Twice the Pain
Chapter #2: Meeting
A soft groan escaped the sleeping shinobi's lips as he pushed himself up. Sleep clung to him as he tried to evaluate where he was. The messy sheets and blooming plants hit him hard. He was in his room! Naruto face palmed himself for being an idiot. After all, he'd been in this room for about 3 ½ years! He should be able to recognize his own room! But, it just never felt like home. He would spend his time sleeping, trying to dream away the reality he put himself in and try to forget the familiar faces of his past. No matter, seeing Sasuke's face was enough for him to remember Sakura, Kakashi, and everyone else. The happy memories that now plagued his dreams with pain.
Shaking his head, Naruto cleared his head of his memories. He didn't want to remember why he was here and how much he missed the others. He rolled around on his bed to find the end to get off, but instead completely tangled himself in his sheets and rolled off onto the floor. He held back a grunt of pain as he struggled to unwrap himself within the sheets.
Eventually, he ripped them off his body and got up. The sound of running water caught his ears. So, Sasuke's done with training, huh? He went into his bathroom and looked himself over. He was a mess to say simply. His pajamas were a wrinkled mess; any neat freak's worse nightmare! His hair was disheveled and lagging down. "I should probably take a shower too…" he thought out loud before stripping for his shower.
Footsteps. Those were only sounds Sakura heard as she ran straight a head, making sure to pass the walls empty of doors. Once and a while she would slow to throw open a door only to find nothing, but she couldn't let disappointment stop her from running. Just as Yamato had instructed her. She had to press on and find Naruto and Sasuke. That was the only thing that mattered at the moment.
She continued to press on, picking up a little bit of speed she turned a sharp corner. Both walls this time were covered in doors. Surprise stopped her in her tracks. This would take awhile, considering the length of the hall. She sighed as she began to search from door to door.
Suddenly, footsteps other than her own sounded behind her. Panic surged through her body and she ran into the first room in front of her.
Hot water endlessly pelted Sasuke's skin as he allowed the water to relax his tense muscles. He didn't know how long he'd been standing in the water, after all, he always lost track of time when he just wanted to relax in the burning heat of the water. Out of habits, he closed his eyes in the bliss of the moment.
Slowly, he reached his arm out to grab the glass container holding his shampoo, only to grab empty air. His eyes snapped open and glared at the spot the fragile container should be, "Naruto…" he growled under his breath. That idiot took his shampoo again?! This had to stop. His excuse for using it all up and "borrowing" his was done. "I'll ring that idiot's neck…" he snarled.
Sasuke shoved aside the shower curtain and proceeded to rap a towel around his waist before storming into his room only to stop dead in his tracks…
A growl of annoyance escaped Kabuto's lips as Yamato proceeded to continue to frontal attacks. His kunai sliced through the air with the precision and grace of a skilled shinobi. He spun on his heal and brought his knife down again. Kabuto twisted his body to avoid the hit, but miscalculated and got sliced on his side. He maneuvered his body into a defensive position and held his bleeding wound.
Yamato reached for a fist full of shuriken and launched them at the wounded enemy. He moved the side to avoid them, but felt a sharp hit to the back of his neck. Sleep clouded his mind and forced him to fall, his body leaving a soft thud as he dozed.
The gentle sigh escaped the ex-anbu's lips. "That was close." He looked over at the clone he had made earlier to take out Kabuto. He gave him a nod of recognition before it disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Now to find Sakura." He mumbled.
Another door was closed as the two root members sighed. Their efforts were turning out to be completely fruitless so far. Each door was empty of life, and twice they had fallen into a trap. Just ask Aoi. He had taken both the attacks head on, by unfortunate luck of the draw. The two had decided on taking turns for who would open the door for each hallway, and you can tell how well that worked for Aoi thanks to his charred hair and burn marks decorating his face.
"Maybe they're not on this side of the hideout." Aoi thought out loud as he closed another door.
