dreams. And Sakura wonders whose kind and serene voice belong to. Inner, knowing that she could nothing but simply and repeatedly do this, knew that it is not guaranteed that her encouragements may work. But she continues on, the boy with the sun-like smile, the childish dark eyes and the ever condensing smirk of a beloved in mind. Their future, her future, is at stake.)
"Oh look! It's Billboard-brow!" A high, pitchy voice announces loudly, followed by snobbish giggles. Sakura's mood plummets and her stomach churns. She knows that voice, very well actually. She picks up her speed, not wanting to be bothered by Ami and her cronies.
"Hah, she's running away!"
"Pathetic, huh, Ami-chan?"
"She's crying, look!"
(Children are cruel, so, so cruel, Inner thinks. She remembers Ami and her cronies, she remembers the cruel treatment and many times has she remembered crying herself to sleep because of their insistent bullying. It is not right and she knows that she and young Sakura do not deserve this. And neither did Naruto. They were all treated so horribly all because they were different, not of the norm. It crushes Inner's heart, to think that children are so shallow.)
Sakura ducks her head, feeling her eyes well up and her shoulders tremble. By now, she was running but she could still hear them and their voices. Her heart clenches and that once strong confidence was ridiculed to ash. She runs, uncaring of where she was going or what time it was. It didn't matter—just as long she was away from Ami and her friends.
With her head down, her eyes clenched closed and her reckless speed, she didn't see where she was going—
Oomph. "Sakura-chan?" Oh, she knows that voice and her eyes opened slowly. When she sees the familiar dress and the kind, amber eyes, her own snapped open in surprise.
"Aneue! You're here!"
(Konan. Konan. Konan. Inner knows her, how couldn't she? She has fought her in battle, the time where Pein—Nagato—had invaded Konoha and destroyed basically everything that made the village what it was. She had been absolutely so grateful of the fact that Naruto, her knucklehead teammate, had gotten through him and had gotten him to sacrifice himself to save everyone. Inner had been deathly afraid that she had lost everything then—Kakashi, Shizune, her parents—Thank kami-sama for Uzumaki Naruto. The boy who had been treated so cruelly had done everything to ensure Konoha's future. And everyone, especially her, had been so grateful. That time, it had made Inner realized how much she loves Naruto then and there. And she still does. He is her sunshine and her best friend, she does not know how she could do without him. It breaks her heart every time she looks at him, the lonely boy swinging alone, the troublemaker who just wanted attention, acknowledgment.)
Konan smiles tentatively, her eyes crinkling. "Sakura-chan, we gotta stop meeting this way," she says.
A flush swepts up Sakura's wet cheeks and she ducks her head down, embarrassed. She didn't want Aneue to see her like this, she had promised her that she wouldn't let the bullies bother her. But she basically broke that promise.
(Inner does not know what to think of the woman. She knows this woman, like Nagato, had a heart of gold and had suffered much. She was tremendously kind and in battle, she saw sadness in her amber eyes that she never thought to see in a criminal. Does this woman know? No, that's not right. Does this woman feel guilt? That she is bringing a child, an innocent girl who knew nothing, into a world like this so early on. Inner had been lucky with her childish bullies and constant worries over her appearance. In her timeline, she had been spared of what Naruto and Sasuke and Neji and Hinata suffered, being born to loving no-name parents.)
How pathetic, she thought, trembling heavily.
"I'm sorry, Aneue! I'm sorry!" Her sudden cries startle Konan who crouches down, setting herself the same height as the pink-haired girl.
"Sakura-chan, you did nothing wrong, why are you sorry?"
"B-because! I broke our promise!" Konan's heart sped up and her eyes narrowed dangerously, has the child leaked that she was here?
Sakura, feeling the ominous energy radiating slowly off the blue-haired woman, trembles even harder. She had never felt Konan like this before and for the first time since she met her, she was terrified. Her tears seem to never stop and they continue to trail her face.
(This is it. A minuscule quarter of what Konan, an S-rank kunoichi who belongs to an organization of S-rank criminals, can do. Even Sakura, untainted and carefree, had felt it and Inner, a trained kunoichi, had most definitely did too.)
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I know I promised I wouldn't let 'em bother me! But, but—!" Sakura's hasty words, mixed in with the loud and snotty sobs, rings out. Konan, realizing her mistake, relaxes and pulls the girl into an awkward hug. She felt her heart twinge in guilt and she shushes her, cradling her head and paid no heed to the wetness of her shoulder.
"Shh, shh, it's okay, Sakura-chan..."
"No, it's not!" Sakura replies, voice muffled against the fabric of Konan's dress.
"I'm not mad, Sakura-chan," the older woman reassures her, rubbing circles on Sakura's back. "I'm not, it's okay to cry, it is."
"...it is?"