Sai shook his head and responded, "No, we must search every inch of Orochimaru's hideout. They could be anywhere."
If Aoi had emotions, then he would have probably complained about searching, but being the disciplined, emotionless, weirdo that he was, he continued to help Sai search.
Naruto switched off the water as he began to step out. "Man, it feels good to take a nice shower!" he shouted to himself before tugging on his pants. He noticed then, that the soft hum of running water was still going on in Sasuke's room. "That's guy's been in the shower too long. He's gonna be such a prune." Naruto smiled to himself, wanting to catch the almost flawless Uchiha covered in wrinkles.
He snuck across the hall, checking to make sure no one would give him away before sneaking inside. What he saw inside made his jaw drop. "Sa…Sa…" he gulped, tears brimming his eyes in joy, "Sakura…" he whispered. There, in front of him, was one of the two people he missed out of everyone. Her shining green eyes turned to him taking in his appearance. It seemed to hit him then that he was standing in front of his childhood crush, without a shirt. Blood rushed to his cheeks, then he took in the sight behind Sakura.
There was Sasuke, just in a towel, watching them. "Well, Naruto." He addressed him. "Just the person I was looking for." He walked by Sakura, not even sparing the overjoyed and pained girl a glance. "Where is it." He demanded.
The demand was random for both Naruto and Sakura. What's he…what's he talking about…? Suspense filled the small room as Sakura thought of countless possibilities. Slowly, she moved a hand back to the kunai in her bag. Taking great care not to make a sound while doing so, she slipped the knife out and held it behind her back.
Naruto took his eyes off the teammate he'd abandoned and addressed Sasuke, "What are you talking about?" he growled. Naruto's tone sent a shiver down Sakura's spine. Never had she been around when he used such a dangerous tone.
Sasuke took a large step forward, practically dissolving the space between the teens, "I'll say it again, where is it?" he demanded. Sasuke's coal eyes narrowed down into a glare that inspired the quote, "…if looks could kill…" Another violent shiver ran down Sakura's spine. Is it just me, or are they getting ready to kill each other…? It also hit her then that they were almost the same height; Naruto was just a few centimeters shorter.
"And I'll say it again," Naruto growled, shoving his face in his, "I don't know what you're talking about." He also narrowed his blue eyes to a dangerous level.
Taking caution, Sakura took a few steps back, horrified at the possibility she might get caught in their hellfire. The possibility that their strength had increased far beyond when they had still been part Konoha made goose bumps pop up on her exposed arms. Hell, they could probably take her out by accident with one of their milder jutsu! Unconsciously, she gulped. For some reason, Naruto suddenly turned his head in her direction, eyes cured of rage. Sakura mentally slapped herself for not thinking they wouldn't have enhanced senses! After all, they did train with Orochimaru.
The blonde haired numbskull stepped away from Sasuke, surprising him, and turned his attention to his fearful teammate, "Sakura? Are you alright?" he made his way to the teammate he had abandoned. "You aren't sick, are you?" he asked, mistaking the blood rushing to her face as a sign of a fever.
This was so Naruto, Sakura almost wanted to just laugh it all and call this a nightmare, but she was done telling herself that. Instead she settled for nervous laughter, and allowed her muscles to relax. Big mistake. The knife in her hand slipped from her reach, and before she grab hold of it, another pair of hands had it. Sakura's breath froze in her throat. Slowly, she lifted her bright green eyes up the pale arm to an all too familiar face. "S-Sasuke…?" said person narrowed his eyes at the speechless kunoichi.
He pointed the blade of the knife at the underside of her chin, "And what exactly were you planning to do with this?" he questioned, tilting his head to the side in way that demanded on answer. Sakura tried to reply, but he jabbed the kunai slightly into her skin. "You were sent here as an assassin weren't you? And don't lie to me Sakura, I can see right through you."
Sakura gulped against the blade of the knife. It dug in her skin slightly, but her rare use of the weapon made the blade's edge dull. "This is a misunderstanding, you see-!" Naruto's hurt look suddenly processed to her, he thought she was going to kill them?! They were idiots! "Naruto, look-." Her tone implied annoyance, but not nearly as annoyed as she was to see her unresponsive teammates trying to sneak in. The dark outlines of Aoi and Sai's shadow on the floor stood out considerably and went unnoticed due to Sasuke and Naruto's attention on her. Anger bubbled up within her, "You idiots!" she yelled at the shadows. Both Sasuke and Naruto stared at her in surprise, what was that about? She suddenly shoved the knife Sasuke had under her chin away and pushed past both of the ones she'd die for aside to confront the two ANBU. Seeing as their cover was blown, Aoi was in the middle of returning them to normal when she grabbed them by their barely materialized shirt collars. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!" She screamed completely infuriated.
Both Naruto and Sasuke watched with amusement as she continued to yell and scream at their replacements… "Replacements…" Naruto mumbled under his breath. Never did he think he would be replaced, Sasuke on the other hand continuously warned him to be prepared for the fact that most likely the hokage had put two other people on Team Seven so they could continue going missions. "I wonder which one's mine…" he murmured. He tried to mask his hurt from himself by pondering what their live in Konoha with Sakura was. And then he felt a stab of jealousy; that should bed him there getting yelled at by Sakura!
"Idiot." Sasuke huffed under his breath at the wondering jinchuriki who seemed to not even be thinking about the situation at hand, but rather personal business which he could deal with later.
Naruto turned from Sakura's comedic screaming to Sasuke, "And what's that supposed to mean?" he challenged.
"It means," he stated without looking away from Sakura, "that you're an idiot for wanting to know who your replacement is."
Naruto humphed in reply before adding under his breath, "I bet you want to know who you replacement is…" Sasuke's brow twitched in annoyance and he looked off at the far wall, his response was as clear as day to Naruto; he wanted to know too.
Suddenly, Sakura's screaming stopped. Both rouge shinobi turned to see that both of her new teammates had a hand clamped over her mouth and a hand holding her arms behind her back. "Sakura, do you realize what kind of situation you're in?" Sai hissed into her ear, "You're in a room with two dangerous criminals and enemies to Konoha."
"Were you trying to get yourself killed?" Aoi suddenly hissed in her other ear.
Sakura's eyes narrowed dangerously low. She broke herself free from their grip and gave both of them a hard punch to the face, "I SWEAR I'M GOING TO KILL BOTH OF YOU! JUST WHO THE HELL SAID SASUKE AND NARUTO WERE OUR ENEMIES?!" she screamed, far louder than either side thought was possible. She huffed from all the oxygen she had used and took a step backward towards Naruto and Sasuke. "I don't care what twisted ass told you Naruto and Sasuke were just another duo of rouge shinobi to be eliminated, but even our hokage doesn't see them that way! So just drop it okay!" she huffed a little more from yelling so much, but it was needed to get the point across to those two stubborn replacements.
The two rouge shinobi looked at their ex-teammate in surprise. She was defending them? After all this time, and all the hurt they had put her through? There had to some mistake! She should hate them for what they did to her, she should be yelling and screaming at them like she just did with their replacements! "Sakura…" Naruto started, but was interrupted by the red haired replacement.
"Sakura," his tone was low and threatening, well for someone without emotions, "I suggest you step away. Things are about to get ugly in here, and if you continue to defend and resist us, you will be named a traitor." His lifeless blue eye narrowed into what he assumed was a threatening position.
For a moment, the kunoichi bowed her head and stepped toward her teammates. She made no sounds as she drew closer, much to Naruto's dismay and surprise. Sakura stopped her movements when she was between the two ANBU. Silence filled the room and tension began to build, Naruto's heart beat a little faster as he was anxious to know the outcome. Slowly she raised her head and stared off into nothing as she spoke, "Then you can go to hell for all I care." She lashed out then and brought her heeled boot down onto the back of Sai's head. Both Anbu were too surprised as her fake surrender to react quickly, and before Aoi knew it, she had him out cold.