"Of course," Konan pulls away, tapping on the place where Sakura's heart beats. "You know why? Because it means you're human,"
And as Sakura smiles brightly at her, Konan felt her heart crack a little bit because she knows. She knows that Sakura would not be able to keep the innocence she has, not with this world they live in or the plan Nagato holds for her. But Konan vows that she will hold this child, so bright and innocent and taintless, for as long as she could possibly can.
(Konan is powerful, strong and most definitely a force to reckon with. But within time, listening and watching the woman awkwardly attempt to calm a crying child, Inner realizes that she is not a threat and would not dare to harm young Sakura. And for once, she relaxes and watches the occurrence, a small upturn present on her lips.)
"Aneue?"
Konan glances down, curiosity glinting in her eyes."Yes, Sakura-chan?"
"Why do those girls bother me?" Sakura asks, her voice straining and her eyes watering as she stares at her blue sandals. "No matter what I do, they keep doin' it, why?"
Amber eyes dart around the empty park, making sure they were alone. Seeing that they were, the blue-haired woman reaches over and awkwardly wraps the child into a one-armed hug. She brushed through Sakura's soft, pink hair.
"It is because they think you are weak, Sakura-chan," her answer, blunt and straightforward, earned a flinched from Sakura. "But, they are wrong. I know that but they don't. You just have to show them what exactly you are worth, Sakura-chan."
(Inner couldn't help but feel surprised, hearing Konan say what she had wanted to hear. For the longest time, perhaps even before her genin days, Inner had felt that she was not adequate enough. Back then, it was because of the bullies who ridiculed and made fun of her appearance. After that, it had been Ino, who shone in the brightest of ways, rendering her into the shadows. Later on, it had been Sasuke-kun, who she yearned, admired and chased for years. And after that, it had been Naruto. Dear, sweet, dumb Naruto who had stepped up on the podium and had done what she couldn't, had fought for what he believed in, touched hearts in many ways that she couldn't and became what he always dreamed of being. And while she had her own accomplishments—strongest kunoichi, surpassed student of the Godaime, greatest medic-nin—she felt that it was all mediocre in comparison to that of Naruto and Sasuke, even Ino, though Inner knew that she had become better than her in later years.)
"Really?"
The pinkette glanced up, eyes twinkling in hope. The sight made Konan's heart swell up and cracks a smile. She saw the potential hidden deep in Sakura and just like Nagato, she knew that she could—will—use that potential to mold it to their means.
It is a cruel world, she knew, but sacrifices are needed to be made and while she would try her damnest to keep Sakura's innocence as long as she could—she knew it would all be for naught.
"But, Aneue—how?"
Konan leans down, holding a finger up to her lips in a shushing motion. "I will tell you, but," Sakura inched forward, interested to see what Aneue has to say. It amazes Konan how trusting Sakura was. Until the pinkette would learn to trust the Akatsuki, she would have to pound it down to her that trusting strangers could easily bring you death to your doorstep. "You must, must, keep it a secret and swear you will never tell anyone."
"Eh! Even Okaa-san and Otou-san?" Sakura blinks, childish naivety evident. It genuinely shocks Konan how unguarded Sakura is but she should've expected it.
Haruno Sakura is an average Academy student, daughter to some no-name genin, has shown no extraordinary skill and holds no connections to any of Konoha's prestigious clans. They will regret it, Konan knew, for they will breed Sakura into a formidable kunoichi of S-rank prowess.
Sternly, the woman nodded, showing Sakura how serious and vital it was for her to keep it a secret. "Yes, even Okaa-san and Otou-san."
Brows furrowing in doubt—because it's Okaa-san and Otou-san—Sakura nods. If all it takes is to do what Aneue says to stop Ami and her cronies, she would do it.
"Okay, I swear I won't tell, Aneue."
As Konan smile, she is screaming on the inside because she knows what future this promise will bring Haruno Sakura and she knew that she is the cause of it.
(In the deepest depths of Sakura's mind, Inner, too, is screaming because this isn't right. This isn't how it is supposed to go. And she knew it is all her fault, because she has done nothing to stop the bullies, nothing to help young Sakura, nothing but stand in the sidelines. Just as she had back in her genin days, where Naruto busts his ass to get the revenge-driven Sasuke back home. And once again, Inner felt like the damsel she has always been.)
A/N: That's a wrap! I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and while I don't like it very much, it will do. Sorry if Konan or the Akatsuki were OOC. Konan, for one, had to appear to Sakura as an older sister figure and Konan, while cold and collected and all things that made her, isn't exactly very expressive so I warmed her character a little bit. Now, the Akatsuki were a bit harder than that. They're just real hard to characterize and bring to life, a thing I'm trying to do. And Inner, oh gosh Inner, I try to squish in her monologues while not have her appear too much because Time-Travelling!Sakura-is-Inner is more of a subplot than anything.
Anyways, thank you guys so much for reading and I would love to hear some feedback from you guys!