Surprise covered the rouge ninjas faces; well, the Uchiha's for a mere moment. They hadn't expected her to be so strong, let alone take out two of her teammates –which they assumed had to be strong to be on Team Kakashi - with minimal movements. She looked back at the two that had abandoned her and asked "What?" they turned to one another and back to Sakura.
"Holy crap." Was Naruto's only response. And Sasuke just gave a blank stare. Even though they had to be over two hundred times more powerful than she was, it was still amazing to see their teammate who had been labeled useless strong enough to take out her allies for their sake.
"Well, now that we have these nuisances out of the way," Sakura turned her eyes on Naruto, "I need to know something." She took a few steps away from her fallen teammates and locked eyes with Naruto, "Why did you leave me?" She fought to hold back the emotions that bit at her and wanted her to cry but she resisted futilely and tears sprung up in her eyes, tears she never wanted to shed again, "Why did you abandon Konoha?"
Naruto let out a long breath, that he hadn't realized he been holding. "Sakura, it's not what you think-…!"
"I didn't know what to think!" she screamed at him. "You and Sasuke, up and disappearing in the middle of the night without a word to Kakashi-sensei or me? I get why Sasuke had left, but you?! Do you have any idea how broken I was without you two?" the rage that had surfaced, burned away to the sorrow that had been eating away at her heart. She couldn't hold back anymore and let herself break. She let out every sour emotion through her tears and let herself crumble to the floor like she would do for countless nights. "Do you have any idea…" she whimpered through tears, "how much pain you put all of us through…?"
The blonde sunk down next to her, afraid that touching her in her fragile state would cause her to break apart into glass, forever encasing her sorrow. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around his former crush and let her break in his warmth. He knew how alone she must have felt for the three years they were gone, and that made him angry at himself, and at Sasuke. If it wasn't for his obsession for revenge, this would have never happened. If he had stayed and learned in the village, Sakura wouldn't be here, broken, crying, and lonely in the den of Orochimaru. "For him…" Naruto whispered.
Sasuke looked over at Naruto in surprise. He'd been trying to ignore the scene, but Naruto's sudden answer made him curious.
Sakura looked up from the comfort of Naruto's shoulder and whispered, "What…?"
Naruto gave a nervous smile, "I left so that bastard over there didn't go off and do something stupid after he got his revenge." His smile grew genuine and full then, "Plus, I have to make sure I stay stronger that chicken butt haired emo!" the crying girl couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's childish ways of describing Sasuke, while said person only humped and looked away. "We'll come back, I swear." He promised. With that, Sasuke pushed away his pride for a moment and let the natural feelings of wanting a friend to feel better take over, he leaned over and whispered, "And things will go back to the way they were." With that he hit the pressure point behind her neck and let her drift off into the icy black that no longer seemed so cold with the warm promise of hope that they would return.
It was official, Yamato was lost. He looked all around this damned hideout and he still couldn't find a trace of Sakura or those two annoying ANBU. "Damn it all." He swore under his breath as he found their entry spot. Again.
Out of the shadows, two figures emerged. Yamato instantly drew a kunai, fearing the duo was Orochimaru and Kabuto, only to be surprised at seeing… "Naruto? Sasuke?" his eyebrows drew together at seeing their targets holding Sakura and carrying both Sai and Aoi.
Sasuke dropped the two ANBU in front of him while Naruto gestured for Yamato to take Sakura. "Make sure she gets home safe," he warned, "or we'll make sure you never make that mistake again." The duo turned to leave the stunned Yamato when another voice piped in, "And, we don't care what happens to the other two." Sasuke smirked before practically disappearing into the shadows along with Naruto.
Chapter #2 Understanding: End
Twice the Pain: End
AN/: So that's the end, please review, I wanna know what you think!
